How to tapestry crochet with multiple colours

Tapestry crochet is a fabulous technique for adding coloured patterns into your crochet projects. Using multiple colours can make your projects even more vibrant and beautiful. But, how do you handle multiple yarns at once? Read on to find out exactly how to tapestry crochet with multiple colours.

What is tapestry crochet and how is it done?

Tapestry crochet is a colourwork technique that involves using two or more different coloured yarns at the same time. Different stitches are made with different colours to create a pattern. The stitches are made over the unused yarn to carry it along until needed.

There are two main things you need to know to be able to do tapestry crochet:

1. How to change colour.
2. How to crochet over the unused yarn.

Once you’ve mastered these two things, you can create any number of beautiful tapestry crochet designs.

Check out this post to see how it’s done:

How to tapestry crochet with multiple colours: Answered!

When it comes to using multiple (i.e. more than two) yarns in tapestry crochet, there’s really not that much more you need to know. The only difference compared to using two yarns is that you have to crochet over two or more yarns as you go to cover them up and carry them along until needed.

However, some things to bear in mind when using multiple yarns are the following:

Preventing tangles

When you’re using multiple yarns it can be slightly harder to stop tangles from occurring. However, there is a simple trick to avoiding getting your yarns in a big knotty mess. Check out this post to find out how:

Or have a watch of this video tutorial:

Tightening up the yarns

When you change colour, remember to give the yarn you have just picked up a gentle tug. This makes sure that the yarn is well covered by the stitches you have just made and does not bulge out. It also makes sure that the last stitch you made with that yarn is tightened up properly.

If you’re using more that two different colours, the gaps between where you use any given yarn may be slightly larger than usual. This makes it even more important to tighten up your carried yarns.

It can be tricky to tug a yarn though a large number of previous stitches. A top tip is to tighten up all yarns whenever you change colour. You don’t have to wait until a particular yarn is actually needed again before giving it a gentle tug to tighten it up!

Consider your hook size

A final point to think about is your hook size. Crocheting over multiple yarns does of course make the stitches slightly bulkier. You may therefore find that your stitches look best if you go up a hook size to accommodate the carried yarns.

If you’re unsure which hook size would be best, do some small test swatches with different hooks to see which size you like the look and feel of best.

What’s the largest number of yarns you can tapestry crochet with at once?

In theory, there’s no limit to the number of yarns you can use when doing tapestry crochet. However, I find it works best with a maximum of four different colours at the same time. More than four balls of yarn can be tricky to handle without getting tangles and can also result in quite a thick crochet fabric, which you might not want.

However, this advice does vary from project to project and there is no hard and fast rule. Ultimately, the number of yarns you choose to use may depend on:

• The colourwork pattern you would like to create.
• The yarn you are using, in particular its thickness. The thicker the yarn, the smaller the number of different colours you may wish to use at once.
• The stitch you are using (e.g. sc, hdc, dc…). Smaller stitches tend to be tighter so you may prefer to use a smaller number of yarns for projects with smaller stitches.
• What the project is and what kind of drape and thickness you would like in the resulting fabric. If you want quite a flexible fabric, you may wish to limit the number of different yarns you use. However, if you’re making something like a rug or wall-hanging, for example, a stiffer fabric may not be such an issue.

Gorgeous tapestry crochet patterns with multiple colours

If you’re feeling inspired and would like to try out a tapestry crochet project with multiple colours, why not have a go at one of these? Simply click on an image to get the pattern.