Intarsia and Fair Isle Knitting

What is Intarsia Knitting?

Intarsia is a term from woodworking for inlaying different types of wood into a piece to form a design. Instarsia knitting is a multi-colored knitting technique where you have multiple "live" strands of yarn active as you work. The yarn is usually wound on small bobbins and hang from the back of the work as you go along. The key to getting a good look to your knitting is to wrap the strands of yarn around each other as you change colors, this prevents holes from forming.

I use the Intarsia knitting technique to create the picture designs I use in my handmade doll clothes and handmade bear clothes that I sell at my website. I use the Fair Isle technique when putting names on sweaters, as I find its easier than running mutiple threads at once.

You can see three of examples of my work in my logo. All of my intarsia knitting is done by hand, but there are knitting machines that are designed for intarsia knitting in mind. It can be a much faster and easier way to create multicolored designs, if you can master it.

You can learn more about Knitting Essentials by purchasing tutorials like this one.

One of the things you'll need if you're going to learn either one of these techniques is yarn. I prefer to use Red Heart, and one place you can find it is Joann.com. You can visit their website by clicking one of the logos below, and check out their current promotions and sale items:

Intarsia vs Fair Isle Knitting

Why these two are confused, and what the difference is

Intarsia and Fair Isle are both forms of knitting that involve knitting with multiple active colors at the same time.

With Fair Isle knitting you carry one color of yarn across the row, using it as needed as you go along the row, leaving the yarn in between stitches hanging loosely in the back. It needs to be a little bit loose otherwise it will add tension to your work and it won't lie flat. This is referred to as carrying the yarn.

With Intarsia knitting, you have a separate color bobbin for each section of color used in the design, and do not carry yarn from one section of the work to the other.

Which method of multi-colored knitting do you prefer to do?

They can both be used on the same kind of project, so which one do you prefer to use for YOUR projects when you have a choice between the two?

Make your choice, and please explain why you feel that way in the space provided.

Which method of multi-colored knitting do you prefer to do?

Fetching blurbs now... please stand by

Intarsia

Margaret_Schaut says:

I LOVE a good intarsia! I learned at an aunt's knee, and she was incredibly talented. It gave me a very logical approach to design and challenged me mathematically- as a kid, a really big deal! She did complicated designs that I've rarely seen matched, and in my estimation a complicated but beautiful intarsia is a true measure of expertise.

Posted June 04, 2008

Fair Isle

MerryM says:

Hard to choose, but I would have to go with Fair Isle because I like designing charts for Fair Isle almost as much as I like knitting it!

Posted November 01, 2008

badmsm says:

I love Fair Isle, because the color changes are so much easier. You can also do a lot by changing the main color, as in many of the new Nordic Fair Isle patterns.

Posted March 04, 2008

charlesgrimes says:

I like to use Kaffe Fawsett's patterns for many colors of fair isle. And of course, using alpaca yarn!

Posted January 23, 2008

sonia_simone says:

Fair Isle for me, because I knit in the round most of the time. I also usually like small repeated designs more than single bold ones. They both have their uses, though!

Posted December 10, 2007

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What sorts of designs can you create using Intarsia Knitting?

The more colors, the more complicated the work

Simple designs that use only 2-3 colors are easiest to do, and can be done as excellent training mechanisms for beginners. Designs like the rainbow design shown to the right can be very complicated, as you have to keep a close eye on your active yarn strands to prevent knotting or twisting from occurring on the back side of your work. Designs like the Christmas Tree shown above is very basic - a triangle sitting on a rectangle, on a white sweater.

Handmade Christmas Tree Doll Sweater

So how do you create a design?

Its best to be done in advance on graph paper or an Excel spreadsheet

By drawing out the design, you'll be able to see exactly how many stitches are done in which color, and get a feel for how large of a bobbin you need for each patch of color.

Let me show you a picture of one example of a design I created for a customer of a dump truck:

You can see it by clicking on the following link: http://www.katiyana.com/dollclothes/dumptruck.htm.

The intarsia knitting method can also be used for putting words onto a knitted piece of work, although I generally use the Fair Isle method instead because its easier to work with two live strands of yarn rather than separate strands for each letter. This could be a word or phrase, a name, an initial, or a number. You can see how I've used lettering on a sweater to spell out names in the picture to the right.

Do you need some knitting supplies?

Alice in Stitches has a lot of great equipment for any knitter!

Lantern Moon Uzu Fiber Classic Yarn Knitting Caddy Storage

* Classic Caddy - great for knitting and sewing projects
* Uzu Fiber and Cotton Linen on black wood frame
* 14"H x 16"W x 8"D
* Folds away for storage
* Handcrafted product from family business

Amazon Price: $36.00 (as of 07/13/2009)

28 Inch Kintting Board: Adjustable

* 28" Knitting Board
* Solid kiln dried hardwood
* Use one board size to create small projects to sweaters
* Adjustable Wood Spacers
* Includes knit hook & instructions

Amazon Price: $44.00 (as of 07/13/2009)

Lantern Moon Blue Raw Silk Knitting Needle Case Holder

* Holds 9 Pairs Straight Needles and 8 Circular Sets
* Raw Silk with Taffeta Trim
* 15" x 6" when closed
* Zipper Pouch, Nylon Reinforced
* Needles sold separately

Amazon Price: $38.00 (as of 07/13/2009)

Lantern Moon Green Rose Raw Silk Knitting Needle Case Holder

* Holds 9 Pairs Straight Needles and 8 Circular Sets
* Red Raw Silk with Taffeta Trim
* 15" x 6" when closed
* Zipper Pouch, Nylon Reinforced
* Needles sold separately

Amazon Price: $38.00 (as of 07/13/2009)