Stripes are one of the easiest ways to use multiple colors in a project.
I love stripes. I love playing with stripe width and colors and repeats and textures. There's a lot of opportunities to play with yarn in different ways when you incorporate stripes into your crafting; let's take a look at just a few!
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How many types of stripes can you name? Like most things in the fashion world, different types of stripes have different names. You may be familiar with Breton stripes or pinstripes, but until recently, I'd never known there were names such as Bayadere stripes or barcode stripes! I found this handy infographic that illustrates some of the different kinds of stripes, as well as a few other pattern types.
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If you're working in the round, you may end up with a "jog" in your stripes. You can avoid the dreaded stripe jog by working your piece flat (so you can easily line up the stripes) or working a jogless stripe method. We have a video for a jogless stripe method for knitting (see below); for crochet, you could use the same method that we used for joining new colors in the Theodora Shawl (watch that video on YouTube).
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Emily explains a method for working jogless stripes in knitting
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So you want to use red and white (or navy and white) stripes. Generally, we recommend NOT using red and white or navy and white together. Why? Because red and navy are two colors that are notorious for bleeding, or leaking excess dye when the project is washed. You don't want to end up with a red and pink striped project! If your heart is set on using those colors together, try washing your yarn before you knit. If you're working from a hank, tie a few extra pieces of a plain white thread through the hanks to keep it from twisting. Soak the yarn in cold water for a while. Remove the yarn from the water, wrap it in a towel and squeeze out the excess water, then allow to air dry until completely dry. This is not a guarantee that all the extra dye will have come out, however.
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Paruma is a free crochet sweater pattern that uses two shades of Berroco Mykonos® in an open pattern for an airy crochet tee.
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Looking for more stripe inspiraton? Here's a few more patterns full of stripy goodness for your consideration.
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We've got another free knitting pattern with stripes for you this week! Parnell uses two shades of Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light to create an oversized, Breton-inspired pullover. The stripes are worked in the body and sleeves, but the shoulders are worked in a solid color for a chic look.
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What kind of stripes do you like to make?
Happy knitting,
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