Saturday, November 13, 2010

Intarsia Knitting

Every little boy needs a warm sweater knitted by his meema.  My New Boy has sensitive skin so he prefers to wear cotton or cotton blends.  And every little boy ought to have a Weasley Sweater with his initial knitted in to the front.


Working an initial involves using several balls of yarn at a time in the same row.  In his sweater, I juggled seven strands at a time, three neon green and four blue like his eyes.  While this technique looks horribly complicated, it really isn't.  It's the same technique that is used to knit argyle socks and various plaid patterns.  Called intarsia, this way of working several colors into one row of knitting does not involve 'stranding', carrying the extra yarn along the back of the garment.  You just pick up the new strand of yarn, twist it around the old one and keep on knitting.  The only difficult parts are remembering to always twist in the same direction and making sure the seven balls of yarn do not become hopelessly tangled.

Details and Requirements
Weasley Sweater from Charmed Knits
Sugar'n Cream cotton yarn, 3 skeins blue, 200 yds each; 1 skein bright green for initial
Size 8 needles
One adorable grandson as recipient
Enough courage to try the Intarsia Technique

8 comments:

roxie said...

Love it! And as I recall, you are no novice when it comes to intarsia. Let us know how that Sugar and Cream wears in a sweater. I know it is THE go to yarn for washcloths, but how does it hold its shape on a busy boy?

ellen b. said...

Oh what a special Meema you are. That will be a fun sweater.

snoopydogknits said...

Looks like he's a very lucky little boy. Ros

Kathie said...

What a wonderful sweater! I do have to say that the idea of 7 balls of yarn at once causes a little fear in this beginning knitter.

Bethany said...

Oh, I'm so excited that you're making this sweater!!! I have seen the pattern but am not good enough to try it myself. It will be fabulous!!!

"Sunshine" said...

I have been working on a bag done in Intarsia, but I had given up, until I saw your post. I hope this will inspire me to finish it. Lots of different colors and as I would call it, a mess.

Knitting Linguist said...

Ooh, it looks great! And the intarsia - the one technique I haven't tried - very nice :)

Also, btw, I wrote up the hat pattern. It's available for free on Rav, or if you email me, I can send it to you (jahlersATcsusmDOTedu). :)

Mylyne said...

Thanks for your tips on colorwork. I should conquer my fear of it with them. I also your sweater's color combination. :)