Stripes are an easy and effective way of adding multicolour effects to your knitting. They can be narrow, with colours changing every one or two rows, several inches wide and anything else in between!

Let's start by looking at the simplest format, stripes of two rows in two different colours. Make sure you have two balls of yarn in the same weight, in colours that contrast reasonably well.

Cast on as you would usually with one colour (which will from now on be labelled Main Colour) about 30 stitches. Work two rows Stocking Stitch (one row knit, one row purl). Now using a granny knot or reef knot (doesn't matter which as you can untie the knot later and darn the end in), tie the second colour in and pull the knot up close to the knitting. This second colour will be known as Colour B. Drop the Main Colour and knit two rows with Colour B. Next, drop Colour B and pick up the Main Colour again. Don't let it pull up too much, just carry it up the side of the knitting so that it lies comfortably, neither too snug nor too loose. Work two more rows Stocking Stitch. Now drop the Main Colour again and pick up Colour B, once again carry it up the side of the work neither too loosely nor too tightly and work two more rows of Stocking Stitch as normal. You are now knitting stripes!

Let's take a careful look at the knitting. On the knit side the two row stripes are well defined in lines across the work. On the purl side, they are not so well defined because each time you changed colour two purl rows "overlap" with each other. This of course is not important when the knit side of the work is the right side, but if you were making the purl side the right side it is important to be aware of it. It's also good to be aware of this effect if you are working stripes in a rib stitch.

Remember also that you will see this effect in Garter Stitch (every row knit). On one side the striped ridges will appear smooth and on the other you will get this colour change effect. So make sure particularly when working in Garter Stitch that you change colours on the same side each time, otherwise you will get the smooth look at some colour changes, and the overlapping look at other times. There is also a trick to preventing the overlap from showing up when working stripes in rib - work a knit row when you change colour, then continue in rib as before!

Now let's look at working wider stripes. Obviously carrying the yarn up the side of a piece of knitting means that it will get longer and longer the wider the stripe you knit, and once finished these loops of yarn are likely to catch on things. You can of course whip stitch over them to catch them in place after you have finished the piece, but it is better to deal with this problem whilst the work is in progress and it's very easy to do so. When you work back to the side on which you are carrying the lengths of yarn up the knitting, twist the two balls of yarn round one another before continuing back to the other side. Once again, don't pull the yarn being carried up the work tightly at all, just let it ride up the knitting as you go.

If you're working with knitting scraps and dealing with a lot of ends you can knit them into the work rather than trying to darn them in later. When you reach the point at which you're changing colours, tie in the new colour and continue knitting as normal. However as you work the first row of the new colour, after knitting each stitch lift the two ends of yarn round over the working yarn and let them hang down the back of the knitting. After a dozen stitches or so, leave these ends hanging till you've finished the knitting and trim them off carefully at the end.

Have fun working lots of different colours into your knitting!