1. hobbies and interests
2. arts and crafts
3. knitting

K NITS
beyond the basics
*New Methods*
for JOGLESS STRIPES in the round
TECH K N IT TER
Stripes knitted in the round are actually spirals—the end of
each round is one row higher than the beginning. As a result, each
color change creates a jog, or an offset, of one round (Figure 1).
There are two good methods for avoiding the jog in circular
striped knitting: For very thin stripes, barber-pole stripes are the
method of choice; for thicker stripes, choose slip-stitch stripes.
onto Needle 1. Repeat with Needle 2 and the second color
and again with Needle 3 and the third color.
4 In the example, the stripe sequence uses red, then white, then
blue (Figure 3). Once the order is established, simply pick up the
yarn at the beginning of a needle and work until the next color
is reached. Drop the old color and continue knitting with the
next color.
Barber-pole stripes, also called helix stripes, are just one row
high. Barber-pole-stripe sequences usually use three or four
colors. Because each color starts at a different point on the
knitted circle, the stripes chase one another around the spiral
architecture of the knitted tube, like the stripes on an
old-fashioned barber pole (Figure 2).
Because the colors are in spiral layers, they never meet at the
ends or starts of rounds and create jogs.
BARBER-POLE KNITTING
Barber pole or helix stripes are usually made on double-pointed
needles (dpn). Here’s how (see box for more details):
1 For three-color stripes, use three needles for the work and a
fourth to knit around (for four-color stripes, use four needles for
the work and a fifth to knit around).
2 Divide the total number of stitches by the total number of
colors and place that many stitches on each needle. In other
words, for 60 stitches worked using 3 colors, divide 60 by 3, and
place 20 stitches each on 3 needles.
3 Choose the color sequence; once chosen, it can never change.
Using the first color, cast one-third the total number of stitches
Figure 2
Figure 1
28
I
Summer 2009
KN_028_30.indd 28
I
INTERWEAVE KNITS
03262009095617
I
SLIP-STITCH JOGLESS STRIPES
Slip-stitch jogless stripes are faster than barber-pole stripes
(less yarn wrangling!) and are better suited to stripes that are
more than one row high. Here are the basics (see box on page 30
for more detail):
1 On every color-change round, knit the first and every other
stitch of the round with the new color as usual.
2 On the second round of the new color, slip the first stitch of
the new color, without twisting, before knitting the rest of the
stitches as usual.
3 On every following round of that stripe, knit every stitch as usual.
4 Repeat Steps 1–3 every time colors are changed.
Figure 8 shows that slipping a stitch at the beginning of the
second round pulls the first stitch of the new color up to span
both first and second rounds (see green arrow). The last stitch
of the previous color becomes smaller (see orange arrow), and
the stitch of old color below the slipped stitch is pulled up along
with the slipped stitch (purple arrow). These forces arrange the
stitches into smaller jogs, minimizing the contrast between the
old color and the new.
Figure 3
interweaveknits.com
3/26/09 9:54:59 AM
Barber-Pole Stripes: Tips
• Don’t twist yarns at color junctures, as for intarsia: The different colors lay over one another, not next to one
another.
• Consider using bobbins to avoid tangling colors (Figure 4).
Figure 4
from the end of the previous white round. Similarly, the white
round ended three stitches from the end of the red round, and
the red round three stitches from the end of the previous blue
round. Drop the blue yarn to the front of the work. Look for the
lowest-down and farthest-left yarn; here, the red stripe’s working
yarn (indicated by the green arrow). Slip the stitches between the
just-completed blue stripe and the end of the red stripe back to
the right needle, without twisting (Figure 7).
Once the six intervening stitches are slipped back to the right
needle, the red yarn is free to work (Figure 7). Now, knit with the
red yarn almost all the way around, stopping three stitches from
the end of the blue round. The next following round is a white
round to be knitted with the hanging yarn indicated by the green
arrow.
The transition shortcut also works when using the magic-loop
method and/or circular needles. Because the stopping point of
the yarn moves back on every round, ladders do not form.
