15 Perfect Patterns for VARIEGATED Yarns

[@NerdyKnitting]

Do you have any pattern recommendations for variegated yarns?

[@chris112233ish]

Vanilla socks pattern…Crazy Sock Lady.

[@Helens.crochet389]

I couldn’t pull up that technique in YarnSub😩

[@NerdyKnitting]

@@Helens.crochet389 Here you go: yarnsub.com/articles/techniques/taming-multicolored-yarns/

[@Helens.crochet389]

@@NerdyKnitting thank you very much. You can make some beautiful designs with your yarn. I thought I could put the description of my own varied yarn and gauge in the information boxes so that I could see what it looks like. Sorry I bothered you.

[@zoedoodle]

I've knit 4 Vary the Gate scarfettes. Makes a nice little neckerchief that stays put. Calls for fingering weight yarn but I've done 2 in DK yarns as well. I've only used it with half and half dyed in two tones and so I think my next one will be more wildly variegated.

[@carolharper268]

I’ve striped my yarn using the same wool by starting from different ends of the ball. It’s worked really well so far.

[@nancyprinsze2211]

Thank you so much for this series on using variegated yarns. I am drawn to them and end up with these beautiful yarns, especially from a yarn shop on a trip. Then I struggle with what to do, and change my mind over and over. Great ideas about choosing certain patterns and also stitch patterns. Your. videos are so interesting and helpful. ❤

[@NerdyKnitting]

I'm glad you found some inspiration!

[@gerharddirks6481]

Thank you for another great video! The BelBel shawl by Pariser Landluft (free) and the Stashdance shawl by Susan Ashcraft are also great for variegated yarn, I made both in the past and love them!

[@lindseywhite3371]

You mention mosaic knitting a lot in this video, I would love more information on exactly what it is, how it works and, possibly, pattern recommendations for people learning to do it please.

[@mwolfe7883]

The Stephen west socks were a good example of what that is.

[@WoolTheyWontThey]

Mosaic is a pretty easy way to get into colorwork. Basically it works the same as two-row stripes, only you slip the stitches where you want to use the opposite color. Then you knit those slipped stitches when you switch colors. There's a great book called Colorwork Bible by Jessica Ostermiller that has a chapter on it with a sample swatch to practice and some patterns. You can also filter on Ravelry to find some slip stitch / mosaic colorwork patterns.

[@candinunya5211]

As soon as i read your comment i instantly bought it. ​@WoolTheyWontThey

[@WoolTheyWontThey]

@@candinunya5211 I love that book! It helped me so much when I was learning stranded

[@sharbear1968]

Hello Thank you for this 2nd video for variegated yarn. I love the suggestions and tips.

[@maureenkirby514]

Tonia, your use of pattern examples is so helpful. It's important to try to visualize the final product, though many happy accidents have happened by just going for it. I am actually doing Joji Locatelli's Cardigan 'All of the Lights' using 5 different variegated yarns, by alternating to create purposeful stripes. Sure I'll end up with a few ends to tuck in, but all good, it's been a fun experiment.

[@NerdyKnitting]

Your cardigan sounds like it will be fabulous! I'm glad you enjoyed the video.

[@rmonogue]

I’ve used Martina Behm’s patterns Graffiti Park and Brickless to knit shawls with variegated yarn. They both use garter, with Brickless adding in sections of eyelet and ribbing. I modified Brickless to make it deeper. If using a variegated yarn for stranded colorwork, make sure that all the colors have a good value contrast with your background color, or the colorwork will fade into the background.

[@KnittingAlongTheRockies]

So I’m one of those people who visit yarn shops, is drawn to small hand dyed yarn (if local even better), and then realizes that I can’t afford 5 hanks. Then, as if the dyer knows me, I find ONE perfect skein with ALL the colors I want! 😊 however, I don’t want an unexpected patterning of the colors because, to me, it can make the colors look too different from the hank. The colors always look soft and perfect when hanked up and look harsh to me when lines and pools show up. All of that is to say, I really appreciate the time you put into a video like this. Thanks! PS my Simple Thing scarf is my most worn knit this spring. It’s SO squishy and awesome!

[@lindas5964]

This is exactly me! I got to the point where I didn’t want to use the yarn because when I worked it up it never looked lovely like the skein anymore. But then I knit “Flora Daze” and I LOVED it. It was a mingling in garter stitch, one color weaving into and out of another until yet another color joined the fun. I still didn’t understand why that scarf turned out so well when my sweaters were all harsh looking. Then I read some stuff with Dawn Barker who dyes yarn expressly for highlighting variegated yarn in a pleasant way. Problem solved! Now I can have the lovely skeins AND a lovely knitted item!

