Intarsia is a colourwork technique used when a colour only appears in one section of a row rather than all the way across. Unlike stranded colourwork, there are no floats carried across the back of the knitting, making it ideal for large blocks of colour and picture motifs.
To avoid holes or gaps when changing colours, the two yarns are twisted around each other on every row. This twist happens on the back of the work and creates a neat, hole-free join between the colour sections.
Top Tip: Each area of colour is worked from its own ball of yarn. Before you begin, wind each section onto a small ball, bobbin or yarn butterfly. On the Pencil Cardigan, for example, each pencil uses separate balls for the body, point and wood section. A few minutes of preparation makes colourwork much easier to manage later on.
What You'll Need: • Your intarsia knitting pattern and chart • A separate ball, bobbin or yarn butterfly for each area of colour • Knitting needles and yarn
Steps:
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Follow your chart and knit (or purl) until you reach the point where the colour changes.
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With both yarns being held at the back of the work, make a 180 degree twist of the yarns so that one strand crosses over the other.
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Continue knitting with the new colour, leaving the previous yarn letting the old colour hang down the back of the work where you left it.
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Repeat this process every time you change colours, twisting the yarns together once before working with the new colour.
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Take care not to pull or yank on the strands excessively as we are trying to keep the overall tension of the knitted fabric even, and pulled or yanked colour changes will create tight bunched areas.
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Continue following the chart, working each section of colour from its own ball of yarn.
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Intarsia panels are always blocked after completion. Any slight tension mishaps will even out during the washing and blocking process to produce a smooth, hole free stockinette panel.
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📸 When viewed from the back of the work, you'll see the yarns crossing over each other at each colour change.