How to catch floats in stranded knitting
In stranded knitting, depending on the pattern, you sometimes get very long floats. This is not very practical: It makes it harder to keep an even tension and the floats tend to get caught in fingers and toes and other objects when wearing or using the item. So, it’s a good idea to catch these floats onto the back side of the work.
This can be done by learning a couple of additional moves. These, however, differ depending on whether you are catching the upper or the lower yarn.
You already know how to
- cast on
- knit
- cast off
- knit horizontal stripes
- purl
- slip a stitch knitwise
- read a chart
- decrease by knitting two together
- place and slip a marker
- make a left-leaning decrease
- knit in the round
- knit jogless stripes in the round
- knit stranded knitting in the round
Extra materials
As for Square Sixteen.
Instructions
In this square you should hold the DC dominant, i.e. hold it to the left.
Using a circular needle and DC yarn, cast on 108 sts.
Rnd 1: Join in the round and place a marker to mark the beginning of the round. Purl a round placing markers after the 27th, the 54th and the 81st stitch.
Take care not to twist your stitches.
Rnd 2: [Ssk, k to 2 sts before marker, k2tog, SM] 4 times. (100 sts.)
Rnd 3: Purl.
Rnd 4: As rnd 2. (92 sts.)
Rnd 5: Purl.
Rnd 6: Join LC. Work row 6 of the chart as follows and strand yarn not in use loosely across WS: k2 DC, k3 LC, knit the next stitch with the LC and catch the DC onto it, k3 LC, k2 DC, knit the next stitch with the DC and catch the LC onto it, k2 DC, k3 LC, knit the next stitch with the LC and catch the DC onto it, k3 LC, k2 DC. Work row 6 of the chart 4 times in total, i.e. until the end of the round.
- How to catch the dominant yarn
- How to catch the non-dominant yarn
Continue working from chart as set, working each chart row 4 times in every round, decreasing as indicated.
Transfer the stitches to DPNs in round 13.
When you have completed the chart, cut both yarns. Pull the LC yarn through the remaining stitches (see Square Sixteen).
Pull the yarn to close the hole tightly and weave in the ends.
Anna’s tips 😉
🧶 I like to catch the floats approx every 3 or 4 stitches. If I have 5 or 7 stitches of the same colour, I catch the yarn onto the middle one. If I have 10-14 stitches, I will catch the yarn twice or three times.
🧶 Take care not to stack the catches, i.e. do not catch yarn onto the same stitch in consecutive rows. The yarn will be visible on the right side of the work. This is called grinning.
🧶 Normally, patterns only mention that you should catch floats every x number of stitches, but do not mark the precise stitches, as I have done in this chart. I like to mark the stitches in the chart beforehand to ensure an even distribution of the catches.
If you successfully completed this square, you have learned how to
- catch floats in stranded knitting
Annaplexis 