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Changing color · Intermediate

Vertical stripes

Crochet stripes follow the rows, so stripes that run up a piece need a plan. There are three. You can change color inside every row, working a few stitches in each color and stacking each color on itself. You can work the piece from side to side, so that ordinary stripes of whole rows stand upright when it is turned. Or you can finish a plain piece and lay the stripes on afterward with surface crochet.

How to work it

  1. Way 1: change color inside every row

    A row of vertical stripes being worked, in stripes two stitches wide. Each stitch stands on a stitch of its own color in the row below. Two stitches of the first color and two of the second are made, and the loop on the hook is the first color again: the change was made as the last stitch was finished. The second yarn lies along the top of the row ahead, to be worked over.

    Work a few stitches in one color and the next few in the other, all the way along the row. On every row, put each color over the same color in the row below. Change color on the last yarn over of the stitch before the change, and carry the yarn that is not in use along the top of the row below, working over it. The rows on this page are worked this way, in single crochet (UK double crochet), with stripes 2 stitches wide.

  2. For wide stripes, a ball for each stripe

    Carrying a yarn inside the stitches thickens the fabric, and the carried color can show through. Where the stripes are wide, give each stripe a small ball of its own instead. Leave the ball hanging on the wrong side when its stripe is worked, and pick it up again on the next row. Nothing is carried from stripe to stripe.

  3. Way 2: work the piece sideways

    The same small striped piece shown twice. Number 1 is the piece as it is worked: four rows, one color to a row, so the stripes lie across. Number 2 is the same piece turned a quarter turn: its rows now stand upright, and so do the stripes. An arrow leads from 1 to 2.

    Ordinary stripes are whole rows of one color. Work the piece from side to side instead of from the bottom up: make the starting chain as long as the piece is to be tall, and change color at the end of a row as for any stripes. Turned the right way up, the rows stand upright, and the stripes with them.

  4. Way 3: add the stripes afterward

    Work the piece plain, or in stripes that run across it. Then lay each upright stripe on the finished fabric with surface crochet: a line of slip stitches worked from one edge to the other, one loop for each row, with the yarn held behind the work. Keep the loops loose, so that the line does not gather the fabric.

The stitch pattern, row by row

Multiple
Chain a multiple of 4 plus 3 (11 or more).
Starting chain
The rows here are written for a chain of 19, which is 4 times the multiple of 4, plus 3.
  • The ch 1 at the start of a row does not count as a stitch.
  • Row 1 is the right side.
  • Change yarn in the last yarn over of the stitch before the new yarn begins. Lay the other yarn of the row along the top of the row below and work over it, from the first stitch of the row to the last.
  1. Foundation. With A, ch 19.
  2. Row 1 (RS). Sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in next ch, [with B, sc in next 2 chs, with A, sc in next 2 chs] 4 times (18 sc).
  3. Row 2. Ch 1, turn; sc in next 2 sts, [with B, sc in next 2 sts, with A, sc in next 2 sts] 4 times (18 sc).

Repeat row 2 for the pattern.

Symbol chart of vertical stripes: 3 rows on the foundation chain, each row numbered at the side it starts from. Each row is drawn in the color of its yarn.

What each symbol meansHow to read a chart

Abbreviations in these rows

ch
chain stitch
sc
single crochet (UK double crochet)
RS
right side
st
stitch

At a glance

Used for
blankets, afghans and throws; plaids, as the upright half of the check
Color changed in the row
The other yarn is carried inside the stitches, or each stripe has a ball of its own.
Worked sideways
Whole rows of one color; the starting chain is the height of the piece.
Added afterward
Lines of slip stitches on a finished piece.
Multiple
The chain is a multiple of 4 plus 3 (11 or more).
Row repeat
Row 2.
Sides
Looks much the same on both sides.
Edges
The side edges are straight: a row that begins with a chain that does not count begins and ends in a stitch, and that chain is not worked into.

The three ways leave different wrong sides. With the other yarn carried inside the stitches, nothing lies loose and the fabric is tidy on both sides, but it is thicker. With a ball for each stripe the fabric stays one layer thick, and there are more balls to handle and more ends to weave in. With stripes laid on afterward, the yarn of each line runs along the back of the fabric.

They also put the color changes in different places. Changed inside the row, the colors meet in the middle of the fabric, in every row. Worked sideways, every change is at the end of a row, which is the top or bottom edge of the finished piece.

In the rows on this page the chain is a multiple of 4 plus 3: every pair of stripes takes 4 stitches, one more stripe of 2 makes both edges the same color, and 1 more chain turns the first row.

When it goes wrong

The carried yarn shows through the stripes.
Work the stitches more tightly, or go down a hook size, so that they close over the yarn inside them.
The fabric puckers where the colors change.
The carried yarn is pulled too tight. Let it lie straight along the row without drawing it up.

Left-handed

The pictures show the hook held in the right hand. For the left hand, read each picture as its mirror image.

Variations

Questions

How do I crochet vertical stripes?
Change color inside every row and stack each color on itself, or work the piece sideways in ordinary stripes and turn it, or add lines of surface crochet to a finished piece.
Can I make vertical stripes without changing color in the middle of a row?
Yes. Work the piece from side to side, one color to a row, with a starting chain as long as the piece is tall. Or work it plain and add the stripes with surface crochet.
Do I carry the yarn or cut it?
For narrow stripes, carry the other yarn inside the stitches. For wide stripes, use a separate ball for each stripe and leave it hanging until the next row. Neither way needs the yarn cut at each change.
How many chains do I start with for the stripes on this page?
A multiple of 4, plus 3. A chain of 19 gives 18 stitches: five stripes of the first color and four of the second, each 2 stitches wide.

Where to go next

Stitches

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