How to Tapestry Crochet with Multiple Colours
When you begin learning tapestry crochet, the focus is on working with two colours, and that’s a sensible place to start. But once you’ve got the basics, adding a third or fourth colour opens up a whole new level of design possibility. The more detailed colourwork patterns, the richness of a multi-colour palette, the way a design can shift and come alive when more shades are in play – all of that becomes possible.
Working with more yarns does bring extra things to think about but in my experience the results are well worth it. You get the hang of it faster than you might expect too. This post covers the practical side: managing your yarns, keeping your tension consistent, choosing colours that will show up your pattern clearly, and working out how many colours is realistically comfortable to handle at once.
For a full introduction to the technique in general, the Tapestry Crochet Hub is the place to start.
How Many Colours Can You Use?
In theory, there’s no upper limit. But in practice, I find four colours at once is a comfortable maximum for most projects. Beyond four, the fabric becomes noticeably denser (because you have more carried yarns running through your stitches), and the yarn management becomes quite fiddly rather than just a little more involved.
That said, the right number for your project depends on a few things:
The design itself. Some patterns use a colour only briefly before dropping it for several rows – those are easier to manage than a design where all of the colours are active throughout.
Your yarn weight. The thicker the yarn, the bulkier the carried strands inside each stitch. With DK weight, four colours is quite workable. With aran, you might find three is more comfortable.
The stitch. If you’re working with three or four colours, taller stitches are generally more accommodating than shorter ones. In tapestry crochet, the carried yarns run along the base of each stitch, but what proportion of the overall stitch height that represents varies depending on which stitch you’re using. With single crochet, which is a very short stitch, the carried yarns take up a larger fraction of it than with taller stitches. This has a noticeable effect on the density and drape of the fabric. With half double crochet or double crochet, the carried yarns still sit at the base, but the stitch is tall enough that the rest of the stitch is largely unaffected. That leaves more room for the fabric to retain its drape.
The project. Extra density isn’t always a problem and it can actually be an asset for items like bags, baskets, wall hangings, or anything that benefits from a firmer structure.
Choosing Your Hook Size
For tapestry crochet in general, I’d suggest going down half a millimetre or so from the hook size recommended on your yarn label. A slightly smaller hook keeps the stitches tighter, which helps cover the carried yarns more effectively and gives a neater result.
However, when you’re working with three or four colours, you may find you need to adjust back up, perhaps half a size larger than you’d use for a two-colour project (so possibly back up to the recommended hook size for your yarn). The extra carried strands add bulk inside the stitch, and if your hook is too small, the stitches can feel too tight.
The honest answer though is that it varies between yarns and between crocheters, so the best approach is to work a small test swatch with your chosen yarn and hook, assess how it looks and feels, and adjust from there. Taking the time to swatch before you start can save a lot of frustration later.
Choosing Your Colours
With two colours, contrast is fairly straightforward: light and dark, and the pattern is clear. With three or four colours, it takes a little more thought.
Usually, the most important thing is that wherever two colours appear next to each other in the design, there’s enough contrast between them for the pattern to show up clearly. A mid-tone blue and a mid-tone green placed next to each other can blur the design, even if both colours are individually beautiful. Step back from your colour choices and squint at them: if the colours merge together at a distance, they’ll do the same in the finished fabric. However, some times of course this more subtle distinction between adjacent colours might be exactly the effect you want so it does depend on the design and your own preference.
It’s also worth thinking about the proportions of each colour in the finished piece, not just the combination as a whole. If one colour is going to act as a background, it will most likely dominate the blanket as it’s present in far more stitches than the others, and that changes how it looks in context. A colour used only as an accent, in smaller areas or fewer stitches, will be much less prominent than it might appear when you’re looking at the balls of yarn side by side. A shade that seems bold and striking on its own can almost disappear if it’s only used sparingly in the design.
One useful way to check this before you start is to make a rough sketch of the pattern and colour it in using shades similar to what you’re planning. It doesn’t need to be precise – even a quick pencil sketch coloured with felt tips will give you a much better sense of how the colours will sit together at scale than just laying the yarn balls next to each other.
For more on this, my post on how to choose colours for your crochet blanket goes into the detail.
Keeping Your Yarns from Tangling
The principle for avoiding tangles is the same whether you’re working with two colours or four, but with more yarns, it matters more. More yarns means more opportunity for things to get crossed, and a four-way tangle is considerably more annoying to unpick than a two-way one.
The key to avoiding tangles is consistent yarn positioning. Each yarn should have a fixed position relative to your work – e.g. front, middle, and back – and every time you pick up or drop a yarn, you bring it to and from the same position. So if a yarn lives at the front, you always pick it up from the front, and always drop it back to the front. With four colours, think of it as front, centre-front, centre-back, and back. As long as each yarn consistently occupies its own lane, they won’t cross, and they won’t tangle.
It sounds precise, but it quickly becomes habit. For a full walkthrough of how this works in practice, with two colours and with more, see my post on how to keep yarn from tangling in tapestry crochet, or watch the video tutorial.
Getting a Neat Finish
When you pick up a colour you haven’t used for several stitches, it’s worth giving the yarn a gentle tug before you continue. This does two things: it tightens up the last stitch you made with that colour, and it draws the carried strand snugly under the stitches that have covered it, helping to hide it properly.
With three or four colours, the gaps between uses of any given yarn can be longer than with two, which means the carried strand has more distance to travel. Giving each yarn a gentle tug when you pick it up again is a small habit that makes a real difference to the neatness of the finished fabric.
One caveat: don’t pull too hard. If you over-tighten, the carried yarn can pull the fabric inward and cause puckering. A gentle tug is enough – you’re settling the yarn into place, not hauling on it.
Tapestry Crochet Patterns Using Multiple Colours
Although using multiple colours can feel a little daunting at first, the patterns you can create make it entirely worth the extra attention. All of the patterns below are my own designs, each using three or more colours. If you’d like to try it out, any of these would make a good starting point.
If you’d like to explore more tapestry crochet techniques and tutorials, the Tapestry Crochet Hub brings everything together in one place.
Join the Newsletter – and Collect Two Free Patterns
If you’d like to keep up with new tutorials, pattern releases, and crochet guides, my monthly newsletter is a good place to start. You’ll also receive two free tapestry crochet patterns when you sign up – a useful introduction to the technique if you’re new to it, or a welcome addition to your project list if you’re not.
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About Catherine
Catherine is a crochet designer and educator based in Surrey, UK, specialising in tapestry crochet blankets and colourwork. Her patterns have been published in crochet magazines, and her design work is featured in the book 100 Crochet Tiles. She has also designed in collaboration with Sirdar and WeCrochet. You can find her full pattern collection on Etsy and Ravelry, and her step-by-step video tutorials on YouTube.
