Stripe shift technique for circular knits

[Madoosy_]

I knit a ton of striped baby hats for friends and saw a color change tip that starts with a setup step before you go jogless. Curious how it looks on high-contrast yarns. Has anybody tried it?

 

[stitchrowqueen]

I've tried that jogless technique with some high-contrast yarns, and let me tell you, it really makes a huge difference for keeping those color changes nice and clean. One little trick I've found is to slip the first stitch of the new color,it really helps to cut down on the jog. By the way, do you ever notice any changes in tension when you're doing that setup step?

 

[Madoosy_]

Great tip about slipping the 1st stitch. I haven't tried the setup step yet so I can't speak to the tension but that's a good thing to watch for. I'm going to cast on a new hat this evening and give both methods a try.

 

[Zoe.knits]

Yeah @stitchrowqueen it helps with high contrast stripes and smooths out the jog so it's way less noticeable, making the stripes look continuous

 

[Madoosy_]

Thank you for weighing in on the technique @Zoe.knits. I finished the baby hat I was starting and can report back on my results. The combination of the setup step and slipping the 1st stitch worked beautifully with my high contrast yarn. The join is nearly invisible. It will be my go to method for striped hats from now on.

 

[Younggramaknitting]

sorry to barge in unannounced, but I wanted to ask something about the baby hats. How do you measure the size? A friend of mine gave birth a few weeks ago and I have a few months to learn how to make baby hats and I'd like to make a few for her daughter.

 

[Madoosy_]

No problem at all! I size my baby hats using a standard head circumference chart available online. Newborns usually have a head circumference of about 13-14". What weight of yarn do you plan to use for the hat? @Younggramaknitting