My slipped stitch patterns work best with smooth yarns.
This topic relates to choosing your yarn colours for both one sided and reversible slipped stitched cabled projects. Each of my patterns requires two colours of yarn. Your will need at least one tonal/solid coloured yarn and one other yarn.
The other yarn can be solid, gradient, striped, variegated or speckled. The use of each of the kinds of yarns is discussed below.
When you start knitting, the two colours will blend together in the 2 colour garter stitch and it may initially feel like there is not enough contrast between the yarns. Before deciding that these are the wrong yarns, consider working the pattern for a little longer.
Once the cabled pattern is established, the cables will become more distinct. This is because you will start to see design formed by only one colour and the slipped stitch technique makes the cables pop off of the fabric.
One trick to see if you have enough contrast in the yarns is to take a picture with your smartphone of your two yarns together. You should be able to edit the picture to greyscale or black & white. If the 2 yarns are distinct in the black & white picture, they will have enough contrast for the knit.
Using two Solid Yarns
Two solid yarns create the most distinct patterns. This is good choice for these projects. Two shades of the same colour (so long as they pass the black & white test) will work too.
Using a Solid & a Gradient or Stripe
A gradient or stripe as the second yarn works very well too. It is a lot like using 2 solid yarns where you are regularly changing one of the solid colours.
Using a Solid & a Variegated or Speckled
Using a variegated yarn tends to soften the cabled lines in the design. It is important that no colour within the variegated or speckled yarn is too close to the colour of the solid yarn or the cable will be lost into the background. You may try the black & white test on the solid yarn against any colour in the variegated yarn.
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