How to Knit Intarsia Colorwork: The Basics

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Intarsia or “picture knitting” is a colorwork technique used to create basic geometric shapes or complicated pictures in knitting. It opens up a whole world of possibilities in your knitting. While there are very advanced applications of intarsia colorwork, the core technique is fairly straightforward. Learn some intarsia basics along with us and get some pattern ideas to get started.

Above: Jigsaw Top by Melissa Leapman

What Is Intarsia Colorwork?

Intarsia patterns can be worked in as few as two colors or as many as needed for a given design. Unlike stranded colorwork, in which small, repeating patterns are created by alternating two strands of yarn in different colors across a row, intarsia colorwork designs are generally larger and more free-form. Each area of color is worked from an individual ball, bobbin, or length of yarn. When a color is not in use, it is dropped to the wrong side of the work until it is needed again on the next row for its designated stitches.

Intarsia patterns are generally worked from a chart. Each stitch is represented by a colored square or a square containing a color symbol. Charts for very large intarsia projects can even show every stitch of an entire knitted piece. If only one area of the project features an intarsia motif, then the chart will usually show only the stitches and rows used for the motif itself. The instructions should tell you where to position it.

Getting Started

The key to working intarsia is to interlock the yarns when it’s time to change from one color to the next. At each color change, the old color is brought over the new color. Then, the new color is picked up from under the old color and worked from there. Overlapping the yarns catches the old color as the two strands “link elbows” and prevents a gap at the color change. Another important thing to note is that although the main color is often referred to as the background color, in intarsia knitting, an unused color is never carried horizontally across the wrong side of the work, even if it is needed several times across a single row. Each isolated area of background color requires its own separate bobbin, butterfly, or strand of yarn.

Choosing Materials

When selecting yarn for an intarsia project, stick to yarns with a little fuzz. Yarns that are very smooth or tightly spun are less forgiving and will show any uneven stitches and gaps at the color changes. Select a yarn brand that comes in all the colors that you want to minimize any differences in gauge. It’s possible to mix yarns of different fibers and structures, for example a mohair, a bouclé, and a single-ply. However, you’ll be sure to have success if you choose yarns that are similar in weight and gauge.

Before beginning a project, make a swatch with your chosen yarns and colors to see how they work together when knitted. What looks good when skeins of yarn are held together doesn’t always work when the yarns are knitted up. For intarsia motifs to stand out against the background, the colors need to have enough contrast so they don’t blend together.

Yarn Preparation

The most important part of intarsia colorwork is prepping the yarn. Take a look at your pattern to determine how many yarn supply units you’ll need. The heart chart below shows one section of red in the center, two sections of white at the bottom, and three sections of white at the top. To knit this heart, you’d need to prepare one yarn supply unit of red but two of white because the white yarn is not carried behind the red when you work intarsia. (At the top of the heart, the white section in the center will be added later using duplicate stitch.)

Some areas will be large enough to require a full ball of yarn; others will be smaller and can use partial balls. Some knitters like to use store-bought bobbins for each yarn supply unit; others prefer self-made yarn butterflies. I actually use simple one-yard lengths of yarn, which are easy to untangle when necessary. If my yarn supply for one segment runs out, I just add another length.

Working with Intarsia Colorwork Charts

As already noted, each square of an intarsia colorwork chart represents one stitch. Chart rows are read from bottom to top (the same way your knitting grows). Right-side rows are read from right to left, and wrong-side rows are read from left to right. You may find it helpful to draw arrows in the margins of the chart to indicate the correct direction of knitting. To keep track of the current row, use a magnetic strip on a metal board, or a long Post-it note, and align it along the top edge of the row you’re working. Placing the marker above the current row allows you to see how it relates to the rows already completed.

Most knitters’ stockinette stitch contains more rows per inch than stitches per inch. If you’re creating your own intarsia design on graph paper, remember that any motif drawn on a square grid with the same number of rows and columns per inch will look more “squashed” from top to bottom when knitted. To prevent this, look for graph paper created especially for knitters in your local yarn shop or on the Internet. Knitter’s graph paper contains more rows than stitches per inch, so designs drawn on it will look more like the drawing on the graph paper when knitted.

