How to knit vertical stripes

Stripes are a great way to use up odds and ends, particularly of favorite yarns. Intarsia vertical stripes are ideal for varigated yarns, as they create blocks and pools of color, showing off the yarn with little effort.

Intarsia stripes

For wide stripes (over 3-7 stitches), intarsia is the best choice. As a bonus, although you’ll be able to see some threads on the wrong side, there are no floats so the fabric is more reversible. You can use garter stitch, stocking stitch or a textured stitch pattern. If you don’t like sewing up, you can use this technique to knit a blanket that looks like patchwork but was actually worked all in one piece.

To knit vertical stripes in intarsia, you’ll need a separate ball of yarn for each stripe. As an example, a red – yellow – red – yellow – red scarf would use 5 balls of yarn, 3 red and 2 yellow. You can use both ends of the same ball, but this is harder to untangle if you get a muddle mid-project.

Pro tip: use kitchen scales to weigh a ball of yarn and divide it into equal parts.

As you work across each row, simply pick up the new color as you come to it and drop the old one. Twist the two threads together when you change colors, as shown in the video.

Pro tip: start your stripes at cast on for a professional look. Simply cast on the appropriate number of stitches for each stripe in each color using your normal cast on method. The blocks will be securely joined as you knit.

Stranded stripes

If you’re knitting narrow stripes, you may prefer to use a stranded colorwork technique (such as Fair Isle) to create the stripes. You’ll only need one ball per color. Stranded colorwork has a definite wrong side, but unlike intarsia can be worked in the round. It also uses more yarn. On the other hand (or foot), those extra floats do make mittens and socks warmer.

Pro tip: If the transitions seem loose, twist the strands together when you change color as for intarsia.

Fake vertical stripes

For some items, such as scarves, you can fake a vertical stripe by knitting side to side instead of top to bottom. This can be quicker and easier, and is a great way to make a scrappy scarf.