KNITTING WITH COLOR

TWO-HANDED WEAVING

You will need at least 2 colors for this lesson, but you may use as many as you wish.
Traditional Fair Isle knitting uses many colors.  You can shade your background colors from light to dark, as you shade your foreground colors from dark to light!
As you are just learning, choose only two colors. With two-handed knitting you will never work with more than 2 colors per row.
You will also need a set of 16” circular needles in a size appropriate for your yarn.
Cast on 100 sts.  Working in a circle, you may work an edging of either ribbing, or garter stitch. (Either one is fine if you are going to make your swatch into a hat!)
When you are ready to begin weaving, take the second color and begin to work with it.
You will hold one color in your right hand and one color in your left hand.

There is a great on-line video demonstrating this technique at the Philosopher's Wool site!

You will hold one color in your right hand and one color in your left hand.

”Picking”

If you are a “Continental”, or “picking” knitter, you will have to learn to use your right hand, too. You may practice by working entire rows with the unaccustomed hand!

”Throwing”

Two-handed knitting seems to work best if you keep your left hand color on the left side of your body, and your right hand color on your right (down on the floor).
Begin your weaving by alternating each color in each hand. 
Knit one stitch with the right hand.
Knit one stitch with the left hand.
Knit one stitch with the right hand.
Knit one stitch with the left hand.

Keep repeating this until you are fairly comfortable with both hands.
Next you are going to knit several stitches in a row with the right hand, weaving the yarn above and below the left hand color.  You will knit one stitch with the right hand normally (above the left hand color):
Now knit one stitch with the right hand BELOW the left hand color (lean the left hand color forward a bit so that you can do this):

Next, knit again with the right hand above the left hand color.  You have just done three stitches with the right hand and “woven” in the left hand color.
Knit a stitch, normally, with the left hand.
Your work should be: right (above), right (below), right (above), left.  Continue repeating this pattern for awhile.

Now you are going to knit with three colors from the left hand, followed by one color from the right hand.

Start by knitting one stitch with your left hand.

Next, insert your right hand needle into the stitch, getting ready to knit. Bring the right hand color over your needles, as if you are going to knit, but don’t! Grab the left hand color with your right needle (“picking”) over the top of the right hand color.  As you pull the stitch left hand color through the loop, release the right hand color without knitting it. 

You have just knitted the right hand color above the left hand color, weaving it.  Knit another left hand color normally.
Now knit one stitch with the right hand and repeat the process.
Your work should be:  left (below - normal), left (above), left (below – normal), right.
Practice THIS pattern for awhile.

I have included a color chart that you can practice with when you are comfortable with all the stitches.  If you want to make a hat, make your “swatch” several inches long (or more for a fold up cuff), then work regular decreases as follows: (NOTE: Before you work this series of decreases, you will have to work one round on your swatch, decreasing one stitch so that you bring your total number of sts. to 99.  This way the top-of-the-hat decreases come out even!).

Decrease row 1: Knit 9, dec.  – around.
Next row, and every other row, knit around with no decreases.
Decrease row 2:  Knit 8, dec.  – around.

Continue in this manner until you only have 9 sts. left.  Cut your yarn leaving about 10 inches.  Thread this yarn through a tapestry needle and run the needle through each of the remaining 9 stitches.  Poke the needle to the wrong side of work, tie off the end and tuck in.

ANOTHER NOTE! Two-handed knitting can also be used knitting back and forth!!!  The method with the purl stitch is exactly like the method with the knit stitch!

Chart for Weaving in Circular