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Monday
30Jun2008

Intarsia Tutorial

"Intarsia" is color knitting comprised of large areas of color. This Stars + Stripes Felted Hot Pad is a typical example of intarsia knitting:

4thstarsfinal.jpg

The truck in this pattern from Roo Designs is another good example:

4thtruck2.jpg

Some Basic Rules

Intarsia knitting isn't hard, but there are some basic rules to know.

Unlike fair isle knitting, the yarn is not stranded across the back of the work in intarsia knitting. Instead, you have a separate ball of yarn for each area of color. If you have a lot of color changes in one row, you may want to wind the separate colors onto bobbins to help you stay organized. 

The other important rule to keep in mind is that when you switch from one color to the other you have to "twist" the yarns in order to avoid holes. I like to think of it as "trapping" the yarn, because you put the yarn you're finished using in front of the new yarn, trapping it between the new yarn and the knitting. This manoeuvre is always done on the wrong side of the work.

Here are all the scenarios you will encounter knitting intarsia:

Vertical Lines

The red lines in this picture show color changes that form vertical lines:

4thvertical2.jpg

When the color change forms a vertical line, knit to the change, bring the old yarn in front of the new yarn (again, on the wrong side of the work), and knit the new color stitch.

Here is what that looks like when you're knitting a right side row:

4thverticalrs.jpg 

And here it is purling a wrong side row:

4thverticalws.jpg

Diagonal Color Changes

When the color design is at a diagonal, twisting depends on if the design is slanting to the right or to the left. If it is slanting to the RIGHT as you're looking at it, you need to twist the yarns, regardless of whether you're on the knit or the purl side of the piece.

The moments marked in red are right slants on the knit side:

4thleftslantrs.jpg

The twist in that case would look like this:

4thrightslanttwist.jpg 

On the purl side, the right slant color changes happen along this red line and also require a twist: 

4thrightslantws.jpg 

The twist on the purl side looks like this:

4thtwistwsslant.jpg 

If the design is slanting to the LEFT, like this: 

4thrightslantrs.jpg

Or like this:

4thleftslantws.jpg

You don't need to twist the yarns at all. You can just drop the old yarn and start knitting or purling with the new yarn.

If you find this right versus left slant confusing (sometimes I do!), it's fine to just always twist the yarns. When in doubt, twist!

Reader Comments (4)

This is probably a dumb question, but...

Since there is blue on both sides of the star, will there be a blue bobbin for both sides with blue yarn? ie: blue bobbin, white bobbin, blue bobbin?

Also, when at the end of the pattern, do you just drop one of the blue bobbins and the white bobbin and start knitting again with all blue?

Thanks in advance!
March 16, 2009 | Unregistered Commenterterry
Hi Terry,
There is no such thing as a dumb question in knitting!
Yes, you will need two bobbins in white and three in blue at the bottom of the star.
At the end, just drop the bobbins and knit with all blue.
March 16, 2009 | Registered Commenterpurl bee
how do you choose the most appropriate lining material for an intarsia project. For example, a baby blanket in intarsia might have an ugly wrong side. Assuming the yarn cannot be ironed (but is machine washable) what kind of lining material would be best??
June 16, 2009 | Unregistered Commenterpat
Hi,
This was so useful,i forgot to check your tutorial before i started the baby hat pattern.Im following Amy Barht"s baby hat pattern which has this intartia technique.Im almot done with the hat and now im seeing there is a lot oF puckering on the right side of the wrk.Is there a way i can make it straight??I was thinking of cutting the yarn and tieing knots at the back.Please help!
September 22, 2009 | Unregistered Commenternafeesa

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