Stripes from leftover yarn: how to plan the colours

October 20, 2026

Striper av restegarn: slik planlegger du fargene

Leftover yarn is a choice, not a last resort. The balls left over from earlier garments already come in colours you chose yourself. Laid one after another in stripes, they become a garment nobody else has.

Stripes are also this autumn's clearest trend in knitwear, often in earth tones with a light colour in between. Here is how to make your leftovers work together.

Sort the leftovers by thickness first

Colour comes later. Group the balls by yardage, meaning how many metres there are per 50 g. Yarns that are close in thickness can be used interchangeably. If a leftover is too thin, hold it together with a thin mohair, and it will match the thickness of the rest.

Not sure how to compare yarns? Read Swapping yarn in a pattern.

Choose one colour to carry the piece

A striped jumper looks calmer when one colour runs all the way through. In Unsaid – The Dress, off-white is the base colour. It returns between the other stripes and makes up about half of the yarn. The strong colours then have room without clashing.

Base colour: the one you have most of. Wide sections.
Accent colours: narrow stripes of 2–3 rounds. This is where you can use the smallest leftovers.
One contrast: a colour that stands out, used sparingly.

Keep the stripes the same in every size

In my striped patterns, the stripe section is often the same in all five sizes. It is the body around the stripes that is graded. That way you can plan the stripes once, whatever the size. In Up With the Birds – The Dress, the pattern is written independently of the colours, so you can put in your own leftovers stripe by stripe.

Plan before you knit

In the stripe planner you can see the stripes on the jumper before you knit them. My striped patterns also include a stripe sheet with tick boxes, so you know which stripe you are on when you put your knitting down.

When you change colour

Change colour in the same place each time, at the beginning of the round.
Leave 10 cm of both strands hanging, so you can weave them in afterwards.
If you knit in the round, you get a small jog where the round begins. On the second round in the new colour, slip the first stitch without knitting it. This evens out the transition.