Crocheting with two colors creates beautiful and intricate patterns and textures in your finished pieces. While it may seem daunting at first, crocheting with two colors is easy to learn with a bit of practice. In this comprehensive guide, you’ll learn several techniques for working with two colors, from basic methods like stranding and tapestry crochet to more advanced methods like intarsia and mosaic crochet. With step-by-step instructions and helpful pictures, you’ll be able to add colorful flair to all your crochet projects.
Benefits of Crocheting with Two Colors
There are many great reasons to give two-color crochet a try:
- Creates visual interest and texture: Using two colors instead of one adds extra dimension and visual appeal to your finished pieces.
- Allows for more intricate designs: Combining colors makes it possible to produce detailed colorwork patterns like Fair Isle and mosaic motifs.
- Uses less yarn: Carrying unused colors along rather than cutting saves yarn and weaves in ends as you go.
- Builds skills: Mastering two-color techniques expands your crochet knowledge and opens up many new projects.
- Adds versatility: Change up colors seasonally or make completely customizable pieces.
Whether you want to boost your skills or make complex patterns, crocheting with two colors is a valuable technique to learn.
Choosing Yarns for Two-Color Crochet
When selecting yarns for a two-color project, keep the following tips in mind:
- Choose similar weights and materials: Sticking with two yarns of comparable thickness and fiber type will help maintain even gauge.
- Match care instructions: Pick yarns that can be laundered the same way to avoid issues when cleaning your finished project.
- Consider color dominance: Pairing a thicker, darker yarn with a thinner, lighter one will make the darker yarn more dominant.
- Watch texture: Combing very fuzzy and very smooth yarns can make stitches difficult to see.
- Mind color pooling: Variegated and hand-dyed yarns may pool unpredictably when worked together.
Some great yarn pairings to try include:
- Worsted weight wool with worsted weight alpaca
- Sport weight cotton with sport weight linen
- Chunky wool with chunky acrylic
- DK weight cotton with DK weight bamboo
Always crochet a gauge swatch with both yarns before starting your project to check compatibility.
How to Hold Two Yarn Colors
There are several ways to hold two yarn strands while you work:
Yarns both in the same hand
Holding both yarn ends in one hand is efficient and leaves the other hand free for crocheting. Arrange the strands around your fingers to keep them separate and untwisted. Many crocheters hold the main color over the index finger and the contrasting color over the middle finger.
Yarns in separate hands
This traditional approach uses your non-dominant hand to manage the unused yarn color. Wrap each strand around a different hand to prevent tangling. Your crochet hand will drop one yarn to pick up the other as needed.
Yarn butterfly
For colorwork projects, wind both yarn ends into a butterfly (loop) attached to your project with a safety pin. Pull yarn from either side of the loop as you crochet. The butterfly keeps tension even between both strands.
Yarn floats
Letting unused yarns float loosely behind each row is common for tapestry and intarsia crochet. Control the floats periodically to keep them from getting unmanageably long.
Try out different holds to find what works best for you and your project. The key is maintaining even tension on both yarns.
Basic Two-Color Crochet Techniques
Once you’ve chosen your yarns and how to hold them, you’re ready to start crocheting. Here are some fundamental two-color techniques to get you started:
Tapestry Crochet
This method produces sturdy, reversible fabric by crocheting over yarn floats on every row. To work tapestry crochet:
- Hold both yarns A and B. Crochet one row with A as usual.
- At the end of the row, drop A and pick up B, leaving A floated across the back.
- Work one row with B, crocheting over the float of A to hide it.
- Drop B, pick up A again, and repeat steps 2-3 to continue the pattern.
Tapestry crochet creates a dense, two-sided fabric ideal for bags, rugs, and winter accessories.
Stranding
Stranding, also called carrying, catches floats across wrong side rows rather than every row. To strand:
- Hold both yarns A and B. Crochet one row with A.
- When the row ends, drop A and pick up B. Crochet one row with B.
- Catch the float of A across the back by crocheting over it every few stitches.
- Drop B, pick up A, and repeat steps 2-3 to continue straning.
Stranding makes a flexible, stretchy fabric great for colorwork garments and accessories.
Slip Stitch Color Change
This color switch method avoids long floats but produces a dense, stiff fabric. To change colors with slip stitches:
- Insert hook into next stitch and pull up a loop with color A.
- Slip stitch into that loop with color B to secure it.
- Continue working with color B. Fasten off color A when not in use.
Plan slip stitch color changes several stitches ahead to keep the fabric from drawing in too tightly.
Standing Stitches
You can also make clean color changes using standing stitches:
- Finish a row with color A. Do not turn or fasten off.
- Pull up a loop with color B and make any standing stitch like sc, hdc, dc, etc.
- Continue crocheting the new row with color B. Drop color A.
This gives a subtle, barely visible color change line. Use standing stitches to add short stripes of color.
Advanced Two-Color Crochet Techniques
Once you’re comfortable with the basics, try your hand at these more advanced methods:
Mosaic Crochet
Mosaic crochet combines colors in intricate two-row repeating patterns. Follow a chart and work color changes every two rows:
- Row 1 (RS): Work following chart with color A. Carry color B loosely across WS of piece.