[@KnittingAlongTheRockies]

Oh! I’ll have to look into that pattern!

[@MaryIannacone]

I love the Papllion shawl. Variegated yarn for the main color is fabulous. I’m making one right now and I love it 😍

[@ReneMarion-f1l]

This video was so helpful in choosing a pattern for a variegated yarn I purchased. I generally do not selected them for the reasons Nerdy Knitting mentions, so loved these recommendations!

[@Izzyic7505]

Thank you for all the work you do to produce this information. I was gifted a highly variegated colourful yarn and used in in the free Reyna shawl by Nora Buckland. Yarn was All You Need is Love in the colourway Murmur. Ravelry shows the colourway has blue ish but mine was pink, red, green, really rainbow. It was an easy knit and blocked out beautifully.

[@eternity2121]

The Rock It Tee is another really good choice for variegated yarns. I making one with two different yarns a more tonal and a variegated and I’m loving the look.

[@NerdyKnitting]

Great suggestion!

[@CherylKotecki]

Great video in every way! Thank you!! I made simple infinity scarf/cowl using a mosaic chevron pattern, carried with a beautiful, solid laceweight yarn, and a contrasting plain yarn that I really like. I loved the variegated in the skein, but really hated it knitted. And it was actually a soothing calm variegate, with my favorite analogous colors (Blue, Turquoise and Green) - it just wasn't my cup o' tea by itself. I also used it in my Simple Something (Ankestrick) where again, it was held with a matching solid and worked well with my assortment of scrap yarns.

[@valeriehowden471]

Great patterns. I've always purchased 1 skein of variegated fingering to make socks. Will have to investigate those sweaters. Thanks

[@anngladstone9130]

Thanks for another great variegated video! I have challenged myself with keeping a brioche pattern in my WIPs so I don't forget how to brioche (I'll forget after a couple years). I love the 2 color versions, so I plan on doing Suzanne Sommer's Brioche Mosaic Trilogy next with 2 solid skeins and 1 variegated. I have done the Easy, which is a good name for it. You start out at one corner, steadily increasing one side while slowly decreasing the other. At the 50% point, you'll start off small, increasing the outside as before while purling stitches together along the 'seam'.

[@paulapovirk3322]

I really like feather and fan for variegated yarns. I make a lot of baby afghans this way.

[@siobhanyamada-gu8dr]

I recently had this dilemma with wanting to make a sweater out of a highly variegated yarn. I ended up determining that a crochet top, crocheted across (from wrist to wrist) instead of top-down or bottom-up, with a half-double crochet stitch works amazing for breaking up the color pooling. I’m excited to use the website you mentioned with other yarns in the future. 😊 Thanks for sharing so many great tips. 6:59

[@ms89012]

I’m about 1/2 done with the second sock of a pair of Hermione’s everyday sock with a variegated yarn and I love how the pair has worked up! The variegation makes the texture pattern more subtle but the texture makes the socks look more like watercolor and less stripes or pooling.

[@ryankurth8080]

This video was so inspiring! I normally can't afford pretty variegated hand-dyed yarns, but I found a sweaters quantity of some at the thrift shop a few weeks ago and could not pass it up. Problem is I'm now struggling to decide what to do with it! I was planning on suggesting Dawn Barker's assigned pooling patterns before you mentioned them; she has a ton that I love. My favorite is her Murder of Crows Sweater, though it requires that you have some pretty specific yarn, so it's not super generalizable.

[@undertheolivetreeknits]

Thanks for the shout out for the City Lights shawl! 🥰 This is a great video to show what patterns work well with variegated yarns.

[@NerdyKnitting]

You are so welcome!

[@crys6375]

I’m knitting the Steggie shawl by Noriko Ho. It’s a great stash buster pattern but also really fun for variegated yarn. I’m using a fade of colors from La Bien Aimee and the color transitions are really beautiful in this pattern.

[@NerdyKnitting]

That sounds lovely!

[@nataliadie]

James N. Watt has several patterns using modular construction, where variegated yarns, especially those with long variegation sections can come into use: (Sungazer, Beads of Joy, and Penta Pillar pullover)

[@NerdyKnitting]

Thanks for the suggestion!

[@rachellarsen9614]

The favorite technique I've seen with variegated yarn is planned pooling, where you use stitch counts with the colors to make a pattern that looks checkered or like plaid. It's time for yarn has a good intro to crochet planned pooling, I've seen it in knit as well, I just haven't done it.

[@NerdyKnitting]

Oh, yes, planned pooling looks so neat! I think that could be a series of videos all about that topic!

