Why a third method? Well, the first two "as you go" methods for color knitting--the Russian join and the back join--are both bulky, featuring doubled stitches on the face of the fabric. But the overcast method features no doubled stitches at all--the tails are worked in "as you go" ONLY on the fabric back. (Ok, I'm lying, a tiny bit of the tail appears on the front, but you ABSOLUTELY cannot see it.) Because a lot less tail yarn is incorporated into your fabric, the result is a more delicate join, suitable for fancy work and narrow stripes.
This technique is called the overcast method because the tail is held in by fabric stitches "cast" over the tail yarn, the same way an embroidered overcast stitch holds in the floss laid under it. Specifically, the standing yarn is knitted by reaching first "over" then "under" the tail yarn. The illustration above combines the overcast method with the jogless stripe method--the (many, many) tails of these socks were worked in as the socks were knit. The only finishing involved clipping the tails flush with the fabric back after the socks were washed once. (Another view of these socks is here.) The tension for the overcast method is adjusted afterwards, so the only real error you can make is if you accidentally knit a stitch using the tail yarn, instead of the standing yarn. If you DO knit a stitch using the tail yarn, you will NOT be able to pull on the tail yarn to adjust the tension, because the tail yarn will have been fastened down onto the fabric face--you'll have to rip back and do it over.
The overcast method is usually used in circular knitting--round and round. This is because back-and-forth knitters will usually change color at the fabric edge. Therefore, the illustrations in this post all show the overcast method in circular knitting. (It IS, however, possible to adapt the overcast method to back-and-forth knitting, and instructions for doing that are towards the end of this post.)
The overcast method involves three steps.
- BACKWARD overcast (work in old tail)
- INTERMISSION: switch to the new color, and work one round of plain knitting,
- FORWARD overcast (work in new tail)
So, fasten your seatbelts, and here we go with the...BACKWARD OVERCAST
Suppose you are knitting in orange yarn (old color), and you want to switch to blue (new color), the first step is to finish up in orange, and work in the orange tail. Here's how to do both those things at once, using the backward overcast:
1. Knit the orange yarn to within some even number of the change point--to within perhaps 8 or 10 stitches in thin yarn, or perhaps within 6 or 8 stitches in heavy yarn. Loop the standing yarn over your tension finger so that the yarn coming from the work (the "working yarn") is in coming FROM BEHIND over your tensioning finger, and the yarn coming from the ball of yarn (the "tail yarn") is in front. For clarity, the tail in the illustration is yellow, although, of course, in the real world the tail would be the same color as the working yarn (orange). It will be much easier to do the overcasting if you can figure out how to hold the tail firmly against the back face of the fabric with a stray finger or two--this will put tension on the loop of yarn and make all the following maneuvers easier.
2. (Below) Create the first part of the backward overcast, the "over stitch," as follows: with your right needle, reach OVER the tail yarn, then hook the working yarn in the usual manner, and make a stitch. As the illustration below shows, the working yarn is wrapped over the tensioning finger from behind--the OPPOSITE from the way the yarn usually lies. As the illustration below also shows, the idea of reaching "over" the tail is pretty much the same idea as reaching "in front of" the tail.
3. (Below) Create the second part of the backward overcast, the "under stitch," as follows: with your right needle reach UNDER the tail yarn (yellow), then hook the working yarn (orange) in the usual manner, and make another stitch. As the illustration below shows, the idea of reaching "under" the tail is pretty much the same idea as reaching "behind."
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3. As you run out of yarn in the loop over your tensioning finger, pull more yarn into the loop from the tail; again, the tail is not fastened down to the fabric face but only has stitches cast over it on the back. As shown in the illustration between steps 5 and 6, the tail yarn runs along the back of the fabric, free to slide back and forth--it doesn't slide easily, but it does slide.5. When you get to the color-change point, you should have ended with an "under stitch." The remainder of the yarn you had over your finger will lay as a loop on the fabric back, as shown in the illustration below.
6. Interlock the new yarn (blue) with the old yarn (orange) by threading the blue yarn through the last loop of the old yarn. Pull out a nice long tail of the blue (several inches, at least) and leave it hanging on the back of the fabric. Again, for clarity, the blue yarn has been given a light blue tail, although, of course, in the real world both portions of the new yarn would be the same color, and the worked-in tails would be invisible (as they are in the opening photo illustration of this post).7. Pull the tail of the old yarn carefully to tighten, until the last orange loop over the right needle has the same tension as the rest of the orange stitches and the blue is snug against the back. This completes the backward overcast sequence. As shown in the illustration between steps 5 and 6, the tail of the old yarn (yellow) is now held down on the fabric back by the over-and-under action you did as you knit the last several stitches of the orange yarn.
The INTERMISSION
The next phase of the work is to work one round plain in blue. Therefore, leaving the light blue tail dangling on the back of the work, work one round in blue.
The FORWARD OVERCAST
1. (Optional) if you want your color change to be jogless, slip the first blue stitch you made right after the color change point. (The opening photo illustration of this post features jogless stripes made by this option.)
2. (below) You will now create the first stitch of the forward overcast sequence on the next stitch presenting on the left needle. (If you did select the jogless option this would be the SECOND blue stitch. If you did not select the jogless option, this would be the FIRST blue stitch. For comparison, the illustration below is NOT jogless, the second illustration of this post--above--IS jogless.) Take the tail of the blue yarn into your yarn-feeding hand, and, using a spare finger or two, anchor the tail so it is in front of the standing yarn (standing yarn-yarn coming from ball). Again, for clarity, the tail is illustrated in light blue, although in the real world, the tail and the standing yarn of the ball you are adding would be the same color. Now, just as with the backward overcast, use your right needle to reach OVER the tail yarn (light blue) then hook the working yarn (blue) in the usual manner, and make a stitch.
