Colourwork in the Round

A comprehensive guide to understanding colourwork and knitting your first sweater.

Are you a keen knitter but have never tried colourwork (jacquard)?

With the help of author Anna Dervout, you’ll soon have colourwork spilling off your needles to create delicate yet modern knitwear designs for women and children.

Colourwork refers to a technique used to knit patterns in multiple colours; it requires the simultaneous use of several different colours in the same row. An understanding of colourwork paves the way to integrating a vast range of knitting motifs: horizontal, vertical, geometric or stand-alone.

In Colourwork in the Round, discover different colourwork techniques using circular needles, which are becoming increasingly popular among knitting enthusiasts due to their advantages over traditional double-pointed needles; they are more comfortable, portable and versatile to use.

You’ll learn how to choose your yarns, manage tension, knit in the round, and integrate a seamless change of colour into your work.

Colourwork in the Round does the hard work of demystifying this traditional knitting technique through clear, illustrated step-by-step instructions that guide you through the learning process, and a detailed chapter on how to read a colourwork pattern chart.

Then, there’s the chance to put your knowledge into practice to create five gorgeous garments, each suited to a different skill level: create a hat, a sweater or a cardigan and see all your hard work pay off!

Anna’s patterns are designed to be, above all, relaxing for the knitter; they are written in a clear manner, accessible to beginners, and are also size-inclusive: patterns cater for children from 3 months to 12 years, and women from UK sizes 8 to 22 (US 4 to 18; EU 36/40 to 40/54).

Table of Contents
Introduction 4
What is colourwork? 5
The colourwork tradition 5
Colourwork: who is it for? 7
Colourwork and me 7
Techniques 9

Chapter 1 – The different types of colourwork 10, In rows or in the round? 12, Stranded colourwork 13, Intarsia colourwork 15

Chapter 2 – Materials 16, Types of yarn 18, Needles 21, Knitting equipment 22, Blocking accessories 23

Chapter 3 – Reading a colourwork chart 24, Reading direction 26, Identifying colours on a chart 27, Understanding increases and decreases 28, How to follow the rows while knitting 31

Chapter 4 – Choosing a project according to difficulty 34, My tips on choosing your project wisely 36

Chapter 5 – Choosing your colours 40, The colour wheel 42, Contrast 43, Choosing colours according to the pattern 44, Choosing your colours step by step 45, Opting for a pre-prepared yarn kit 47,

Chapter 6 – Knitting a swatch in the round 48, What is a swatch? 50, Making a swatch in the round 51, Blocking and measuring the swatch 56

Chapter 7 – Intarsia colourwork 58, Techniques and tricks 60, Tutorial 62

Chapter 8 – Stranded colourwork 66, Holding your yarn 68, Respecting colour dominance 71, Stranding your yarn across the back 74, Tutorial 75

Chapter 9 – Managing yarn tension 76, Finding the right tension (gauge) 78, Small diameters in colourwork 80, Correcting mistakes 82

Chapter 10- The steek technique 86, What is steeking? 88, The best yarn for steeking 88, Steeking with a sewing machine or a crochet hook 89, Finishing the inside neatly 93, An alternative finish: the steek sandwich 94, Adding a steek to a sweater pattern 96

Chapter 11 – Finishing your knitting 98, Working in the tails of yarn 100, Blocking your knitting 102, Washing wool 104, Storing knitwear 105, Removing fuzz 105

The patterns 106 – Blisco hat 108, Helvellyn sweater 112, Bowfell sweater 117, Scafell sweater 124, Scafell cardigan 130

Further information 136
Anna Dervout Along avec Anna 138
Acknowledgements 140
Partners 141