COLOR CHANGES: No more catchy floats!

For those who have been afraid to tackle Fair Isle knitting, the free pattern, Old World Stocking, is a great introduction. With its larger gauge, it's easy to reproduce the design, and the quick progress will have you feeling like an old pro in no time.

People often worry about the "floats," the yarn hanging behind when changing colors. There are various ways of catching those loose stretches of yarn as you knit. The following method may save you time by eliminating the sometimes tedious task of crossing strands every two or three stitches. Be careful to leave the tension fairly loose in the strands carried behind the work so that they will not pull when picked up on the next row.

Here's what you'll see if you allow your yarn to float over 5 (or more) stitches. It's a perfect thumb- or toe-catcher, so it really SHOULD be worked neatly into the nonpublic side of your knitting.

The technique: After working pattern on the right side, work the wrong side to the place where you want to catch up the strand. Insert the right needle purlwise into the stitch as usual, but then slip the needle tip just under the float (as pictured above). Wrap the working yarn around the needle and purl as usual, taking care to slip the needle tip back under the float yarn as you do so. You'll notice immediately if you didn't, because it'll create an extra stitch the color of the float.

When working in the round or when knitting a pattern row on the back side, the float will be picked up while working from the front of the work. This is done as follows: With right-side facing, work to the place where you want to catch up the strand. Insert the right needle in the next stitch knitwise, catching up the contrasting strand from the row below at the same time.

Loose Float

Anchored Float