How to Change Colors in Crochet

You’ve been chugging along, working your way through these tutorials, but I’m guessing you’re really curious about starting to work with color. Today’s your lucky day! This tutorial will show you how to change colors in crochet. Of course, there are a few different ways to do colorwork in crochet, but the variations all mainly just change what you do with yarn when you’re not using one color or another. No matter what colorwork technique you end up using, this basic technique is still going to be how you change colors while you’re crocheting! To start at the beginning of the learn to crochet series, go here.

*Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means if you click on them and make a purchase I may, at no additional cost to you, earn a commission. Read full disclosure here.

How to Change Colors in Crochet Pin

Supplies

If you’re following along in the Learn to crochet series and you plan on joining your sample squares together at the end of the project, I recommend using the same yarns throughout. You’re welcome to use whatever you’d like, but here’s what I used:

  • Worsted Weight yarn of your choice – I used Caron Simply Soft
  • Size H crochet hook – I love these Odyssey hooks from Furls Crochet!
  • Yarn/Tapestry Needle for weaving in ends.

Changing Colors YouTube Video Tutorial

How to Change Colors in Crochet

To change colors in crochet, the basic principle is the same no matter what stitch you’re using. You’ll work the stitch you come to the last step in the stitch. So, for a single crochet, you would insert your hook in the next loop, yarn over and pull a loop through the stitch, but then you would stop before you do the last yarn over and pull through two loops. This step, the last step at the end of the stitch, is where you will change colors. You’ll drop the old color yarn (you can deal with the tail later), and pull the new color through. Let’s work an example step by step with double crochet:

Start the double crochet normally. Yarn over, insert your hook in the next stitch. Yarn over and pull a loop through the stitch. Yarn over and pull through two loops on your hook. Now pause! You should have two loops left on your hook.

Work to Last step of the stitch

Next, go ahead and let go of the working yarn with your left hand. Lay the new color of yarn out so that the working end (that’s the end attached to the ball) goes in the same direction as the working yarn of the color you’re already using. Since I’m right-handed, the working yarn goes toward the left, and the free end goes toward the right. Make sure there’s plenty of extra on the right, since you’ll need to weave in the free end when you’re done.

Lay out the new yarn color

Now take up the new color in your left hand, and pull the new color through the last two stitches on your hook to finish the double crochet stitch.

Pull the new color through

Work a couple more stitches with the new color so you can see how the color change looks in a project. You’ll notice that the loop you pulled through as the last step of the double crochet when you changed colors actually ends up being the top of the next stitch! If you want to change colors until the start of the next stitch instead of the end of the previous stitch, the colors won’t line up correctly. This is why you always work a color change at the last step of the stitch before you want to use the new color.

See the color change

The same technique works when changing colors at the end of a row. Work until the last step of the previous stitch, then drop the working yarn of the old color and pick up the working yarn of the new color. At the end of the row you do also have the option, however, of finishing the row in the old color, then joining the new color to start the new row. The choice is up to you!

changing color at the end of the row
At end of row – drop old yarn, pick up new yarn
after the color change
Pull the new color through, then make turning chain

Making the Color Change Square

This square also uses triple crochet with two colors.

Color change crochet square
  1. Ch25, triple crochet in 5th chain from hook and across (21sts)
  2. Ch4, turn, triple crochet in next st and across, switch to B color (21sts)
  3. Ch4, turn, triple crochet in next st and across, switch to A color (21sts)
  4. Ch4, turn, triple crochet in next st and across (21sts)
  5. Repeat steps 2-4, then repeat step four one time more (8 rows total)

That’s it! Thanks for joining along. I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and learned something new. Happy crocheting!