Knit a Hat with Stripes on Stripes

I love a good self-striping yarn. It’s an easy way to make a project look harder than it was, because all you have to do is keep knitting and you get these great color changes without any work on your part.

But did you know you can make self-striping yarns even more interesting by combining them? Using a couple of different colorways of self-striping yarn together can give you even more fun stripes, and the combination comes out looking a little more random because they aren’t colors that were planned to go together in the same skein.

That’s the idea behind the Stripes on Stripes Hat, designed by Lee Meredith and available on Knit Picks.

But to add to the mixed-up fun, you actually use two different colorways and start with the brim holding four stands of yarn together to make a super squishy and warm brim. Then the two strands of each color are separated and worked together so that you have a heavier hat than you otherwise would working with sock yarn.

The color you are working with changes every round, so you get these little mixed up stripes that are just so cute.

This would be a great way to use up some of your sock yarn scraps (even if they aren’t self-striping) and make a unique colorway that’s also a great way to use those little bits that are always left over after knitting a pair of socks!

You can download the free pattern from Knit Picks.

[Photo: Knit Picks.]

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I’ve shared a lot of Christmas stocking knitting patterns over the years (see posts 1, 2, 3 for example) but what if you want to knit a stocking for a non-human member of your family. If you’re looking for Christmas stocking knitting patterns for your cats or dogs, this is the post for you.

These large paw print stockings are perfect for either dogs or cats, so they’re great to knit if you have both. They are worked in the round using DK weight yarn, and the stocking measures about 17 inches/43 cm from the top to the heel. You can get the pattern from nicolaluke.

The K4 Project has a super cute Kitty Christmas stocking pattern, which is worked in worsted weight yarn. They also have a dog version, or you can buy both and get a discount if you have both dogs and cats to knit for. Both projects have two patterns, showing how to work the stockings flat or in the round.

Put your dog into a Christmas scene with this stocking pattern from ifanhourChild. It shows a dog in a dog house in the snow, and has room for the dog’s name at the top. It’s worked flat using worsted weight yarn and the pattern includes charts for many small and medium dog breeds (there’s a separate listing for bigger dogs) so you can stitch a dog that looks like yours.

Annie’s Woolens has both dog and cat stocking knitting patterns that are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. You can change up the colors to suit your pet if you want, and they come with an alphabet chart for personalization. Or you can stick with holiday colors and buy a kit to make the dog or cat stocking.

Waiting for Santa Paws is a pattern from Kate Agner on Ravelry that would be cute for a dog or a cat. It looks like a leg with a paw print on the bottom part of the foot and more paw prints running around the top of the leg. This is a great option if you don’t want to mess with a heel turn because it doesn’t have a heel, because dogs and cats don’t have heels so why would their stockings?

Book Review – 20 to Knit: Tiny Christmas Toys to Knit

Book Review – Knit Christmas Stockings

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