Lively Loop

Tension and gauge in colorwork

Before every colorwork project.

too tight: wrong
1. A tight float puckers the fabric: the pattern wrinkles and the piece gets narrower. Before changing color, spread the stitches on the right needle to their full width, then pull the yarn
loose: correct
2. Correct: the float lies in a loose arc. Colorwork is denser than stockinette, so swatch in colorwork and often go up 0.5 mm in needle size. Small unevenness evens out after washing

How to do it

  1. Before changing color, spread the stitches on the right needle to their full width: the float will lie loosely.
  2. Knit your swatch in colorwork, not stockinette: colorwork is 5–10% denser.
  3. If a project combines stockinette and colorwork, knit the colorwork section on needles 0.5 mm larger.
  4. Washing and blocking even out the stitches: judge the result only after washing.

Common mistake

Calculating a colorwork yoke from the stockinette gauge makes the yoke too narrow.

More in this section «Colorwork (stranded knitting)»

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