Let’s Knit a Colourwork Sweater
Colourwork knitting is exciting, beautiful and satisfying, but it can also seem daunting when it’s your first time! Alongside the launch of our new colourwork collection, Strange Brew, we are running a KAL (that’s a knit-along), and launching a new tutorial series. This tutorial series will cover issues that apply to colourwork knitting, from the basics of choosing a sweater size, selecting a yarn and swatching, to the more complex process of designing your own colourwork yoke sweater using the Strange Brew colourwork yoke sweater recipe.
This colourwork tutorial series will cover:
We’ve broken the colourwork sweater tutorial into 10 parts. Start at the beginning and work your way through – or just jump to the technique you need help with!
- Introduction
- How to choose your size: find the right size for you.
- Choosing yarn for colourwork: which yarns work best in colourwork.
- Swatching for colourwork: a few different ways to swatch specifically for colourwork.
- Developing your custom sweater concept: where to place that colourwork
- Gauge in a yoke sweater: understanding where it matters
- Using the FREE Anthology pattern: a great way to try out your concepts
- Applying colour to stranded motifs: time to experiment!
- How to design a Strange Brew yoke: using our Strange Brew recipe to turn your inspiration into a woolly work of art!
- How to plan a steek in a Strange Brew sweater: prefer a cardigan? Learn how to plan a steek.
And many other topics too! There will also be posts highlighting some great sweaters that were designed using the Strange Brew sweater recipe pattern.
New to knitting lingo? You can find definitions for any abbreviations here.
To get from idea to finished knit there is a BIG list of questions that a knitter must answer, and when you’re not sure how to tackle these questions, your project can get stuck, shelved, frogged or tossed roughly into the back of a closet. ARGH.
Though Alexa and I have been designing for nearly a decade now, we still encounter questions which stump us! These questions are the heart of the pleasure of design. We aim to tackle a few of these thorny questions, ones that might just be holding you back, over the coming weeks.
Join us and create an accessory, a sweater from the new collection, OR design your own unique colourwork yoke sweater using our Strange Brew sweater recipe! We aim to inspire, educate, and guide as you take the next step in your own learning journey, whatever that next step might be!
Strange Brew KAL
The KAL begins Tuesday, October 9th, and runs until December 6th. The chat will happen on the Tin Can Knits Ravelry group, so join in now! Get our excellent email updates to stay in the loop.
Designs from Strange Brew:
Tin Can Knits 
The Tin Can Book is really about all a knitter needs to become a fabulous color work expert and designer. Made my second color work sweater from this book followed by numerous cowl and hats for Christmas gifts. Being able to tweak the patterns to your own likes and body fit is very easy. I have recommended this book to many, especially for people who want a book that includes children, woman and men sizes.
Yay, so glad you like it!!
How do I get the pattern for girls sweater
Hi, if you’re talking about the golden-brown sweater with the simple yoke colourwork, you can find the charts here: https://blog.tincanknits.com/2018/11/15/crunchy-leaves-a-strange-brew-example/ and use them when following the Strange Brew Yoke sweater recipe – that can be found here: https://tincanknits.com/pattern/strange-brew?g=18
Hi…. I love your Strange Brew book and have made 4 hats and one sweater! Currently, I am making the child sized (2-4) Almanac Sweater. My question is how to sl1 when you are adding a color. I am having difficulty with row 14. sl1 is a new color! I cannot find any tutorials about this. Any suggestions? I have ripped this row out 2 times. Thanks so much… Mary Ann
Hi Mary Ann – In chart A round 14 the slip one is in the same colour as the first stitch in round 13. I think that will clear up the problem.