Knit Stars Masterclass with Lorilee Beltman: Colors That Climb

Course Summary

In this joyful workshop, Lorilee Beltman introduces “colors that climb,” her playful take on vertically stranded colorwork that lets contrast stitches travel straight up through your fabric like little beads of color. You will learn how to manage yarns with center pull butterflies, stack knits and purls into tidy columns and “caterpillars,” and mix the technique into garter, lace, cables, and textured ribs without changing your gauge or fit. Along the way, Lorilee helps you understand different knitting styles so you can translate any demonstration into your own hands, then walks you through designing with vertical color in existing patterns and in her Aurora scarf. By the end, you will see your knitting as a canvas for climbing color, ready to experiment, improvise, and make the technique entirely your own.

 

Lifestyle

 

Lorilee did not grow up a devoted knitter, but after becoming a new mom she rediscovered the craft with help from a generous neighbor, and it slowly wove itself into her life. When knitting’s popularity surged and her town had no yarn shop, she spent two years building a business plan and opened one herself, falling in love with both the learning and the community that blossomed there. Teaching soon became her true calling, and since 2010 she has built a career creating warm, welcoming classrooms where knitters from every background come together as equals. What she loves most is how knitting levels the field, opens the door to unexpected friendships, and creates space for people to share their joys and their heavier moments while their hands stay busy. For Lorilee, the magic is in the mix of skills, stories, and the simple act of showing up to knit together.

 

Colors That Climb: Different Knitting Styles

 

Right from the start, Lorilee reassures you that whatever knitting style you use is just right, and the goal here is simply to understand the differences so you can learn from anyone. She breaks down English, Continental, and Combination knitting, showing how each one handles knits, purls, and stitch orientation, and why that matters when you are watching someone whose movements look completely different from yours. The real secret, she says, is to ignore the big, showy motions and instead watch how stitches travel from one needle to the other. Once you learn to read the orientation and path of a stitch, you can translate any demonstration, right-handed or left-handed, picker or thrower. That skill lets you adapt every new technique to your own style with confidence.

 

Introducing Colors That Climb

 

From there, Lorilee introduces her signature “colors that climb” technique, also called vertically stranded colorwork, inspired by traditional Rovaniemi knitting from northern Finland. She explains how the original method used multiple bobbins tied to a straight needle, beautiful but a bit of a handful, and how she simplified it by letting a single stitch carry the color straight up. You see how those vertical flashes of color can sit inside stockinette, garter, lace, or cables without changing gauge or stretch, acting like beads, stripes, or tiny bursts of texture. Lorilee also walks through yarn choices, from solids and tonals to variegated and self striping, including how to “harvest” small pops of contrast from a larger skein. The result is a playful, flexible colorwork tool you can add to almost any project.

 

Colors That Climb: How to Introduce the Contrasting Colors

 

To get your hands moving, Lorilee has you cast on a simple worsted weight swatch in the round and shows exactly how to drop in your first climbing color stitches. She teaches her “engine and caboose” rule, where the main color always leads and the contrast always trails behind, so the yarns stay in order and tangle less. Each pop of contrast is worked as a single stitch, then released as you return to the main yarn, keeping the process light and easy. She demonstrates the motions for both Continental and English knitters, and gently reminds mirror knitters that the same rules apply, only reversed. At this stage the focus is on comfort and clarity so you are ready for the more adventurous variations that follow.

 

Colors That Climb: Managing Yarns (Center Pull Butterfly)

 

Once those contrast strands start multiplying, Lorilee shows how to tame them with a neat little “center pull butterfly.” She gathers all the long ends together and wraps them in a simple figure eight around her fingers, turning several loose pieces into one tidy bundle. You can secure it with a clip, or try her half hitch knot for a snug waist that still feeds yarn smoothly. Short tails are tucked out of the way so you do not accidentally knit with them, leaving only the working strands accessible. This tiny bit of prep makes your colors easier to manage and the whole technique more relaxing.

