Design Files

Spotlight On: Colorwork

It is no secret that we have been fans of stranded colorwork for years and years – some of our first published colorwork designs were back in 2007, before Kelbourne Woolens was even founded! Coincidentally, they were in Manos del Uruguay, who we just worked with on our Collaboration Collection!

Kick off Time (2007) / Courtney Kelley in Manos del Uruguay Wool Clásica

Colorwork can take many forms, but our tried-and-true favorite is stranded colorwork (oft referred to as Fair Isle, although this isn’t always the case).

Some of our favorite designs feature Selbu-inspired stranded colorwork, such as Selbu Modern 2.0 or Rainier by Kate.

Selbu Modern 2.0 / Kate Gagnon Osborn in Camper

A Chinese American woman with intricately braided hair wearing Rainier, a Setesdal inspired stranded colorwork sweater in Kelbourne Woolens Scout.

Rainier / Kate Gagnon Osborn in Scout

We also absolutely adore Bohus knitting, and Courtney has done quite a bit of research on the subject while working on some of her designs like Jenny and Patsy.

Patsy

Jenny and Patsy / Courtney Kelley in Andorra

Traditional Fair Isle colorwork is a really fun way to play with multiple colors in a project. Courtney’s Ridley Creek hat and scarf set uses eight colors to amazing effect!

Ridley Creek / Courtney Kelley in Camper

Also in Camper, Presque Isle by Kate is a classic example of an Icelandic yoke sweater. While we both have a few Lopi Icelandic sweaters in our closets, Kate opted to use Camper for this lighter weight and multi-seasonal version.

Presque Isle / Kate Gagnon Osborn in Camper

We love it when designers use our yarns to create colorwork masterpieces of their own. Check out some recent favorites below!

Do you have a favorite colorwork technique? Let us know!

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