Stitches

How do I change colors in garter stitch and keep all the floats on the same side?

I'm trying to make the Checkerboard slippers (old time pattern, many may remember it, easily found when searched but i got mine from Ravelry) and it calls for 6 stitches of one color alternated by 6 stitches of another. It's only knit stitch, no purl side. How do I keep all my floats on the one side when I change my colors? Do I need to twist my yarns to keep the holes out from both sides of the frequent color change?

Public Comments

1. If you are knitting it in the round, then you are going to have to do a fair isle stitch. It can be easier to knit 3, carry the yarn across, then knit another 3, twist the yarns around each other and change colors then keep repeating those steps. On the reverse side, you will have to carry the yarn across in front instead of behind. If you haven't done fair isle before, you may find it easier to carry the yarn across every 2 stitches instead. You do have to watch your tension as carrying the yarn across can end up with a tighter knit and the end result will be quite thick due to the double thickness of the yarn. However, if you are using two needles, I would be inclined to use intarsia method, and just join different lengths of each color yarn in for the third row. That way you could just cut around 5 x 1 yard lengths of each color yarn and not have to worry about carrying the colors across the back. If the lengths aren't long enough, just cut more when you need them. You do have to watch your tension as carrying the yarn across can end up with a tighter knit and they will be quite thick due to the double thickness of the yarn. Hope this helps. Good luck.