Tutorial - Color Changes

Changing yarn colors doesn't have to be complicated! 

In fact, it can be very straight forward if you remember to always change colors in the very last yarn over (yo) of your stitch.

You heard right, no matter what stitch you're using, change in the last YO.

Here's how I changed yarns to add a stripe of contrasting color to a hat in double crochet ribbing (post stitches). 

You can see that I've worked my stitch to the very last yarn over (yo) - the one that removes my last pair of loops and finishes the stitch.

I hook my new yarn and pull it through.

The loop on my hook becomes the "teardrop" shape at the top of my next stitch, so I'll have one complete stitch in the old color, and one complete stitch in the new color.

Here's how that looks like on the wrong side (WS) - where you can see I tied my strands together to keep the new color from slipping.

After a row in my second color, I switched back to my main color by grabbing it for that last YO.

Here's how a few of those stitches look together.

This hat was worked in the round. 

You do the same thing when changing colors at the end of rows worked flat and turned rather than joined.  Use your new color for the last YO of the last stitch in your row before turning.

But wait!  There is an exception to every rule. 

Now that you are all set to make all your projects stripey... for joined rows, especially joined rows that begin with a chain of any length, it makes sense to change colors when you join instead.

In this case, I've finished my double crochet in my first color and inserted my hook for the join.

I will pull that loop of my new color all the way through.

And work my chain in the new color.  This allows the two rows to be completely distinct from one another.








Here, let me show you:

If you were hoping for more information on "color work", never fear.  We'll go into more detail about the different techniques like intarsia, tapestry and stranded/fair isle in future tutorials.  Hope that helps you keep it colorful!  Til next time...