Sometimes when working with more than one color in crochet, I’m thinking stripes, it is more practical, and economic, to carry the yarn and not cut it until you are finished with it.
Cutting the yarn creates more ends to weave in, very few of us actually enjoy that, and it often uses more yarn than carrying it would.
In the photo above I have carried the crimson yarn while working the white rounds. I carried the crimson over five half double crochet rounds. Six rounds is about as far as I would want to carry another yarn when working half double crochets. If I am working double crochets it’s about four rounds.
Use your best judgement for how many rounds you are comfortable carrying the yarn. The reason I don’t carry it for long stretches is because I don’t want to take the chance of pulling the carried yarn too tight and it changing the look of my work. I can best control that when it is over shorter distances.
When done properly, you can’t see the carried yarn on the right side, even when the piece is stretched out. The “seam” for this hat can be seen in the yellow that is just below the top right corner. The green yarn isn’t showing through the yellow yarn at all.
After you have changed to your new color, leave the dropped color behind and work the next round in the new color. When you have completed the current round, either by joining or getting back to the beginning if working in continuous rounds, as you work the first stitch of the next round, catch the old yarn in that stitch. Continue with the round, leaving the carried yarn behind.
Work in this manner until it is time to use the carried color again. If you forget to secure it on a round, maybe even two, that’s okay, just keep going. If you can’t live with it, go back and fix it or just call it a loss and cut the end to weave in later.
As you change to back to the carried color, snug up the carried yarn, but not too much. Keep in mind what the finished piece is and how that carried yarn will need to move.
Carrying the yarn is possible while working in rows as well, just slightly different. I will share about that in the future.
Happy Making!
Azariahs Fibre Arts 