Each year I get so excited whenever Tin Can Knits does a guest post on the blog for our KAL's! I love these gals and really enjoy the wealth of information on their blog! There is always something new to learn or a skill to perfect and Alexa and Emily are wonderful at teaching knitters how to take these new techniques on and perfect them for our own knitting! 

I'm happy to have Alexa here today chatting all about STRIPES! I love stripes and so do they and so we thought it would be a fun topic to cover! Stripes are a fabulous way for you to add some fun to any top or tank for this summer! Whether it's brights, pastels, lace or speckles - go for it! Stripe it up knitters! 

A Case for Stripes

Stripes are a wonderful thing. They can make colours blend and change, offer a classic look in a high contrast pair, and when you want to start a sweater project but you can’t find quite the quantity you desire, stripes to the rescue! 

Stripes offer a plethora of colourful options, whether you are going with a simple 2 colour scheme or a sunset ombre against a dark backdrop. There are just so many ways to do stripes! 

The Single Row Stripe

When 2 colours meet in a single row stripe they often have the look of another colour altogether. In Emily’s Playdate sweater for Max she took a green and a teal and the result is a sweater with the overall look of a colour in-between the two. 

How to work a 1 row stripe when knitting back and forth: 

When working a flat piece of knitting in single-row stripes, you need to use a circular needle, because you must work two right-side (RS) rows, then work two wrong-side (WS) rows, so you need points on both ends of your needles.

Single Row Striping Pattern
Row 1 (RS): colour A
Row 2 (RS): colour B
Row 3 (WS): colour A
Row 4 (WS): colour B

Stripes in the Round: The Jog

Working stripes in the round is simpler. If you are only working a few rounds in each colour you don’t need to cut the yarn, you can just carry it up (but make a note to carry loosely). My rule of thumb is if I need to carry the yarn more than 4-5 rows I cut the yarn and start again. 

When you are knitting in the round, you are not, in fact, knitting 1 round, and then another round, and then another. You are, instead, working in a spiral. This means that at the beginning of the round your stripes don’t QUITE line up. There are a few methods for working jogless stripes (like this one http://newstitchaday.com/traveling-jogless-stripe/ or this one https://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/08/knitting-jogless-stripes-in-the-round/ ), but I find it doesn’t come out quite perfectly, so I prefer to just keep my striping jog at the underarm or at the back shoulder for sweaters. 

Stripes and Lace

In our Chromatic sweater we have an example stripes combined with lace. Our adult sample has lovely ombre agains a dark background, and Hunter is wearing a classic black and white stripe, that packs a punch! With a lower contrast pair, it would have that same sort of blending effect as in Emily’s single row striped Playdate, but black and white makes the striping crisp. 

Stripes and Speckles

I am currently having a little speckled love affair and striping is an excellent way to use speckles. While I happily knit an all-over speckle for my kiddos, I’m not quite so bold in my own wardrobe choices. A speckle paired with a semi-solid seems like just the right amount for a sweater for me! This Prism hat I’ve knit for Bodhi combines speckles and a solid, and I adore the big speckled pom pom on top! 

There are really limitless possibilities for stripes, how will you stripe your next project?!

A huge thank you to Tin Can Knits for sharing some fun tips for knitting with stripes! Thanks ladies - I adore ya!!!! You can find all things Tin Can Knits below:

Go show them some love and don't miss their newest book - Mad Colour: Bold and Playful Modern Knits and their special new charity eBook - Heart on my Sleeve: Knit with Care.

This post is proudly sponsored by Quince & Co.