Intarsia in the Round

[knitpurlgurl]

I have NEVER attempted intarsia.. but the autism scarf I want to knit is knit in intarsia in the round to create a tube - thus allowing the ends to be tucked into the center of the scarf so you don't have to weave in. Intarsia is tricky enough for me to try - but in the round seems particularly tricky. Any advice?

HERE'S the pattern.

Thanks in advance!!

[imrachel]

There is an old method of doing intarsia in the round, where on every other row, you turn and go back and do the purl/wrong side/inside rows for a few sts, and then pick up and continue the way you were going in the round. But it's for small patches, a bit of a pain, and I would NEVER do it with this scarf. Instead, you're going to do stranding, which is that you carry along every color, all along every round. This scarf is not something I would do that with, either-- you will end up with a very thick-- quadruple+ thickness-- scarf: doubled, and then each half having all that extra stranded yarn. What I would do is redesign it flat so that you can do it with true intarsia, and then sew it up on all sides at the end, instead of just the 2 you would have if you did do it in the round.

[knitpurlgurl]

There is an old method of doing intarsia in the round, where on every other row, you turn and go back and do the purl/wrong side/inside rows for a few sts, and then pick up and continue the way you were going in the round. But it's for small patches, a bit of a pain, and I would NEVER do it with this scarf. Instead, you're going to do stranding, which is that you carry along every color, all along every round. This scarf is not something I would do that with, either. What I would do is redesign it flat so that you can do it with true intarsia, and then sew it up on all sides at the end, instead of just the 2 you would have if you did do it in the round.

That's what I was thinking.. flat seems so much easier in this case.

So - do I use bobbins and carry the yarn vertically? Or do I cut off after each section - that's ALOT of yarn in that case. You'll have to excuse me for sounding so ignorant. This is my first try at intarsia knitting and I'm so nervous about it.

[imrachel]

Amy has a video on intarsia knitting in the advanced techniques section, but here's the general idea:

With this many colors, I would use bobbins. And because of the way this pattern works, that it's just puzzle piece after puzzle piece, I would use a different bobbin for each of those puzzle pieces, instead of carrying/stranding anything on the back. Just be sure you do 2 things:

1. When changing colors, wrap the 2 yarns around each other so that you don't have holes between the puzzle pieces.
2. Let's say you're on a knitting row and you finish with red and are about to start with blue-- look at the chart at the next row to see where you come in with the red again when you come back on the purl row. If you will have to start the red, let's pretend 6 sts earlier, on that purl row, then while you're still on the knit row, carry the red behind the blue for 6 sts so that it's ready for you on that return purl row, and you don't have a big loop where you had to bring the yarn over those 6 sts. This will probably make more sense as you actually do it.

When I say "carry", it means to cross over/twist/wind together the 2 colors every 3 sts. I know that this scarf gets doubled over and so all of this will be hidden. But if you don't strand every 3 sts, you are likely to get puckers and general confusing messiness behind your work.

[Mariblue]

Hmmm...well it is possible, as the others have said, but it seems like a lot of work for this particular design.
The designer seems to be using a cut and tie off method, but that's time consuming, though it would save you the trouble of getting your skeins/bobbins of yarn all tangled up. All those yarn ends on the inside would add to the thickness of the scarf though.
You could knit the entire thing flat, and seam up the side.
If it were me, though, I'd knit it flat with traditional intarsia, but only one "side" of the scarf. Then I'd line the back with a nice thin coordinating flannel material to cover the back side of your work.

[knitpurlgurl]

I've messaged the designer asking for clarification and help with her pattern. Maybe I'm just a complete idiot! This is pattern is stressing me out. :D

[Ingrid]

It IS knit flat and then the directions tell you to fold it and stitch it down the long side and across the ends.

I'd say you use a strand of each color for each section and bring your patience.

[imrachel]

But Ingrid, the directions say "join" and refer to the "rounds". . .

[Jan in CA]

But Ingrid, the directions say "join" and refer to the "rounds". . .

You're right, but at the bottom it says to seam. Maybe it's an April fools joke?

[imrachel]

Well, that's one explanation . But I think you knit a tube and then just seam up the ends, so it's totally enclosed?. . .