craftgrrl | color changing? (KNIT)

i am attempting to do a color pattern and i'm having issues with the strands in the back. i read somewhere that said you only need to carry over the other colors every third stitch, that seems really messy to me, as i kept going i changed to carrying over every stitch. what is that called? does anyone know any good sites on the techinique?

and just for fun- i had my doubts how thsi yarn would look, but i am really pleased with how "camo" it is. i thought it might just be stripey, but no, it's actaully camoflaged, yay!