When ready to bind off, bind off in even color sections (just as
for the cast-on) to create an even edge.
• In theory, an infinite number of spirals of infinite colors are
possible. In practice, the steepness of the resulting spirals
and the difficulty of yarn management make four or five
colors the practical limit.
• Stripes need not be even. For example, to pinstripe white
with a single row of blue every fourth round, knit on four dpn
with a fifth working needle, working three sequential but
separate white stripes followed by a blue stripe (Figure 5).
• To avoid ladders and tangling, choose one needle to be the
transition needle: For one repeat of the stripe sequence, knit
each color almost all the way to the end of the full round,
stopping three stitches short of the previous color’s end of
round. The needle holding these stripe ends is the transition
needle.
In Figure 6, the completed blue stripe stops three stitches
Figure 6
Figure 5
Figure 7
Summer 2009
KN_028_30.indd 29
03262009095617
I
INTERWEAVE KNITS
I
29
3/26/09 9:55:04 AM
K NITS
beyond the basics
Note: Jogless stripes in the round are useful for many
k­ nitting applications, but they are particularly helpful when
knitting striped socks, cuffs, and other pieces that may be
ribbed. In striped ribbing of any type, stripes are broken by the
previous color showing in the purl columns. To solve this, use
stockinette stitch to work all color-change rounds. Only work
the knit/purl ribbing pattern on non-color-change rounds.
TECHknitter lives in Wisconsin and blogs at TECHknitting
.blogspot.com.
Which Jogless Stripe?
Barber Pole or Helix
Traveling Slip Stitch
Stationary Slip Stitch
Advantages
Truly jogless
Every round same height
End of round remains consistent
Disadvantages
Noticeable spiral; many yarn End of round moves
ends
Knitting may pull along shorter color-change column
How many colors?
Limited by spiral angle and
yarn tangling
Infinite
Infinite
Best for
One-row stripes
Two-row or thicker
Two-row or thicker stripes; heavier yarns and fabrics
stripes; thinner yarns and
lighter fabrics
Slip-Stitch Jogless Stripes: Variations
There are two types of slip-stitch jogless stripes: traveling and
stationary. The slip-stitch technique is the same for both variations; the only difference is the point at which the colors
are changed.
Traveling Slip-Stitch Jogless Stripes
If the beginning of the round travels one
stitch to the left with each color change
­(Figure 9; orange arrows) then every part of
every row will be the same height and have the
same number of stitches.
• Insert a split-ring stitch marker at the planned
color change;
• On the color-change round, slip the marker and
begin knitting with the new color;
• On the following round, knit to the marker and slip it.
Then, slip the first stitch of the new color from the left
needle to the right needle. Knit to the end of the
round;
• Knit as usual to within one round of the next
color change;
• O n the round before the next color
change, shift the marker one stitch to
the left;
• Continue making stripes, moving the
end of round one stitch to the left at
each color change.
When working traveling slip-stitch jogless stripes, a faint spiral pattern will develop along the diagonal of the color change.
This spiral pattern is more obvious in heavy
fabrics and less obvious in thinner fabrics.
Figure 8
Figure 9
30
I
Summer 2009
KN_028_30.indd 30
I
INTERWEAVE KNITS
03262009095617
I
Stationary Slip-Stitch Jogless Stripes
If the beginning of the round stays in the same place for every
color change, the color-change column (orange arrow) will
be one stitch shorter for every stripe in the piece
­(Figure 10) .
Work as for traveling slip-stitch jogless stripes
but do not shift the marker to the left at each
color change. The end of round remains in the
same place throughout the piece.
When working many thin stripes with the
stationary slip-stitch jogless method, there will
be substantially fewer stitches along the colorchange column. The fabric may pull along the
column of stitches. However, with thick yarns
and/or thicker stripes, the knitting will stretch
enough to minimize pulling.
Figure 10
interweaveknits.com
3/26/09 9:55:05 AM