Square Two

How to knit horizontal stripes

The first question I’m asked as soon as my students have learned to knit, is “How do I change colours?”. So here’s how to knit stripes 🏳️‍🌈

Extra materials

• yarn in two different colours, 10 g of each

You already know how to

• cast on
• knit
• cast off
• slip the first stitch purlwise

Instructions

Cast on 27 stitches with Colour 1.

Row 1 (Wrong side): Slip the first stitch purlwise. Knit to end of row.

Row 2 (Right side): Slip the first stitch purlwise. Drop the yarn…

…and pick up Colour 2. Continue knitting with this yarn.

Row 3: Slip the first stitch purlwise and knit to end of row.

Row 4: Slip stitch purlwise. Change colour… 

…and knit to end of row with colour 1. Do not pull yarn. Knit the first stitch in the new colour loosely. (Otherwise the right side of the square will be too tight!)

Continue alternating the colours on every other row, until you have 24 ridges in total on the right side of your knitting, i.e you should knit 47 rows in total.

Cast off and weave in ends.

In this square, you cannot weave the ends in diagonally, as you normally would in garter stitch, as the yarn will be visible in the stripes of  the contrasting colour. Weave in the ends on the wrong side into a single stripe.

Geeky Notes 🤓

Why change colour on the second stitch and not the first? Because the first stitch is slipped, not knitted. (Were you to knit the first stitch, then you would knit it in the new colour.)

Notice that when changing colour, the ridges on the right side are single-coloured, while the ones on the wrong side are two-coloured.

The wrong side

Therefore, you should change colour when starting on a right side row.

Unless, of course, you want precisely that effect, which I find particularly neat when changing between similar hues. This creates a smooth change, like a continuous spectrum. In this case, you should change colour when starting a wrong side row.

When changing colour every other row, as in this square, you do not need to cut the yarn after every stripe. With wider stripes, however, you will have to cut the yarn at every colour change (leaving a tail of approx 10cm/4in to weave in). This might lead to a lot of loose ends that need to be woven in!

Make extra squares with any combination you like!

If you successfully completed this square, you have learned how to

• knit horizontal stripes

…and you can move on to

Square Three: The One with the Purl Stitch