Catching Floats in Long Stranded Sections
When a stranded colourwork pattern has more than 5 stitches between colour changes, the unused colour's float becomes long enough to catch on fingers and toes when wearing the garment. Catching the float — twisting it around the working colour mid-row — fixes the problem.
Recommended A printable technique cheat-sheet for your knitting bag.
When to catch
Always catch floats longer than 5 stitches in a worsted-weight project, longer than 7 stitches in fingering, and longer than 10 stitches in lace weight. The longer the float, the higher the catch.
Method
When you reach the midpoint of a long float, lay the unused colour over the working yarn before knitting the next stitch. The unused colour is now caught between the working stitch and the previous stitch on the wrong side.
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Visibility
A poorly-placed catch shows on the right side as a small "fleck" of the unused colour peeking through. Catch in the middle of a stitch (not at the edge) and stagger the catches across rows so they do not stack vertically.
Stranded mittens
For mittens (which have many long-float sections in traditional patterns), catch every 4 stitches as a default. The catches are invisible inside the mitten and prevent the floats from snagging on fingers.
Abbreviation reference
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| MC | main colour |
| CC | contrast colour |
Tips
- Catch every 4–5 stitches in worsted, every 6–7 in fingering.
- Stagger catches across rows so they do not stack vertically.
- For mittens, catch more frequently than for sweaters.
In depth
Catching floats prevents the unused colour from forming long, snaggy strands across the wrong side of stranded fabric. The trade-off is a slight risk of the catch showing on the right side, which is why placement and frequency matter — catches that are too tight or too poorly placed introduce visible "ghost" stitches in the wrong colour.