When you knit with multicolored yarns, there's a somewhat inevitable phenomena that's likely to take place known as color pooling. In yarns where the colors change at regular intervals and repeat in the same order, it's likely that the same color will stack up on itself repeatedly in your pattern, causing patches or pools in the finished fabric.
The zig-zag effect on this washcloth is a result of color pooling. © Sarah E. White.Sometimes that pooling can actually look good -- stay tuned today for an example where color pooling produced a cool effect -- but a lot of times the appearance of a pool of one color in the middle of your knitting is undesirable.
So what can you do to at least reduce color pooling when working with multicolored yarns? There's no guarantee that you'll be successful at eliminating pools, but there are a few tricks you can try such as changing your gauge or stitch pattern or adding in stripes of a different color to help break up the pool.
Comments
Thanks, Sarah. Very nice example of good pooling. What is the yarn? It looks like Sugar ‘n Cream, which has a well-known “argyling” effect. I wonder if there are any tips on how one can tell if color-runs will “argyle” under certain gauges and stitch patterns by looking at the ball?
Yes, you’re right. I don’t know of any tips, because it depends on so much — needle size, stitch pattern, your personal tension — but that one does tend to make some interesting effects!