Changing color · Easy
Changing colors
To change colors in crochet, stop one pull before the end of the last stitch in the old color, and make that last pull with the new yarn. The loop left on the hook is then already the new color, so the next stitch is the new color from top to bottom.
How to work it
Stop one pull short
Work the last stitch of the old color until its last pull is all that is left. In single crochet (UK double crochet) that is with two loops on the hook.
Lay the new yarn over the hook
Let the old yarn go. Lay the new yarn over the hook, with a tail of 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) hanging at the back of the work.
Finish the stitch
Pull the new yarn through both loops. The stitch itself is finished in the old color, and the loop on the hook is the new one.
Carry on in the new color
Work the next stitch with the new yarn. At the end of a row, make the change on the last stitch of the row: the turning chain is then made in the new color, and so is the whole of the next row.
At a glance
- Used for
- stripes; pictures and patterns in more than one color; a new color for each round of a granny square
- The rule
- The new color comes in on the last yarn over of the stitch before the change.
- In the middle of a row
- The same move, in the stitch before the first stitch of the new color.
- At the end of a row
- Change on the last stitch of the row, before the turning chain.
- In the round
- The same rule. In a spiral, the stitch before a new round is the last stitch of the round before, so the change is made there. Where every round is a new color, as in a granny square, the old yarn is usually fastened off at the end of the round and the new one joined in a corner space.
- Which stitches
- Any. Half double crochet (UK half treble) ends with a pull through three loops, not two.
- The tails
- Two at every change, 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) each, woven in at the end.
The change is made in the stitch before the first stitch of the new color, not in that stitch itself. If a stitch is finished in the old color, the loop left on the hook is the old color too, and the next stitch is begun with a loop of the wrong color.
A color that comes back within a few stitches or rows does not have to be cut. It can be carried: run up the side of the work for stripes, or held along the top of the row and worked over by the stitches of the other color.
A color that will not be used again is cut, leaving a tail, and woven in at the end.
Tips
- Hold the tail of the new yarn against the back of the work while you make the first stitch or two with it.
- Where a piece has several patches of color, wind a few yards of each color onto a bobbin of its own and work each patch from its bobbin. Short lengths tangle less than whole balls.
When it goes wrong
- The color changed one stitch later than I meant.
- The change belongs in the stitch before. Pull out that stitch, work it again up to its last pull, and finish it with the new yarn.
- I have a great many ends to weave in.
- Where a color comes back within a row or two, carry it and do not cut it. The ends that are left can be laid along the row and worked over by the next stitches, or woven in afterwards with a yarn needle.
Left-handed
The pictures show the hook held in the right hand. For the left hand, read each picture as its mirror image.
Questions
- Do I cut the old yarn?
- If it is not needed again soon, yes, leaving a tail to weave in. If it comes back within a few stitches or rows, carry it.
- How do I change colors in double crochet (UK treble)?
- Work the double crochet until two loops are left on the hook, then pull the new yarn through them.
- Do I tie the two yarns together?
- There is no need. The new yarn is caught in the stitch it finishes, and the two tails are woven in at the end.
- Where do I change color in corner to corner crochet?
- On the last pull of the last double crochet (UK treble) of the block before the new color: work that stitch until two loops are left on the hook, and pull the new yarn through them. The slip stitch into the next chain-3 space and the next block are then worked in the new color.
- How do I change colors when I am following a graph?
- The same way as anywhere else inside a row. Each square of the graph is one stitch. Work the last stitch before the color changes until its last pull, and finish it with the color of the next square. The yarn you leave is either carried along inside the stitches, as in tapestry crochet, or left hanging on a ball of its own until the next row, as in intarsia crochet.