Carry That Yarn Up the Side!
Using more than one color of yarn in your knitting project? Dreading having to weave in all those ends? Carry that yarn up the side! If the yarn color you’re knitting with will be used again in six or fewer rows, it can be carried. Don’t cut the yarn and leave an end to weave in later, carry it up the side of your knitting project!
Carrying yarn creates loops of yarn that need to be hidden in the seam of your project. If you don’t wrap the yarn you’ll end up with large loops that could be snagged and damage your hard work. Large loops along a visible edge, like a shawl, will look ugly. Wrapping the yarn that you’re carrying up the side will minimize the loop size and hide them at the edge of your project.
Follow my tips to avoid weaving in ends and create a neat looking edge on your hand knit project. Scroll down to view the backside of this project, it’s very tidy.
How to wrap and minimize yarn loops in knit stitch
- Knit with your first color of yarn. There are usually a few rows of this before adding in a second color.
- At the beginning of the row where you add in the second color drop the yarn you’ve been working with. (Green yarn in photo to left)
- Pick up the second color of yarn. If it’s the first time you’ve added this color into your project, leave a six inch tail to weave in later.
- As you raise the new working yarn to begin your row, wrap it behind the yarn that you’ve just dropped. This will pull the carried yarn close to the edge of your work and avoid any large loops.
Step 4. Picking up the white yarn and wrapping it around the green yarn to pull the green yarn close to the knit fabric. - Give the yarn a gentle tug. It’s all about keeping the tension even.
- When you pick up the first color to knit with again don’t pull it tightly, you don’t want the fabric edge to bunch up. Wrap the yarn you just picked up behind the yarn just dropped. Tug gently and begin knitting with the yarn you just picked up.
To create a smooth edge and avoid large loops wrap the yarn you are carrying with the working yarn every two rows. So if you are carrying it up four rows, wrap the carried yarn when you first drop it. Two rows later, when you’ve knit back to that side of your work, wrap it again. Step 4 covers this as do the photos above.
In the photo to the left the rows are left to right. The spiral wrap is in the middle with the start and end of the green yarn sticking out. Then to the far right is a knit border. This hand knit is the Georgie Blanket.