[@susandouglas8187]

Another technique for using variegated yarn is short rows. I’m thinking of freeform short rows following the color patterning in the yarn to form little “hills” in the knitting. I’ve experimented some and it doesn’t have to be exact. As long as you compensate for the previous hills eventually in subsequent rows (by making more hills), you can keep the knitting pretty flat. This might be interesting for yarns with random and fairly short stretches of color. It’s all bit rogue, but it’s fun. Of course, there are also plenty of conventional short-row patterns that make good use of long stretches of color in a more orderly fashion.

[@NerdyKnitting]

Yes, that would work well too!

[@theodoranorton4779]

I have enjoyed this series very much, as I love variegated yarns. However, the whole tone of the series is that color change is rather a problem to be overcome. I find that the most important factor in optimizing color change yarns is consistency. A scarf or straight stole is the best way to show off the colorway that attracted you to buy it. If you want a cardigan, choose a design that uses same-size rectangles, juggling sleeve width and front and back pieces as necessary. If front and/or back is one piece, use two skeins and switch in the center. Real fanatics can do an initial sort-through of the skeins to gain some control of all the starting points. I just like to let the yarn do its thing,, which is certainly no sin. If you dislike pooling, etc., choose a plain yarn, or try copying a pattern from the yarn producer, as closely as possible.

[@NerdyKnitting]

I'm sorry you found the tone to be negative - that wasn't my intention.

[@cherylvelker4248]

“A scarf or straight stole is the best way to show off the colorway that attracted you to buy it.” This isn’t always true. I’m working now with a variegated yarn I bought that looked to be light and airy with splotches of color. The fabric it’s making in stockinette is much darker overall than I expected.

[@netty062]

Several of the patterns you mentioned here actually use colour changing yarns as opposed to variegated yarns, but of course you could use them. I don't think they would be nearly as effective as a yarn that changes colour, or striping as you called them. Andrea Mowry's Night Shift is one that I have made several times and a colour changing yarn is what makes it.

[@mrscarlier]

I listened to the end to see if you actually like these yarns.all of your comments concern fixing problems. I love the color changes of variegated yarns and I can’t put the project down because each stitch adds new personality. I wish this video shared my joy.

[@lindas5964]

I don’t think she meant any shade towards variegated yarn at all. And actually it seems the patterns she suggested actually accentuate the variegation. She’s just giving some options if you prefer a different look than just plain stockinette.

[@cherylvelker4248]

If you listened to the beginning. She says some people like to let the yarn do its thing and others don’t like pooling etc. she wasn’t inferring that was wrong, just offering suggestions for those who do. I love variegated yarns, but sometimes, when it does what it does, it can be disappointing and not what you expected.

[@lyndakuit7703]

Mary Annarella of Lyrical Knits has great shawl patterns that would work fantastically with a combo of variegated and solids. She also uses a variety of stitch patterns in her shawls. Le Pouf Sweater and Le Pouf Cardigan (on Hedgehof Fibres and Ravelry) are patterns for variegated yarns.

[@NerdyKnitting]

Thanks for some new recommendations!

[@YarnJourneysMelanie]

Dawn Barker patterns are best knit with hand dyed yarns specifically designed for assigned pooling projects. She partnered with Madeline Tosh to design those yarns - check out Murder of Crows. I love knitting assigned pooling shawls - so fun because it’s easy to memorize the pattern and the yarn tells you when to switch stitches. The Bright Side shawl is knit with Cozy Color Works assigned pooling yarn - great travel and TV knitting project.

[@claretrevor8111]

Great patterns! I’ve found helical knitting (with a neutral) can break up variegated yarns…

[@KoalaMela]

Can you please share the pattern or pic of Hitchhiker Scarf you mentioned?

[@NerdyKnitting]

Here you go - www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hitchhiker

[@MicheleStott]

You didnt mention linen stitch. I had a gorgeous ball of variegated yarn that i frogged twice too much pooling and it just looked ugly. I put it onto my needles as a linen stitch cowl and its perfect.Sometimes you just have to figure out what the yarn wants to be and let it leadyou.

[@eugeniashen4819]

A great topic!

[@joanmachado9063]

Great podcast

[@saulemaroussault6343]

Of course there’s The Nightshift shawl on the thumbnail !

[@Easystyling-1]

So nice

[@carolyncaverly2190]

Assigned pooling

[@NerdyKnitting]

That could be a whole video series all on its own!

[@mollymaryna6118]

Hi everyone. I understand that velvet yarn stretch out with time. What pattern is best for velvet yarn that can bring down the stretching? Happy knitting everyone!!!