We all get floats on the back of our knitting when we work with multiple strands of yarn on a given row/round. Usually these floats are kept on the private side of the fabric as with the case of stranded colourwork knitting, but sometimes the floats can also be decorative, such as when working Latvian braids, knitweave patterns, slipped stitch patterns, and tuck stitch patterns.

Have you ever wondered why you have to hold the contrasting yarn to the left of the main color yarn when knitting a colorwork pattern? There are knitters who talk about color dominance all the time and some never do ... why is that? How often should you “trap” the float? Is it always 5-7 stitches, and who came up with that number? What are the other ways to tack down the floats and do we always have to trap the floats?

Let’s have some fun with the floats together and find out the answers to those questions!

In this class, you will
• learn the various ways (trapping, twisting, locking, and laddering) to manage floats when knitting stranded colour work will be explained, demonstrated, and discussed
• have the opportunity to experiment with different methods
• look at how the different techniques affect the look of the resulting fabric, when to use a specific technique, and what to take into considering when dealing with colour dominance especially when working with 3 colours or more

As a bonus, we will also look at how partial intarsia and duplicate stitch can add interests to a stranded colorwork project and how flo

Participants will be given a PDF containing instructions for the methods explained in class alongside links to supplementary information available on the internet for reference.

Technique Requirements: knit/purl, cast on/bind off, chart reading, easy colorwork. Participants should have a basic understanding of how stranded colourwork works.

Familiarize yourself with the Speed Swatching Method for circular knitting. 
Information can be found on the internet by searching with the keyword, “speed swatching for circular knitting”.

Worsted or aran weight yarn in 2 colors preferably in cream/white and in another dark, saturated color of your choosing (15g each), 4 mm / US 6, 4.5mm / US 7 circular needles (60cm or longer)