How to Start Designing Stranded Colorwork

Knitting stranded colorwork is one of my favorite things. It uses both hands so it's interesting enough that it keeps my attention. But it also has a rhythm that keeps it from being too hard. 

In the last few years, all the colorwork sweaters I've done have been from charts I developed myself, and often using my own handspun yarn. How did I get to that point? Or, more importantly, how could you get to the point where you're designing your own colorwork patterns?

Start with Someone Else's Patterns to Get the Hang of It

We all have to start somewhere, and working from other people's stranded colorwork patterns is the perfect place to start. 

If yoked sweaters are your jam, notice how the increases & decreases are placed in the colorwork pattern. Often, this will be done in the "background" color to minimize distortion of the pattern. Keep that idea in your back pocket as you go forward in your design journey!

The KnitOvation Stitch Dictionary (reviewed in my last post) has some great resources if you want to plug different stitch patterns into an existing design. 
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Combine Multiple Patterns to Create Unique Combinations

Using one or more stitch dictionaries, combine multiple patterns. Think diamonds that shift in scale, or different kinds of flowers...essentially, pick a theme for your sweater, find a bunch of patterns that fit the theme, then arrange them in a way that makes you happy. 

Experiment with charting all of them together so you'll get a sense of how they look next to each other. This might lead to:
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Learn How to Resize, Center, and Move Motifs

You may need to modify the sizes of some patterns, or to move the starting point of a chart. Sometimes this means centering a motif on the front, back, or sides of the body, or it means avoiding awkward placement of motifs. 

Reverse Engineer Other Stranded Colorwork Designs

Find a colorwork pattern you like, but don't have a chart for. See if you can chart it out!

Remember, at this point, you're still learning, so you shouldn't be trying to pass the design off as your own. 
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Find Inspiration for Your Own Patterns

Inspiration is all around, and once you've gotten the hang of stranded colorwork, you'll wonder how you can turn your favorite images, symbols, and shapes into colorwork patterns!

If you're struggling with this phase, I highly recommend Felicity Ford's Stranded Colorwork Sourcebook  and Janine Bajus' The Joy of Color. 

Chart Your Own Patterns with Dots on Graph Paper

Knit stitches aren't square - they're rectangular. The ratios of the rectangles depend on your gauge. If this bothers you at the charting stage, you can buy knitter's graph paper. 

Usually, though, I just use regular graph paper and a simple trick - dots. A dot in the middle of each square for my pattern color is quick, and it approximates the visual effect of a knit stitch. This did take some getting used to, since I started my knitting journey thinking that a dot always represented a purl stitch in a knitting chart! I demonstrate this around the 4:22 mark in the video.

Remember to Consider Your Float Length!

Ah, floats. There's a lot to say about floats. How long should they be? How long is too long? 

I'll admit, I let some of my floats get pretty long when the pattern absolutely demands it. And I don't trap floats, since this usually shows on the front side. 

But as a rule of thumb, a float shouldn't be longer than an inch, or an inch and a half if you're feeling really daring. Remember to consider this when you're creating your designs - usually this translates to no more than 5 to 7 stitches one color in a row.

Consider Value Contrast When Selecting Yarns

A strong value contrast (dark and light) will help your patterns read well.

Take a picture with your phone, then converting it to black and white - if the two yarns look like they're the same shade of gray, you don't have much value contrast.

Low contrast can create subtle effects, but it will be harder to see while you're knitting, and the pattern will be less clear when you're done. High contrast patterns are easier to see.

Don't Forget to Swatch!

Swatching can help you refine your design. Often, I find that I'm overflowing with ideas, and I've designed two or even three sweaters worth of stitch patterns. Swatching helps me simplify & problem solve so that there's less ripping out once I'm actually working on my project!

​Do you have a tried-and-true stitch pattern design formula? I'd love to hear about it!