My colour inspiration this month came directly from the local landscape – the blackberries are ready early this year – the heat has brought them on in all their glorious colour. I love the contrast of the dark berries and green leaves and I thought that the bead stripe pattern would work well!

This colourwork square was created with a slip stitch technique so that only one colour will be worked with in any row and you will need only 2 colours of yarn. Instead of carrying colours, stitches are slipped and the working yarn is carried across the back of the slipped stitches.

10 inch, 25cm square
Approx 40 yds of each colour

August Square: Bead Stripe Square is a 10-inch knitted colorwork block worked in two colors using a slip-stitch technique that delivers bold, textured stripes without a single float. One color per row means no stranding, no tangled bobbins, just clean, confident colorwork from cast-on to bind-off.

Construction and technique

• Slip-stitch colorwork: only one color is worked per row; stitches are slipped with yarn held at the back to build the bead stripe pattern
• No stranding or carried floats required, making this a welcoming entry point into two-color knitting
• Worked flat, bottom up
• Both a written row-by-row pattern and a chart are included

Materials

• Yarn: worsted weight, 2 colors, approximately 80-85 yards total (Cascade 220 or equivalent works well)
• Needle: US 7 / 4.5 mm

20 sts = 4 inches in stockinette

Sizing

• Finished size: 10 inches / 25 cm square, one size
• Consistent tension across both colors keeps the block flat and true to square

What’s included

• Instant PDF download
• Written instructions in US knitting terms
• Chart included

The colorway draws from late-summer hedgerows: deep berry tones set against fresh leaf green. A satisfying make on its own as a framed textile, or join multiples into a modular blanket or sampler afghan.