This is my first test for Rachel Illsley of North Yorkshire, United Kingdom. She’s a real pro at colorwork designs.

The cobweb yarn is from China. Fiber content is:
30% Mohair, 20% Merino Wool, 50% Polyester
The cobweb was only held together with the lighter (Melon) color yarn to give the “filigree” an extra pop of color.

I held the main color in my left hand and the ornamental color in my right hand. I probably should have done it the opposite way (by convention).

Color Dominance:

Generally, it’s best to hold the background color in your right hand and the decorative color in your left hand. That way the decorative color will be underneath and the background color on top (as viewed from the wrong side). The causes the decorative color to stand out more on the right side of the fabric.

I did 15 rounds of Chart B before dividing sleeves and body.

Needles used:

Size 1.5 US - All ribbing (bind off using JSSBO with same size needles)

Size 2.5 US - Everything else

Finished Measurements:

Body length from underarm - 13” (including 2.25” ribbing)

Sleeve length from underarm - 19.5” (including 2.25” ribbing)

Bust circumference - 39”

Hip circumference - 45”
There is absolutely no body shaping. It’s straight all the way from underarm to bottom edge. The reason for the different measurements at bust and bottom edge is that I stretched out my knitting so much while doing the Ladder Back Jacquard technique. This was an attempt to get rid of the resulting “bubbles.” I obviously need some practice with this technique.

Armhole depth - 8.5” approx. (I divided sleeves and body after completing round 15 of Chart 2.)

What I did differently:

I did not do any decreasing on the sleeves until just before the cuffs.

Sleeve cuff decreasing (2 rounds prior), starting with 90 sleeve sts:

Rnd 1: (K2, K2tog) all around, K4 last time - 68 sts

Rnd 2: (K2, K2tog) all around - 52 sts

Then I changed to the smaller needle to do 20 rounds of 1 x 1 ribbing. Bound off using JSSBO with same size needle.

Information on color dominance in stranded knitting

Ladder Back Jacquard Technique Video
I was not pleased with the outcome of my LBJ technique even though I followed Rachel’s video instructions to the letter. It caused bubbles on the surface of the fabric. I doubt that I’ll use this technique again, but I just had to try it. It looks much better after blocking. However, I prefer my usual technique to this one. I urge you to try it on a large swatch rather than on an actual garment because colorwork is difficult to frog.

Reading Rachel’s Colourwork Charts

Stranded Colourwork with Two Colours Video

Catching Floats Video

Correcting Colourwork Mistakes One Row Below

Modifying Short Row Shaping for Broader Shoulders

I use Tatyana’s (Heavenlyclassy on Ravelry) technique for knitting with two colors as shown in this video. Note that this method only works when knitting in the round. With this method, you will see no floats on the wrong side. However, for this project, I did not catch the floats nearly as often, but at least after every 5 stitches.