Twist-and-Weave Color Change

When starting a new color, most techniques leave you with loose stitches either side of the color change. These not only look ugly but also expand as you work them on the next row, which can be unnerving especially if the tail looks like it might escape completely from the stitch below. You could stop knitting after a few stitches and tie a knot with the yarn tails, but that stops the flow of knitting, and the knots sometimes work their way through to the front.

If you join many new colors in one area, as you might with intarsia, it can be difficult to make them neater even when you sew in the ends. I have previously found myself shuffling yarn back towards the join through many stitches to get them to a consistent size.

To avoid all these issues, the join I use is a "twist-and-weave", first shown to me in a workshop taught by Jane Crowfoot. The new and old colors are twisted together and the join is made more robust by weaving the tail of the new color into the next stitch.

For both pieces of knitting the new colors have been tightened up once and none of the ends have been sewn in at the back.

Read the full tutorial >

New and Discontinued Yarns

New yarn – Tahki Stacy Charles Navajo – Image © Tahki Stacy Charles

New

Amano Yarns
Apu – Sport – 100% Superfine Alpaca – Plied – Solid colors
Ayni – Sport – 80% Baby Alpaca, 20% Silk – Plied – Solid colors
Mayu – DK – 60% Superfine Alpaca, 20% Cashmere, 20% Silk – Plied – Tonal colors
Puna – DK – 100% Baby Alpaca – Plied – Heathered colors
Puyu – Bulky – 58% Baby Alpaca, 42% Mulberry Silk – Fuzzy – Semi-solid colors
Warmi – Aran – 70% Baby Alpaca, 30% Merino Wool – Plied – Heathered colors

Blacker Yarns - Cornish Tin has already sold out!
Cornish Tin 4-ply – Fingering – 70% Wool, 20% Alpaca, 10% Mohair – 2 plies – Solid colors, Heathers
Cornish Tin DK – DK – 70% Wool, 20% Alpaca, 10% Mohair – Plied – Solid colors, Heathers

Brooklyn Tweed
Quarry – Bulky – 100% Targhee-Columbia Wool – Tweedy – Heathers, Tweeds

DROPS Design
DROPS Loves You 6 – DK – 100% Cotton – Plied – Solid colors
DROPS Melody – Bulky – 71% Superfine Alpaca, 25% Wool, 4% Nylon – Fuzzy – Solid colors

Dream in Color
Jilly With Cashmere – Fingering – 70% Merino Superwash Wool, 20% Cashmere, 10% Nylon – Single ply – Tonal colors, Multi-colored, Solid colors

Hayfield
Bonus Super Chunky – Super Bulky – 100% Acrylic – 2 plies – Solid colors

HiKoo
Llamor (Frog Tree's Llambrosia) – Sport – 100% Llama – Plied with a soft haze – Solid colors, Undyed
Sueño (Frog Tree's Pediboo) – Sport – 80% Merino Superwash Wool, 20% Bamboo – Plied – Solid colors, Tonal colors
Sueño Worsted (Frog Tree's Pediboo Worsted) – Worsted – 80% Merino Superwash Wool, 20% Bamboo – Plied – Solid colors, Tonal colors
Trenzado (Frog Tree's Ewetopia) – DK – 100% Merino Superwash Wool – 2 plies – Tonal marls

Hjertegarn
Noella – Fingering – 40% Superwash Wool, 20% Nylon, 40% Acrylic – Plied – Solid colors, Marls

Järbo Garn
Frizzy – Super Bulky – 100% Wool – Single wrapped with thread – undyed
Happy – Aran – 40% Superwash Wool, 40% Acrylic, 20% Nylon – Plied – Self-striping
Inez – Super Bulky – 75% Superwash Wool, 25% Acrylic – 2 plies – Multi-colored
Mira – DK – 100% Merino Superwash Wool – S on S plied – Solid colors
Ronja – Bulky – 65% Acrylic, 35% Superwash Wool – Single ply – Self-striping (gradient)
Rå – DK – 100% Merino Superwash Wool – Plied – Solid colors, Heathers
Split – Super Bulky – 100% Acrylic – Plied – Solid colors

