ConnieLene – KnitDesigner

I am going to write an ebook on my favourite knitting subject – Intarsia. The Intarsia free form process is my passion – but the technicality of working in the round, using a graph, working out the colour scheme etc will all be covered. It will be Intarsia from go to whereever it could take me and of course you. I would hope that my passion for Intarsia knitting might also make a convert of you to this method of colourwork in your knitting.

Would such a book be of interest to you? If so please let me know by emailing me with “I wish to be informed on the progress of the ebook on Intarsia knitting” in the subject field.

Intarsia is a woodworking term, where it refers to inlaying different colours or types of wood to create a design. In knitting it refers to knitting different colours and or types of yarns to create a design.

When knitting using the intarsia method yarn can be wound onto bobbins, or long or short lengths of yarn are used for each block or section of colour. At the point where you are changing the colour in a row, one drops the colour in use and picks up the next colour from underneath the original yarn to reduce the risk of holes showing in completed piece.

One difficulty with intarsia knitting is that your yarns WILL tangle.

I have bobbins – but I do not use them and yes I do get into a tangle from time to time, but this adds to the drama to the process.

I knit on circular needles and whenever possible or practical (which is most of the time) I knit the body of a sweater, the fronts and back of a jacket or cardigan at one time – this means the intarsia sections travel around the piece as part of the design. With careful management when using one colour of a manageable length, dropping it, picking up the next and maybe having 10 or more colours in a row and your yarns are hanging down as they should and you turn the work always one way and then back the reverse way they do not get so crossed over and messy. Well that is the theory anyway.

Because my intarsia is freeform, that is I work to an idea, not to a written or graphed design on a piece – if it is too tangled then I break the yarn and continue with a new colour, or if required I rejoin the yarn. My artist friends tell me that knitting this way is an art form – that is I paint with yarns. I am happy with that view.

The biggest issue with knitting this way is not the tangles BUT the ends. In early days I left the yarn ends to the end (foolish) and then sewed or wove the ends in when the garment was completed.

**** DO NOT DO THAT****

Take the time to knit / weave in the ends as you go – otherwise it can take as long to finish the piece as it did to create it. You do not need that.

When I knitted my cloak (The Great New Zealand Cloak) I left all the yarn ends to the very end. My darling daughter sat over nearly a whole day and night trimming the ends as I sewed them in. She vowed to never do it again with me – but she still helps if I get so excited at what I am creating that I do not judiciously finish as I go.

And then of course she does own a large collection of unique intarsia knits.

There is no way to ever repeat exactly a piece using my method of knitting intarsia – so if you want to knit a unique piece – try the intarsia free form system – let your creativity rule, play with your colours, mix your yarn types – spread them out, select a garment type and go and play.