If you want to make colourful projects, but don’t want to worry about memorizing the pattern, carrying strands at the back of the work or monitoring the tension of the fabric, try the colour pattern described in this tutorial.
I learned it from a vintage pattern book that I’ve got as a gift from my dear friend Ruth. This book is called “Bernat Book No. 73” and it was published in 1958.
The two-colour pattern featured here was used as an all-over pattern on a lovely summer blouse, but this colour pattern will look equally nice on shawls, scarves, blankets, hats and mittens.
This stitch has a small pattern repeat and it forms a fabric that does not curl at the edges and looks good on both sides of the work. This makes is perfect for most knitting projects.
You can even use it on socks, but note that this stitch has a thicker texture than many other stitch patterns. It happens because this pattern is based on garter stitch.
Now that we know how versatile this colour pattern is, let’s see how we can make it. I slightly adjusted the original instructions to make the pattern easier to remember.
This pattern is worked with two colours. Use tips explained in the tutorial called “Simple Way to See How Yarn Colours Go Together” to find the colour combination you like. It is best to use different colours of the same yarn.
With the yarn in the main colour, cast on a multiple of 2 stitches plus 1 stitch.
For my swatch, I cast on 4 multiples of 2 stitches + 1 = 9 stitches. I decided to make the swatch black and white to match the black-and-white photo of this pattern in the vintage pattern book.
ROW 1 – Right Side of the Work
Using the yarn in the contrasting colour (CC), [ knit 1, slip 1 purlwise with the yarn at the back of the work ], repeat the sequence in the brackets until you get to the last stitch, knit 1.
To attach the yarn in the contrasting colour at the beginning of this row, use any of the three ways described in this tutorial
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ROW 2 – Wrong Side of the Work
This row is very simple – knit all stitches using the yarn in the contrasting colour.
ROW 3 – Right Side of the Work
Drop the yarn in the contrasting colour and pick up the yarn in the main colour (MC).
To keep the colour pattern at the right edge of the fabric neat, always bring the “new” yarn (in this case, it is the yarn in the main colour) over the “old” yarn (right now, it is the yarn in the contrasting colour).
Using the yarn in the main colour, knit 1, then repeat the same sequence of [ knit 1, slip 1 purlwise with the yarn at the back of the work ] until you get to the last 2 stitches, knit the last 2 stitches.
ROW 4 – Wrong Side of the Work
This is another row of mindless knitting – simply knit all stitches one by one using the yarn in the main colour.
Drop the yarn in the main colour and bring the yarn in the contrasting colour over the dropped strand to get ready to work row 1 of the pattern.
Repeat rows 1 – 4 to form this lovely colour pattern.
The logic behind this stitch pattern is very simple:
1.We alternate the colours in every other row.
2.In rows 1 and 3, we repeat the same sequence of [ knit 1, slip 1 with the yarn at back ], but in row 3 we start this sequence after we knit the first stitch. Because it is inconvenient to finish a row with a slipped stitch, we knit the last 2 stitches in row 3 of the pattern.
3.Rows 2 and 4 are super easy – knit all stitches with the same yarn that you used to work the previous row.
Here’s how these row-for-row instructions look in a concise form:
Row 1 (CC): [ knit 1, slip 1 with the yarn at back ], repeat the brackets to the last stitch, knit 1.
Row 2 (CC): knit all stitches
Row 3 (MC): knit 1, [ knit 1, slip 1 with the yarn at back ], repeat the brackets to the last 2 stitches, knit 2.
Row 4 (MC): knit all stitches
If you prefer to use a chart, follow the chart below:
If you are new to knitting charts, take a look at this tutorial
To use this colour pattern in a seamless project, cast on an even number of stitches, then work rounds 1 and 3 the same way as instructed for rows 1 and 3. You will be 1 stitch short at the end of the round and that’s fine. Simply ignore the pattern instructions for the last stitch that is supposed to be knitted. In rounds 2 and 4, purl all stitches instead of knitting them.
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This and 44 other in-depth tutorials are part of Knitting Collection #5.