 

Colors That Climb: Sample Motifs With Knits, Purls, and Staggered Knits and Purls

 

Next, Lorilee walks you through stacking your contrast stitches so they form clean knit columns and her favorite little purl “caterpillars.” She demonstrates the moves in both Continental and English style, always coming back to the engine and caboose rule so the yarns behave. Stacked knit columns are worked through the back loop to keep them from twisting, and she pauses to show what is happening inside the fabric as the main color “steps” on the vertical strands. Tension tricks help keep each new stitch snug but not tight, and your butterfly bundle becomes a helpful warning system if you stray from the path. After a bit of practice, you are ready to build a full sampler of playful color climbing motifs.

 

Colors That Climb: Incorporating Stitches Into Fabric

 

As your confidence grows, Lorilee shifts from practice swatches into full fabric play with ten different motifs you can mix, match, or even turn into a hat. She shares her favorite way to keep your place, a tiny cut out chart you can tape, fold, and pin right to the area you are knitting so your eyes stay on your stitches. You also meet stitch maps, gridless charts that mirror how knitted fabric actually flows and make stacked motifs easier to understand. Moving through garter, lace, bobbles, cables, and textured ribs, she shows when to bring contrast strands in, when to drop them, and how longer folded lengths can make the starts look cleaner. By the end, you are invited to improvise, combine motifs, and let your butterfly feed out color as inspiration strikes.

 

Tips for Designing Your Own Garments With Colors That Climb

 

When you are ready to dream bigger, Lorilee encourages you to start sprinkling colors that climb into your own projects. She shares examples from her Bold Move skirt, mittens, socks, and sweaters where a simple purl ridge or stockinette band becomes something special once the vertical strands are added. Because the technique does not change gauge or fit, you can layer it onto almost any existing pattern without rewriting the math. She talks about pushing the limits of how many strands a fabric can support, and about playing with short rows, garter, and other structures to see what new patterns appear. Her invitation is generous and clear, this is a shared tool, so you get to decide how it lives in your knitting.

 

What Inspired Aurora, Our Class Pattern

 

For the class project, Lorilee designed the Aurora scarf as a love letter to the Northern Lights and this season’s Nordic theme. She asked Plucky Knitter to create a palette that felt like volcanic earth and luminous sky, then used a simple paint stick trick to audition combinations until two shades felt like true aurora colors. The scarf is worked in the round, beginning with rich color play and slowly flowing into softer stockinette for an easy to wear drape. Inside the tube she added a hidden treat, little stripes that appear as the stitch count changes and travel quietly along the back. Aurora becomes both a cozy piece to wear and a gentle playground for everything you have learned.

 

Tips Specific to Aurora, Our Class Project

 

Before you cast on, Lorilee shares a few Aurora specific tips to keep things smooth from the very first round. She explains her ten to one rule for planning contrast lengths, roughly ten inches of contrast yarn for every inch of scarf, and suggests making large butterflies so you are not constantly adding new strands. A quick twist check after the first round makes sure the tube is joined correctly while it is still easy to fix. She also points out a built in helper, each new climbing strand should land right on top of the purl bump created by earlier increases, which means your fabric itself becomes a guide. Once the columns are established, you can relax into the lace pattern, weave ends into their matching colors, and enjoy watching the Aurora slowly unfold.

 

Bonus Fun: Playing Detective

 

To finish, Lorilee invites you to put on your knitting detective hat and reverse engineer a striking “colors that climb” motif tucked into a zigzagging background. She walks you through reading the fabric, noticing that the chevron stripes come from paired double increases and decreases, and that the colorful column must hide a matching double increase worked as knit one, yarn over, knit one. On the next round, a simple k2tog and tiny cable cross separate and reshape those three stitches into the distinctive spread you see. The resulting vertical detail can be stacked, scattered, or repeated into its own pattern, like the infinity cowl she shares as an example. It is a playful reminder that once you know how to read your knitting, every interesting fabric becomes an invitation to explore.