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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Chicks don’t necessarily have anything to do with Easter, but they are a popular motif this time of year. I’ve shared some chick knitting patterns before, but it seems like time to share some more.

I love this little bitty fuzzy chick from Gray Bear Akswokrat on Etsy. It’s worked flat and the pattern includes photos to help with assembly.

This funny chick has a flower on its head, but you could use a different embellishment or just leave it off if you don’t like it. This pattern is from Midaami292, and it is also worked flat and uses four colors of yarn. The yarn used on the sample is DK weight and makes a chick that’s 26 cm, or a little more than 10 inches tall.

Fluff and Fuzz has another adorable chick pattern, this time adorned with a little hat and scarf, perfect for those places where it’s still chilly at Easter time. This one calls for DK weight yarn in four colors and uses straight knitting needles for working flat. The chick comes out to 20 cm tall including the hat (that’s about 7.8 inches).

Chicks make a great shape to cover a chocolate orange, and you can find three different chick chocolate orange covers in this pattern from Carol Connelly (available on Ravelry). You can knit up a chick that’s still hatching from the egg, a round one with feet and a fuzzy full bodied chick. They use DK weight yarn and are worked flat from the bottom up.

Frugal Knitting Haus has this adorable mama hen washcloth with scrubby chicks that you can buy on Ravelry or their website. It uses regular worsted weight kitchen cotton yarn for the hen and a scrubby yarn for the chicks.

Maybe my favorite of all, though, is Jan the little chick purse, a pattern on Ravelry from Cristina Tonarelli. It’s exactly what it sounds like: a little purse made with a coin purse clasp in the shape of a chick. It uses worsted weight yarn and the instructions are made for working in the round, but it includes instructions for working flat as well.

Check Out This Sweet Easter Chick Basket

Eggs, Cozies and Chicks to Knit for Easter

Fun Easter Knitting Patterns

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