Marled Knitting with Stripes
Detail shot of the Prismatic Reflection Sweater, striped version
What is Marling or Marled Knitting?
Marled knitting is knit with two (or more) strands of yarn held together to create a new effect. The yarns will typically be different colors and/or textures, and the more the yarn styles vary, the bigger the change you’ll see in the knitted fabric compared to knitting the yarn on its own.
If you’ve ever held mohair or suri alpaca together with another strand of yarn, then you’ve already done this technique!
You can also buy marled yarn where these strands have been plied together to achieve a similar effect without having to plan out color or yarn combinations.
Striped swatches with and without marled effect
How to Marl stripes for a lower contrast look
In this post, I’ll show you how I knit marled stripes similar to the ones used on my Prismatic Reflection Sweater. To create marled stripes, the main color is held throughout as you alternate contrasting colored yarns. This creates uniformity between the stripes for better color blending, and makes the color transition a little less abrupt.
In order to maintain the same gauge and swatch size, all my sample swatches have been knit with two strands held together on US 7 (4.5 mm) needles. This gave me a gauge of 21 sts x 27 rows in stockinette in the round = 4 in x 4 in (10 cm x 10 cm) after blocking
From left to right: Wool2Dye4 Krypton Sock in white, Silly Goose Yarns Plump Fingering in Coral Reef, SGYPF in Bubblegum, SGYPF in Ice Ice Baby, W2D4 Natural Fluff 4-Ply
Solid Stripes in Single Color
This swatch does not use the marled effect. You can see that the colors are similar in tone and appear quite bold.
Yarn used: W2D4 Krypton Sock in white, SGYPF in Coral Reef, Bubblegum, and Ice Ice Baby
Marled Stripes Using Same Yarn Base
This swatch uses the white sock yarn throughout as the MC, and alternates the CC yarns per stripe. This tones the stripes down, but you can still see stitch definition since these are the same yarn base (fingering sock-weight yarn).
Yarn used: W2D4 Krypton Sock in white (held throughout), SGYPF in Coral Reef, Bubblegum, and Ice Ice Baby
Marled Stripes Using Different Yarn Bases
This swatch uses the white Natural Fluff yarn throughout as the MC, and alternates the CC yarns per stripe. This tones the stripes down even further, softening the overall look for a more subtle striped effect.
Yarn used: W2D4 Natural Fluff 4-Ply (held throughout), W2D4 Krypton Sock in white, SGYPF in Coral Reef, Bubblegum, and Ice Ice Baby
My Final Pick
For my Prismatic Reflection Sweater design, the stripes run through the middle of a slipped cabled diamond motif. This design lends itself better to subtle striping or color shifts so that the the motif can stand out. I used the third option, holding the Natural Fluff throughout as I alternated contrasting colored yarns.
How to Alternate Colors in Marled Knitting
Marled knitting is much easier than it sounds. You simply hold two yarns together, and alternate one (or more) strands as you prefer to have your color shift. If you’d like to achieve the striping effect I’ve shown above, follow these steps:
Choose Your COlors
The Natural Fluff (textured) yarn is the main color (MC) that I will hold throughout. The white sock yarn will be my background, or first contrast color, (CC1), and the Coral (CC2), Bubblegum (CC3), and Ice (CC4) will be striped.
Start Knitting with MC & CC1
Hold MC & CC1 together and start knitting as you would normally. You’re already marling! The majority of the sweater will be knit with these two colors.
Cut CC1
When you’re ready to begin your first stripe, you can cut CC1, leaving a long enough tail to weave in at the end. DO NOT CUT THE MC! Note: if you are planning to use CC1 within the next few rounds, you can also leave it intact and weave it up as you knit each round, leaving one less end to weave in.
Attach CC2 in place of CC1
You will now knit with MC & CC2 to begin the first stripe. Make sure to give yourself a long enough tail with CC2 to weave in at the end, and keep both CC1 & CC2 tails off to the side while you knit.
Work Stripe 1
Continue to knit the first stripe, holding MC & CC2 together, until desired length.
Repeat As Needed
Repeat the above steps until you’ve achieved the desired stripe effect. You can see that holding the MC (Natural Fluff) throughout helps create a uniform look and makes for an easier transition while knitting.
Prismatic Reflection Sweater
Want to knit your own version? Get the pattern now! Pattern also available on Ravelry.
