Working from a chart with multiple colors

Working from a chart with multiple colors
©2004 Sandra Petit, http://www.crochetcabana.com

Colors. What would crochet be without color? I have another page on this site which discusses how to use color in planning your work. This page is the mechanics of using color. In other words, how do I use many colors to work in a picture designed from a chart?

If you're making a pillow or anything where the back doesn't matter, you can carry your colors and pick up the one you need as you need it. This will cause strands of your yarn to show where you carried it. Always keep your strands on the wrong side of your work.

Before I start here's an important notation on reading graphs.

VERY IMPORTANT: When you read a graph, remember that you are turning your work on each row.

You will read all odd rows (right side) from right to left.      <-----------


You will read all even rows (wrong side) from left to right.    ---------->
 

Many times the picture is symmetrical so if you lose your place it won't be a big deal, but if your pic is not symmetrical, be very careful that you are reading from the right end. I suggest using a highlighter to scratch off the rows as you work them (don't mark in a book - make a photocopy for your use only). You can always count your rows too.

Most charts will have a legend that tells you what each symbol means. If it's just two colors, like my project used for the tutorial, it might just use X for one color and an empty square for the other. If the picture uses only one color, it might also use X for the picture and an empty square for the background.

As an example here is a chart for a few rows of the square below.

A legend (key) might note X = blue, empty box = white (It would have a pic of the empty box not the words but I don't have a key for that. haha)

Single crochet is especially good for chart work where there is a picture design, but you should use whatever your pattern says. If you don't, you can't expect your work to look as the designer intended. But that doesn't mean you won't like the way it turns out. That would be personal preference. For the sample below I used dc. In this case, it doesn't matter what stitch you use.

A note on when to change colors. If you are working from a pattern, similar to a cross-stitch pattern, where there is a graph showing you when to change colors, you need to know at which point to make that change. Here's how it works. You're working your background color and you see that the next square has an "X" in it (or some symbol to tell you what color to use there), so you're going to have to change color. You will finish the last stitch before this with your new color.

Say you have 6 squares of background and the 7th square is a color. You will complete stitch 6 with your new color.

Cross-over method

1) chain 23
dc in fourth chain from hook, dc in next chain, in next chain work a double crochet until you have two loops on hook (Figure 1). In other words, you will yo, insert hook in stitch, yo, pull through, yo, pull through 2 loops. (2 loops remaining) Drop Color A (blue) and let strand fall behind work.

 
Figure 1

Use Color B, white, to complete the stitch. (Figure 2)

Figure 2

Work 2 dc in each of next two chains, then work the third dc to two loops remaining. At that point, you drop Color B (white) to the back and pick up Color A (blue) again, using A to complete the stitch. (Fig. 3)

Figure 3

Continue in this manner across the row, keeping the unused color at the back of your work and picking it up when you need it. You will have four groups of one color and three of the other on this row. (Figure 4)

Figure 4

To end the row you used Color A, so it's time to switch to Color B. Work your last stitch of Row 1 to two loops on hook, and join Color B. Then with Color B, chain 3 to bring up to height. Work 3 double crochets with Color B, keeping the last two loops of the last dc on hook.

Now you can't drop Color B to the back of the work because then you will have your "mess" on the right side of your work. Keep the yarn you are not using at the front now. Use Color A to finish that last dc just as you've been doing. Below is an example of changing color to Color A and changing color to Color B later (Figures 5 and 6). See how the unused strands cross over one another? I call this cross-over. You can call it whatever you want.

If you are using more than two colors, you will be changing colors more often. You may want to use yarn bobbins and let them dangle down to the back of your work. It will be easier to keep them untangled (right - they'll get tangled. You're just going to have to untangle them now and then.) Some people put separate balls of yarn in plastic bags. You can even put your yarn bobbins in a plastic bag if you want to. Here's what yarn bobbins look like filled with yarn. (Figure 7) There are different kinds of bobbins, of course, depending on manufacturer.

Figure 7

This pattern changes color every 3 stitches and gives a checkered look. If you have a different pattern and are carrying yarn more than a few stitches (let's say 3) then you should catch the yarn up under your stitch just so you don't have a really long strand hanging there that might get caught on something as you're working (like that tootsie roll you're eating).

Work-over method

This time we will have a nice, finished look on the back of our piece. You will be working over the yarn you're not using. I call this the work-over method. LOL Can you guess why?

Okay, if you're using three different colors on a row, do you think you will be able to work over three strands and not have a huge bulge there? No, of course not. So this would work best IMO with two yarns in a pattern similar to the one above, or where you don't have a lot of yarn changes in a small section. In the sample I'm using two colors.

To begin, you make your foundation chain of 23 stitches. dc in fourth chain from hook and in ea of next two chains, leaving the last two loops on hook on your last dc. Drop Color A and finish stitch with Color B. THEN lay Color A along the top of your row and work a dc with Color B, working over the strand of Color A (Figure 8). It may show through slightly but there's no help for that. It will look better than all those tiny loops showing. I used two very different colors here and I didn't find it showed too much. See Figure 9 to see what I mean.

Figure 8

Continue the pattern. Work 3 dc of each color, finishing the last dc with the new color, and working over the strand of the old color.

When you get to the end, it's a little tricky. Chain 3 to bring up to height, then bring your old color up to your new row so you can catch it and crochet over it. (Figure 9)

Figure 9

Work three dc in your new color, working over your old color. Finish the last dc with the old color.

Switch back and forth like this across the row, always working over the previous color. It will look great when you're done!

Carry-over method

Here's where you just carry your yarn behind you. There are two ways to do this. In one method, you just change color as you need to, not worrying about what's happening in the back. You'll have a huge mess of little strands, but if you're making something like a pillow where only one side shows, that's not a big problem. In the other method, you catch the yarn as you move up your piece. Each color will have its own yarn bobbin in both cases.

The method used to change colors is the same as those above. Work the stitch to the last step, then finish stitch with new color. Here's a picture of my bobbin hanging down. :-)

Here is the Christmas tree I made. LOL

Here is the gorgeous Christmas tree my talented daughter made. She used the work-over method. This is a situation where the student outdid the teacher. LOL I taught her this method the same night she made this. (She already knew how to crochet and she does beautiful cross-stitch so she was familiar with charts.) My excuse is that I had to make a 5" square so I cut the pattern down, but it didn't work cos it was too tall anyhow. LOL

So there you have it. Different ways to change color and how to follow a chart. I had a good time working this up. Hope you enjoyed reading it.

Here is a site that has more information on carrying the yarn.

http://iweb.tntech.edu/cventura/rightstitches.html

The buttons above were my first at the Cabana. I keep them for sentimental reasons. :-)

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