Joining a New Color

Knit side (RS)

Begin the row with the color indicated on the chart. When the chart shows that the next stitch or set of stitches is worked in a new color, drop the old color to the WS of the work.

*Insert the right needle into the next stitch as if to knit. Leaving a 4″ (10-cm) tail of the new color, work the stitch with the new color. Let go of the new color, then pick up the strand of the old color and place it over the strand of the new color just worked. Keeping a slight tension on the old yarn, pick up the new yarn from under the old and make the next stitch with the new yarn. Drop the old yarn and continue to work the stitches indicated on the chart for the new color. When it’s time to change colors again, repeat from *.

Remember, if the chart indicates that the next set of stitches is worked in a color that you’ve already used, start a brand new strand of yarn or bobbin of that color. Don’t carry the old strand across the back of the work. When you reach the end of the row, turn the work as usual to begin a wrong-side row.

Purl side (WS)

Begin the row with the color indicated on the chart. When the chart shows that the next stitch or set of stitches is worked in a new color, drop the old color to the WS (the side facing you).

*Insert the right needle into the next stitch as if to purl. Leaving a 4″ (10-cm) tail of the new color, work the stitch with the new color. Drop the new color. Pick up the strand of the old color and place it over the strand of the new color just worked. Keeping a slight tension on the old yarn, pick up the new yarn from under the old and make the next stitch with the new yarn. Continue to work the stitches indicated on the chart for the new color. When it’s time to change colors again, repeat from *.

Changing Colors after the First Join

Once the colors have been joined and the work is in progress, continue to work the stitches as indicated on the chart. When you come to a color change, drop the old yarn to the WS of your work, insert the needle into the next stitch as if to knit or purl, then bring the old yarn strand over the new before you take the first stitch in order to close the gap.

On the row after a completed motif, you no longer need to work with separate bobbins for the background color. Just work across the background color stitches with a single bobbin or strand of yarn, and snip off the unneeded strand when you come to it. Leave a 4″ (10-cm) tail to weave in later.

Duplicate Stitch for Small, Isolated Sections of Color

For extremely tiny areas of a color (with fewer than five stitches across in any direction), many knitters prefer to embroider the new color on top of the knitted fabric to avoid having one more yarn in a row.

This technique, called duplicate stitch, is ideal for adding narrow diagonal lines in an argyle pattern or whenever you’re adding isolated stitches of a color.

Rows versus Rounds

Intarsia patterns are generally worked back and forth in rows, not circularly in rounds. When working in the round, after knitting the first round, each color strand will be on the far side of each motif as you come to it on the next round; not in position to resume working. However, there are ways to solve this problem.

Weaving in Ends

Intarsia colorwork with many different color sections will leave an unsightly forest of tails on the wrong side of your work. You can either weave them in as you go, or wait until the end.

Here’s a tip from Melissa Leapman:

The easiest—and fastest—way to manage ends is to deal with them as you knit. It is best to weave tails in to a subsequent row using the same color. Doing so will keep the tails invisible on the right side of the fabric. Yarn tails from the final use of a color must be worked into the following row, even though that row will be in a different color.

The method for weaving in yarn tails as you go is different depending on how you hold the yarns as you knit. Learn more in this article from Melissa.

Weaving in Ends After Finishing

You can also weave in the ends, one at a time, after your piece is completed. Thread the yarn tail onto a tapestry needle and, working along the perimeter of the color section on the wrong side, weave in the tail for about an inch before cutting. If you’re working horizontally, run the needle up and down in the purl bumps of your stitches, or weave it vertically in and out along the edges of the color areas. If the yarn is thick, divide the plies and weave them in opposite directions.

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Now you’re ready to get started knitting intarsia! Do you have any questions about the technique? Let us know in the coments!

Related: Knit a Fun Dino Hat as Your First Intarsia Project

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Originally published 3/1/2019. Updated 10/27/2022.

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