The biggest issue we face when we knit wide stripes is the ability to carry the unused strand up the work. We cannot leave that strand hanging because it will form an unsightly loop on the wrong side of the project while also messing up the elasticity of the fabric.
We could simply cut the yarn every time we change colours to make another stripe, but if we do that, we’ll end up with a gazillion of yarn tails to weave in when the project is finished. Not a great solution.
Another issue that we have to solve when we want to add neat stripes to our seamless projects is the jog – a little imperfection that looks like a step at the beginning of the round.
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In this tutorial, we’ll take a look at a simple method that takes care of both issues. We’ll see how we can knit neat jogless stripes without cutting yarn and dealing with dozens of yarn tails after we bind off stitches.
ROUND 1 OF THE STRIPE
When it is time to make a new stripe, tie a strand in a new colour to the strand you used to make the previous round. Use a simple knot and move it close to the bottom of the last stitch of the round.
If the strand you are about to use is already attached to the project, simply take the strand in the “new” colour, and use it to work the next round as instructed in the pattern you follow. To keep things simple, I knitted all stitches in this round.
ROUND 2 OF THE STRIPE
In this round, we’ll take care of the jog.
Bring the yarn to the back of the work and insert the tip of the right needle from front to back into a stitch that is below the first stitch on the left needle. It will be a stitch in the “old” colour.
Wrap the tip of the right needle with the yarn as we do when we knit a stitch.
Pull the wrap through forming a new stitch.
Slip the first stitch off the left needle.
Work all stitches to the end of this round.
As you see, the jog disappeared. One issue solved successfully.
ROUND 3 OF A STRIPE
In this round, we’ll anchor the unused strand of yarn so that it does not form a loop and does not affect the elasticity of the fabric while at the same time staying invisible on the right side of the project.
First, wrap the unused strand from back to front around the tip of the left needle.
Then insert the tip of the right needle from left to right into the first stitch on the left needle and into the wrap formed by the unused strand.
Wrap the tip of the right needle with the working yarn as we do when we knit a stitch.
Pull the wrap through and slip both the stitch and the yarn wrap off the left needle.
Finally, pull the unused strand to tighten the just-knitted wrap.
Use the working yarn to finish the round.
ROUND 4 OF A STRIPE
This is a “plain” round. We don’t do anything special to the stitches or the strands. We simply work all stitches according to the stitch pattern we follow.
Because my swatch is made in stockinette stitch, I knit all stitches in this round.
Repeat rounds 3 and 4 until the stripe is as wide as it should be. The stripe in my swatch is 10 rounds wide, and as you see from the photo below, the spots where we wrapped the unused strand in every other round are barely visible on the right side of the fabric.
The bulk of the wrapped unused strand makes the line of stitches a little bit embossed, but it is a small price to pay in return for avoiding dozens of yarn tails.
When we turn the project inside out, we’ll see that this simple trick formed a lovely winding line formed by the unused strands. Because the line is not straight, it is quite elastic and does not tighten the fabric.
This method of carrying up an unused strand also works for eliminating unnecessary yarn ends when we knit back and forth. Simply wrap the unused strand around the left needle before you knit the first stitch of every right-side row, and you won’t have to cut the yarn every time you change the colour.
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Now you are fully equipped for adding flawless wide stripes to any project.
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This and 31 other in-depth tutorials are part of Knitting Collection #8.