3. (below) Create the second stitch of the forward overcast sequence as follows: with your right needle reach UNDER the tail yarn, then hook the working yarn in the usual manner, and make another stitch.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you've overcast the tail by about the same number of stitches as you overcast the tail in the backward sequence. In other words, if you worked 8 stitches over-and-under the tail with the backward sequence, work 7 or 8 stitches over-and-under the tail with the forward sequence. After these stitches are worked, drop the tail and continue knitting onwards with the standing yarn.At a good stopping spot, re-adjust the tail tension. The forward overcast usually needs less adjustment than the backward part of the overcast. In the forward overcast, the tail is not part of the same loop as the working yarn, so you will not have had any problem running out of yarn--there will have been no need to slide tail yarn into the loop around your finger. The backward overcast will need more attention, because you will have scrunched up the fabric somewhat by sliding the tail yarn under the overcast stitches to deliver more yarn to the loop over your finger, and then scrunched it back the other way when snugging up the interlock. Therefore, be sure to stretch the fabric back and forth over a fingernail to smooth out the fabric and evenly distribute the tail, especially on the backward overcast portion. Snip the excess of the tails off, leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch hanging. Make up the garment and block it, re-adjust the tension of any loose join one more time, then clip the excess of the tail even with the back of the fabric.
MODIFICATIONS
As is evident, the thinnest stripe you can make this this method is 3 rounds high--any narrower and the backwards overcast of the old color would run right into the forwards overcast of the new color. If you MUST have 2 round high stripes, skip the intermission step, and simply work the forward overcast on the same round as the backward overcast. Also: if you choose the jogless option as it is written here, you will create "traveling" jogless stripes. For more information, or to modify the work to "stationary" jogless stripes, click here.TRUE CONFESSIONS
1. If you mistakenly do an "over" where you should have done an "under," or an "under" where you should have done an "over," it really does not matter. You can even end on an "over"
instead of an "under," like you're supposed to, and that doesn't really make a lot of difference, either--your loop will lay a little crooked, that's all. In fact, the only REAL error is to mistakenly knit with the tail yarn, instead of casting over it. You can test for that error by giving your tail yarn a little tug after each over or under stitch. If the tail moves, you're still on the right track. If it doesn't, tink back to where you mistakenly knitted the tail onto the fabric surface and do it again.2. The fact is, that even though the instructions say to do it, and even though that's the way it is illustrated, I personally do NOT wrap the yarn over my tensioning finger "backwards" (tail in front) when I do the overcast. I leave it looped on the regular way (tail in back). I show it different than I do it because experience dictates that its easier to LEARN (and illustrate!) the overcast with the tail yarn held in front. Once you get the hang of the overs and unders, you'll have no trouble adapting to do the overcast method with the yarn wrapped the regular way over your tensioning finger. And of course, once you gain the experience to overcast from a regular wrap position, you can do the overcast method at pretty much the same speed as you knit--it might take a bit to get that fast, so hang in there.
The OVERCAST method in BACK and FORTH knitting
To work the overcast method in back-and-forth knitting, you work the backward overcast on the last row of the old color, as you get within 6 or 8 stitches of the end of the row. You switch yarns at the edge by looping the old yarn through the new yarn, as illustrated above, and then you work the tail of the new yarn into the next row by the forward overcast. If you like, you can reduce bulk by separating the two overcast rows--work the first row of the new color plain, and work another backward overcast to work in the tail of the new color as you come within 6 or 8 stitches the color change spot on the second row of the new color.MORE HELP
If you find you are having trouble with the concept here, you may want to practice your "overs and unders" with a very similar sort of work--called the disappearing loop method for casting on. Rather than messing with your knitted fabric, practising the disappearing loop only requires a few inches of yarn. While the action is not exactly the same, if you master the overs and unders of the disappearing loop, you'll be miles ahead on the overcast method.A FINAL PEP TALK
in the form of a movie script, accompanied by an imaginary soundtrack
(The scene: The camera focuses on a hand, scratching a head in puzzlement. The focus pulls back to wide angle, to reveal that the scratcher is a preoccupied blog reader, sitting before a computer, reading intently. The focus now pans in, again, slowly. The reader gradually becomes aware that violin music is starting softly in the background. Startled, the reader looks around, then turns back to the computer. The camera keeps panning until it is focused tight on the computer screen. The following words appear.)in the form of a movie script, accompanied by an imaginary soundtrack
"Overs and unders" can be confusing, especially if you have to teach them to yourself while sitting in front of your computer. However, it really will be worth your time to master this maneuver. Once you do, you can kiss your sharp needles GOODBYE! (The background music swells, its tempo increases.) All you'll need for working in ends will be your knitting needles, and a pair of scissors to trim the excess. The hour or two you put into practising the overcast method will repay you many times in the future. Think how you'll be able to add lots of color to any knitting, knowing you are...yes... free from the nasty, nasty job of working in all those ends! (Music reaches triumphant conclusion, reader nods to self and says "I can do that!" The camera pulls back to a final wide angle shot, and the reader is seen rushing from the room to fetch yarn, knitting needles and scissors.)--TECHknitter
PS: Here is a link to a post with 10 (!) different methods of working in ends in knitting, eight of which are "as you go."
(You have been reading TECHknitting on: the overcast method for joining yarns in multi-color knitting.)