Double-strand knitting

Double-strand knitting is a technique popular with many Bear Facers. It's really easy to do, and makes for a good sturdy piece of knitting really quickly. Double strand is great if you want to knit something that has a slightly 'kibbled' dual colour effect, or for something that can be seen from a distance.

For this example I've used 2 shades of blue, both in double knit. First, choose your wool. 

Taking a strand from both balls, start to cast on. Every time you do a stitch, bring both strands around the needle, like so:

At the end of the cast-on row, you'll end up with something like this. 

The pleasing thing about this technique is that you end up with a nice knobbly effect that's different every time. You can never predict exactly how your double-strand look will turn out. 

If you knit every single row (knit, knit, both sides) you'll end up with something like this:

You can use this technique for all sorts of things. Bear Facers have used it to knit such diverse things as credit cards, guitars, and bus passes. To date I've not seen it used to make a garment. My favourite ever use of the double-strand method is from a Bear Facer who knit a load of bricks, and stitched them together to make a house. 

Now go forth and knit your own house! You have all the tools you need...