First stabs at colorwork

I've been practicing my colorwork recently. The reason is I was inspired at the Glasgow School of Yarn to knit Ann Kingstone's amazing Pemberley jumper. However, the only stranded colorwork I've done so far has been very basic, and a very long time ago. So, in preparation for this knitting marathon, I have been in training - working a few more basic colorwork projects before tackling the big leagues.

First, I dug a project out of my queue that I've been planning for quite some time. I wanted to knit a jumper that had some colorwork, but not too much. I wanted to knit a jumper out of handspun, but I didn't want to spin a whole sweater. Enter my Caitlin pullover. It's a simple free pattern for a pullover with colorwork on the sleeves, bottom edge, and yoke. I spun up four natural colors of Shetland top as well as some orange top for the colorwork sections, and I had some Lang Shetland Soft yarn (also in orange) to use in the plain sections. I can have my cake and eat it too - work a handspun colorwork sweater, but not have to spin it all or knit it all in colorwork!

The colorwork pattern is also deceptively simple - most of the colorwork is done through slipped stitches, not stranding. In fact, there are only a handful of rows in the chart which use stranded colorwork instead of slipping stitches. The end result is much easier to knit than it appears.

Next, to further practice my stranding/Fair Isle colorwork, I'm making Ella Austin's Intrepid Fox. This is an absolutely adorable toy that uses some simple fair isle patterns on the body and legs. The stranding pattern on the body is optional, but I think it adds a very nice touch! Though, to be honest, pink hearts on a gray background reminds me of Companion Cubes more than anything else :)

I plan on working a few more small fair isle projects (such as the Endpaper mitts, maybe) before tackling Pemberley. I am really, truly awed by that design but also a little intimidated by it. But, I'm confident that if I take it step by step, I can conquer it!

~Joyuna