floats in Continental Fair Isle

[hiloypalos]

I'm finally able to do Continental color changes, and am very happy. It saves tons of time! (More time for actual knitting.) The one thing I can't figure out is how to "catch" the inactive color over a long float. Normally (English style) I just change the yarn twice, ending up with the same color I was knitting, but with the inactive color looped into the stitch. With Continental knitting, I'm not dropping and picking up yarn, just passing one in front of the other, so going back to dropping, crossing, dropping and crossing again seems like a waste of time.

I have read directions that say to "sew" the floats to the back while weaving in ends, but that really sounds tedious. Any better ideas?

Thanks.

[kmaclean]

Hyperactive has created some really nice videos demonstrating how to "weave" while knitting fair isle so that you capture all of the floats on the back, perhaps they will help you get started. This one demonstrates the technique on the knit side, and this one on the purl side (you'd only need this one if you're knitting flat).

Hope this helps!

[hiloypalos]

Thank you! I think I can do it now. This was most helpful.

[kmaclean]

Glad you found the videos helpful .... I know I did!

Good luck!