Color - Intarsia

Intarsia is a technique used to incorporate areas of color into your knitting. This could mean pictures, shapes or polka dots. For each block of contrasting color you will use a different length of yarn. The yarn is not carried across the back of the work, as in Fair Isle, but rather twisted around the main color at the edges of the secondary color.

You can use any method of joining a different color of yarn into your work to get started. We are using the duplicate stitch method. Join in the yarn and knit the contrast color stitches.

When you have finished knitting the contrast color stitches, join a new strand of the main color yarn. The main color yarn will come from two separate balls now, one on either side of the contrast color. You will now have three strands of working yarn.

Turn your work to complete the purl stitches on the wrong side. Work the first strand until you get to the color change. Drop the first color and pick up the second color, bringing it up from behind the first.

Work across the contrast color stitches until you reach the main color again. Bring the main color up from behind the contrast color again. Work to the end of the row.

You are now back on the knit side of the fabric. Work as you did for the purl side, dropping the old yarn when it is time to change colors and bringing up the new yarn between the old yarn and the back of the fabric.

Important tips:

• Keep your tension even as you work the color changes. This will help to avoid gaps in the fabric.
• Make sure that you bring the new yarn up from underneath the old yarn each time to create a twist in the yarns that prevents holes.
• Go back when you are done with the contrast color to even out any loose stitches and securely weave in the contrast color where you started and finished with it.

When you are using multiple colors of yarn as in an intarsia pattern, you may have several short lengths of yarn hanging off of the wrong side of your work at one time. A nice way to keep these organized and untangled is to wind them onto bobbins or into butterflies. Butterflies are a miniature version of a center pull ball of yarn. It is easy to wind a butterfly on your hand:

Start with a short length of yarn. Lay it across your palm with about 6 inches hanging over by your thumb. Hold the yarn tail steady with your thumb while you wind. Begin by going under your pinky and ring fingers and coming up in between your ring and middle fingers.

Now wrap the yarn around your middle and pointer fingers and up between your ring and middle fingers again.

Repeat this butterfly motion until a few inches of yarn remain.

Slide the butterfly loops off of your fingers and wind the remaining yarn around the center of the loops. Tuck the end under to secure it.

You can now neatly pull the exposed yarn end to release loops of yarn. This small bundle can hang close to the back of your knitting so it won’t get in the way.