A few years ago we asked you if there was a knitting technique that you would like to learn. A few of you mentioned Ladderback Jacquard.
I have to admit I was intrigued.
I had heard of it in passing but never investigated to find out what it was about. The name sounded complex and a little intimidating, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the technique was a very natural extension of stranded colourwork.
If you have worked a project in stranded colourwork, you will know that one of the limitations is how many stitches you can work in a single colour. The wider the span of one colour the longer the ‘strand’ of the second colour will need to be to pass behind it. Long strands cause a lot of problems. They are very easy to pull too tight which will lead to puckering in your colourwork.
In addition long floats are very easy to snag when you are putting the knit on or off.
The standard way to control long floats is by ‘trapping’ them. This involved looping the unused colour over your other yarn at the back to ‘trap’ it every few stitches so the float doesn’t become too long. While this does help it can sometimes show a small colour ‘blip’ on the front if you’ve got high contrast colours.
This is where Ladderback Jacquard comes in.
It gives you an alternative to trapping your floats for very long colourworks strands. In fact, the technique opens up the possibility of having much larger sections in single colours for your stranded colourwork.
Ladderback Jacquard works in a similar way to double knitting, but you are only introducing a single double knitting stitch. Across a wide stretch in, one colour, in the place you would normally trap a float you work an increase in the float or ‘contrast’ colour.
When you reach that increased stitch in the next round you will bring both yarns to the front, purl the contrast colour, then bring the yarns to the back again. This purled stitch becomes a ‘ladder’ that sits at the back of your work, holding the contrast colour in a tidy second layer of fabric.
When you are finished with the float all you need to do is decrease the stitch away and your ladder will disappear.
As they are so easy to add wherever you need them, you can add them in your stranded colourwork anywhere you have several longer floats stacked on top of each other.
In this season’s pattern, I will show you where I am working them by marking them in the colourwork chart. But once you know how they work you’ll probably find a way to add them to all of your stranded colourwork projects.
Vera Hooded Scarf
For this season we began with the Cautiva yarn from WoolDreamers. This woollen spun, sports weight yarn has got a soft spin and blooms beautifully when it’s blocked. It comes in a great range of colours making it lovely to use for colourwork.
The starting inspiration for the scarf came from Gaudi’s ‘Sagrada Famila’ in Barcelona. Gaudi’s love of organic forms and the stained glass windows were the start of the colourwork.
The scarf grows from the tip organically, moving through stranded colourwork using Ladderback Jacquard. It then flows into a series of colour blocks that blend together with a wave and circle motif.
Eventually you finish with either a hood or joining both sides of the scarf together for a standard scarf version.
The thick, double thickness of this scarf makes it super cosy. You won’t be cold this autumn.
Pattern Details
FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Scarf
Width of Scarf: 8.25” / 21 cm
Total Scarf Length: 72” / 183 cm
Hooded Scarf
Width of Hooded Scarf: 8.25” / 21 cm
Length from Back of Hood to Scarf Tip: 44.75” / 113.5 cm
Top of Hood Depth: 10.25” / 26 cm
YARN
Wooldreamers ‘Cautiva’ (100% Wool; 186 yds / 170 m per 1.76 oz / 50 g); MC: 3 skeins, CC1: 2 skeins, CC2: 1 skein, CC3: 1 skein
Approx Yardage Hooded Scarf: MC 413 yds / 378 m; CC1: 315 yds / 288 m; CC2: 176 yds / 161 m; CC3: 176 yds / 161 m
Approx Yardage Scarf: MC 413 yds / 378 m; CC1: 372 yds / 340 m CC2: 176 yds / 161 m; CC3: 176 yds / 161 m
NEEDLES & NOTIONS
US size 6 / 4 mm circular needle 40” / 100 cm long for magic loop or dpns or 16” / 40 cm circular for scarf
US size 6 / 4 mm circular needle any length for Hood & 3-Needle Bind-Off
Always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed, every knitter’s gauge is unique.
Waste Yarn or Barber Cord, stitch markers, tapestry needle.
GAUGE
20 sts & 28 rows/rnds = 4″ / 10 cm in St St & Colourwork blocked
Autumn Seasons Club Yarn
The Cautiva yarn from WoolDreamers is a sport weight yarn with 186 yards (170 meters) per ball. It’s 100% locally sourced wool that’s woollen spun.
Yes, that means it’s a deliciously bouncy yarn, with fantastic colour depth and a wonderful bloom. The perfect choice for an autumnal colourwork project.
For this season we have three colourways that show off the Gaugi inspired pattern beautifuly. All you have to do is pick your favourite:
Subtle
Seasonal
Bright
*please note: the asterix denotes the colour of the hood.
Find out More
If you’d like to know more about the yarns, pattern and club technique just press play on this video:
How to Join
These patterns are part of our Autumn Seasons Club 2026.
When you join the club, you’ll receive access to this design along with a full set of step-by-step video tutorials, guiding you through the technique from start to finish. We’ll also be hosting recorded Zoom sessions where we talk through the pattern in detail, explore the technique together, and answer questions as they come up.
If short-row colourwork is new to you, or if you’d simply like to feel more confident working with it, this Seasons Club is designed to support you all the way through.
Click the button below to find out more and join the club from 8pm June 1st, 2026.