How to Change Colours Cleanly

A clean colour change is the moment one yarn hands over to the next without a knot, a gap or a fuzzy half-and-half edge — the quiet skill behind every picture that’s worked in yarn. It’s how the drop bear’s colours change inside the stitch itself, how the tapestry coasters keep their backs tidy, and how a swooping magpie gets his sharp black-and-white lines while working in the round.

Step by step

Learn the golden rule of crochet colour changes: finish the last stitch of the old colour with the new colour. Work the stitch as usual until two loops sit on your hook, then yarn over with the new colour and pull through — the stitch closes in the old colour, and the next stitch starts perfectly clean in the new one.
In tapestry crochet, carry the colour you’re not using inside your stitches: lay it along the top of the previous row and crochet over it, so it travels invisibly and is ready and waiting when its turn comes. That’s how our road sign pieces change colour a dozen times in a row and still keep tidy backs.
Keep carried yarns at an even tension as you go — too loose and the hidden colour grins through the stitches in front of it; too tight and the whole fabric puckers and narrows. A gentle stretch of the work every few stitches keeps the width honest.
For big solid blocks of colour in knitting, don’t carry the yarn at all — use intarsia instead, with a separate bobbin per block and a twist at every join (see our How to Work Intarsia page). Carrying is for stripes and tapestry; blocks want bobbins.
Joining a new colour at the start of a knitted row is simpler: drop the old yarn, pick up the new one, and knit on, leaving a tail of about 10 cm at both ends. Resist the knot — knots work loose and poke through to the front; woven-in tails hold forever.
In the round, a colour change leaves a little step, or “jog”, where the new round starts one stitch higher than the old one ended. It softens a lot if you work the first stitch of the new colour firmly and keep the join at the back or under an arm — the magpie’s bands and amigurumi stripes benefit most.
On a chart, change colours square by square: in charted tapestry work, each square’s colour is the colour of that whole stitch, and the golden rule from step 1 is what makes every square land crisp (see our How to Read a Chart page).
Weave in every end along its own colour, in two directions, on the back of the work. An end woven through a neighbouring colour can shadow through pale stitches, and an end left dangling at an edge will eventually wriggle out to say hello.
Finish with a gentle block (see our How to Block Your Work page): pinning out relaxes the colour joins, flattens tapestry fabric beautifully, and evens out the tiny tension differences that every colour change leaves behind.

Patterns that use it

Aussie Colour Doilies & Coaster-Doilies Crochet Patterns | Southern Cross Star Doily, Gum Leaf Doily, 4 Coasters PDF

Drop Bear Warning Sign Crochet Pattern | Funny Aussie Tapestry Wall Hanging, Dowel Sleeve & Fringe PDF

Kangaroo Road Sign Coasters & Mug Rugs Crochet Patterns | Aussie Tapestry Table Set PDF

Swooping Magpie Crochet Pattern | Funny Aussie Amigurumi Bird PDF, Hanging Magpie Decor, Crochet Bird Pattern, Instant Download

Cushion Covers Crochet Patterns Vol 2 | Coastal Banksia & Waratah Tapestry Cushion Covers 40cm Aussie Flora PDF

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Common mistakes

Swapping to the new colour at the start of a stitch instead of closing the last stitch of the old colour with it. That makes a fuzzy half-and-half stitch right on the boundary, exactly where the eye goes. Finish the stitch in the new colour and the join disappears.
Tying a knot at every join to feel safe. Knots work loose, poke through to the front, and leave a hard little lump in the fabric — a 10 cm tail woven in along its own colour holds far better.
Leaving long, loose loops of carried yarn across the back of knitted work. They catch on fingers and buttons, pull the front stitches out of shape, and the colour you meant to hide starts shadowing through.

Tina’s tips

Where the pattern leaves the choice to you, make your changes at the same edge or the same side of the work every time. All the ends then live together in one place, where a seam, an edging or the back of the piece keeps them out of sight.
Weave the ends in as you finish each section, not in one great session at the end. Forty ends in a sitting is a chore that gets rushed; four ends with a cuppa beside you is nothing at all.