- Row 2 (WS): Work following chart with color B. Carry color A loosely across RS of piece.
- Repeat rows 1-2 to create mosaic pattern.
Crochet tightly enough so carried floats don’t show through on the right side. Mosaic crochet takes practice but makes stunning reversible patterns.
Intarsia Crochet
Intarsia crochet creates color blocked designs by working sections of different colors separately. To crochet intarsia:
- Follow chart and fasten off unused colors when switching between sections.
- Twist yarns around each other when changing colors to prevent holes.
- Crochet over yarn tails periodically to weave them in as you go.
- Block piece when finished to straighten edges between color sections.
Keep close track of your yarns and be diligent about securing all ends. Follow an intarsia chart exactly for best results.
Tunisian Crochet
The unique process of Tunisian crochet lends itself well to working in two colors. To start:
- Do a foundation row in color A. Pick up color B.
- On return pass, work color changes as indicated in pattern.
- Repeat alternating foundation and return rows to form design.
Making clean color changes takes practice with Tunisian crochet’s special rhythm. But the results are striking colorwork fabrics.
Felting
For a fun spin on two colors, make a slip stitch piece with both yarns held together. Felt the finished fabric:
- Crochet loosely at a larger gauge using wool yarn.
- Wash and agitate piece in very hot water to felt the fibers together.
- Shock in cold water and let air dry to complete felting process.
The yarns blend together during felting for smears and streaks of color. Experiment with combining colors before and after felting.
Tips for Managing Two Yarn Colors
Crocheting with two colors presents some unique challenges. Here are handy tips for handling multi-color projects:
- Use stitch markers between color sections to track stitch counts.
- Keep close track of carried yarn floats to prevent snags or gaps in fabric.
- Unwind small amounts of yarn from balls or cakes to prevent tangling.
- Try using a yarn bowl to keep each strand separate and untwisted.
- Crochet from the bottom up to confine messy floating yarns inside a project.
- Work colorwork motifs in the round whenever possible to avoid stranding across rows.
Stay focused, work slowly, and don’t be afraid to rip out and redo tangled areas. With practice, you’ll gain confidence managing multiple yarns.
Two-Color Crochet Patterns to Try
Here are some great beginner patterns for learning two-color crochet:
Striped Beanies
Alternating simple stripes of different colors lets you practice fastening on and off yarns and weaving in ends. A beanie worked in the round prevents long strands across rows.
Granny Stripe Blankets
The iconic granny square stitched together into a blanket provides defined areas to change yarn colors between motifs.
C2C Graphghans
C2C, or corner to corner crochet, makes it easy to follow graphed designs in two colors using the stranding method.
Reversible Scrappy Scarves
Tapestry crochet scarves with random colors produce cool reversible pieces that use up your yarn stash.
Classic Fair Isle Hats
Replicate the iconic stranded colorwork of traditional Scottish Fair Isle knitting with a crocheted hat.
Mosaic Pillow Covers
Make a statement with vivid mosaic crochet pillows. Changing colors every two rows creates geometric patterns.
Troubleshooting Common Two-Color Crochet Issues
When working with two yarns, you may encounter some snags along the way. Here’s how to troubleshoot some potential problems:
Tangled floats and yarns
- Keep unused strands under gentle tension while working to prevent snags.
- Unwind only a small amount of yarn from your balls or cakes at a time.
- Stop periodically to untwist and untangle strands.
Uneven color tension
- Make sure you are not crocheting too tightly with one color compared to the other.
- Try using a yarn butterfly to feed both strands for even tension.
- If one color is much loftier than the other, hold the loftier yarn double for balanced thickness.
Gaps between color blocks
- Twist yarns together when changing colors and spread stitches out to close gaps.
- Overlap color boundaries by a few stitches to seamlessly bridge color changes.
- Work tightly and evenly to prevent holes when colors meet.
Loose carried strands on reverse side
- Catch floats more frequently by crocheting over them every few stitches.
- Maintain gentle tension on unused yarns as you work rows.
- Consider double stranding very loose floats to snug them up.
Stay observant as you crochet, and you’ll get better at avoiding problems with every project!
Conclusion
Crocheting with two colors opens up an exciting new world of patterns beyond plain single-colored projects. While it takes some extra effort, the spectacular results are more than worth it. Relish the chance to grow your skills by meeting the challenges of combining colors. With the techniques covered here, you’ll be able to add beautiful colorful dimension to all your crochet work. What will you make next in two, three, or even more colors? Happy crafting!
| Colorwork Technique | Key Features | Best Uses |
|---|---|---|
| Tapestry Crochet | – Crochets over floats on every row – Creates double-sided fabric – Dense, stiff texture |
– Bags – Rugs – Thick winter wear |
| Stranding | – Catches floats every few rows – Softer drape than tapestry crochet – Stretchy fabric |
– Garments – Accessories – Toys |
| Mosaic Crochet | – Two-row repeating color pattern – Creates reversible motifs – Advanced technique |
– Pillows – Blankets – Shawls |
| Intarsia Crochet | – Works color blocks in separate sections – Joins colors by twisting yarns – Requires following charts |
– Sweaters – Motif blankets – Graphghans |