Katia
Party – Bulky – 100% Acrylic – S on S plied – Self-striping

King Cole
Florence Chunky – Bulky – 62% Acrylic, 25% Wool, 8% Alpaca, 5% Nylon – Thick and thin – Multi-colored
Venice Chunky – Bulky – 54% Acrylic, 30% Wool, 9% Nylon, 7% Alpaca – Single ply – Marled
Verona Chunky – Bulky – 80% Acrylic, 10% Mohair, 10% Wool – Thick and thin – Multi-colored

Knit Picks
Tuff Puff – Super Bulky – 100% Wool – Single ply – Solid colors

Lang Yarns
Alice – Aran – 46% Cotton, 22% Nylon, 18% Alpaca, 14% Wool – Plied with a soft haze – Semi-solid colors

Novita
Heijastus – Super Bulky – 63% Acrylic, 27% Superwash Wool, 10% Polyester – Single wrapped with thread – Solid colors with reflective thread
Kiille – Arm Knitting Weight – 79% Acrylic, 20% Superwash Wool, 1% Metallic – Plied – Solid colors with metallic thread

Phildar
Phil Star – Heavy Worsted – 80% Cotton, 15% Nylon, 5% Metallic – Fiber core wrapped – Metallic

Premier Yarns
Fable – Sport – 100% Polyester – Plied – Self-striping

Scheepjes
Colour Crafter – Worsted – 100% Acrylic – Plied – Solid colors
Merino Soft – Aran – 50% Merino Superwash Wool, 50% Microfiber – S on S plied – Solid colors

Sirdar
Crofter 4-ply – Fingering – 55% Nylon, 45% Acrylic – Plied – Self-striping (fair-isle effect)

Stacy Charles Fine Yarns
Julie – Worsted – 75% Merino Wool, 25% Silk – S on S plied – Solid colors
Lena – Worsted – 48% Baby Alpaca, 32% Merino Wool, 20% Silk – Single ply – Solid colors
Luna Effects – Lace – 70% Kid Mohair, 30% Silk – Brushed bouclé – Self-striping (gradient)

Stylecraft
Ombre Aran – Aran – 78% Acrylic, 22% Superwash Wool – Plied – Self-striping (gradient)

SweetGeorgia Yarns
CashLuxe Spark – Fingering – 80% Merino Superwash Wool, 10% Cashmere, 10% Metallic – Tightly plied – Solid colors, Tonal colors, Multi-colored
Superwash Sport – Sport – 100% Merino Superwash Wool – Tightly plied – Solid colors, Tonal colors, Multi-colored

Tahki Stacy Charles
Navajo – Aran – 53% Wool, 47% Acrylic – Single ply – Self-striping
Sherpa – Bulky – 48% Wool, 46% Alpaca, 6% Nylon – Fuzzy – Undyed
Tahoe – Heavy Worsted – 32% Nylon, 27% Wool, 25% Alpaca, 16% Yak – Fuzzy – Solid colors
Tucson – Heavy Worsted – 52% Cotton, 48% Wool – 2 plies – Marled

West Yorkshire Spinners
Illustrious – DK – 70% Falklands Superwash Wool, 30% Alpaca – Plied – Solid colors, Marls

Discontinued

Jamieson's
Aran – Aran – 100% Shetland Wool – Plied – Solid colors

Stylecraft
Nordic – Super Bulky – 80% Acrylic, 20% Superwash Wool – Plied
Summer Breeze – DK – 73% Acrylic, 27% Cotton – Plied – Marled
Swift Knit – Super Bulky – 80% Acrylic, 20% Superwash Wool – 2 plies – Tonal colors
Twilight DK – DK – 83% Acrylic, 15% Superwash Wool, 2% Metallic – Single wrapped with thread

Disclaimer: YarnSub provides information for guidance only and doesn't guarantee its accuracy. We try hard to get it right though - please let us know if you see any issues. (hello@yarnsub.com)