Easy Way to Hold Yarn for Stranded Knitting – English and Continental

The Easiest Way to Knit Stranded Colourwork

There are several ways to work with two or more colours in the same row or round – we can hold all strands in one hand (with or without a yarn guide), hold one strand in our left hand and one strand in our right hand, or hold just the strand used to work the current stitch.

I tried all of these ways and discovered that the third option is the easiest one. When we hold one strand at-a-time in the hand that we normally use to hold the working yarn, there is no need to fiddle with several strands or re-learn the whole process of knitting by trying to use the hand that doesn’t hold the yarn when we work in a solid colour.

With practice, we can get really fast and efficient when we drop unused strands every time we change colour in our project. And, we can use this method when we normally hold the working yarn in the left or in the right hand. In this tutorial, I’ll show you both ways.

This method is the same for Fair Isle and other stranded colour patterns worked with two colours, and for the colour patterns worked in three and more colours.


The full step-by-step photo tutorial about this method, is a part of the Knitting Collection #5. Once you order your copy of this collection, you will instantly receive a “big PDF” (336 pages!) with this and 46 other tutorials included in the collection.

You will also receive three knitting patterns as a special bonus, so go ahead and get it all right now before you forget 😊

Easy Way to Hold Yarn for Stranded Knitting - English and Continental | 10 rows a day
Easy Way to Hold Yarn for Stranded Knitting - English and Continental | 10 rows a day
Easy Way to Hold Yarn for Stranded Knitting - English and Continental | 10 rows a day

If you enjoyed this tutorial,
here’s something else you might find helpful:

“Matching Cast Ons and Bind Offs” Book

Discover six pairs of cast on and bind off methods that form identical edges on projects worked flat and in the round.

“Neat Side Edges” Book

Learn twelve ways to make side edges of a knitted project nice and tidy. Plus, ways to fix side edges, and a way to improve edges of finished projects.


Happy knitting!

Maryna Shevchenko - www.10rowsaday.com