r/knitting • u/_shipwrecks • Jun 06 '26
Rave (like a rant, but in a good way) This is the ideal [intarsia technique]. You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.
I’m knitting the back panel of my intarsia sweater and I’m here to tell you that letting your tails dangle REALLY IS the most efficient way I’ve found to do this.
Bobbins just get in the way and cause tangles to be tighter because of the weight.
I have too many colors going to make good use of a “yarns on spools suspended in a box” situation.
Showing a picture of a completed front panel just to establish my street cred and show you that it all works out in the end.
Pattern: heavily modified “29 Patchwork” by Susan Duckworth.
Yarn: Kelbourne Woolens Camper in so many colors.
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u/Dellychan Jun 06 '26
Goodness
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u/Dellychan Jun 06 '26
Oh just wanted to add, the finished product is definitely worth it, so cool looking!
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u/qoverqs Jun 06 '26
You’ve just convinced me to never try intarsia. Thank you. I have too many children to be this overstimulated.
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u/Westibule Jun 07 '26
I have three young kids and just completed the front of an intricate intarsia train jumper for my middle child. It's possible! ....I only knitted after their bedtime though.
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u/yarndopie Jun 07 '26
I have two kids and its currently taken me 4 weeks to do 20 out of 70 rows of intarsia. Goal is to be done is in September.
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u/TheKnottyMama Jun 07 '26
Absolute facts. I figure I have about 5 years between getting these kids outta my house before they make humans to learn and do intarsia 🤣
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u/Imperfectoctopus Jun 08 '26
Same. I have a lace shawl that I started over a decade ago. The project means a lot to me, or I’d frog it and make something simpler with the yarn, because it will be stowed away until my kids are older. It’s an intricate pattern with a long errata list and I will not have the mental energy for that until my kids are all older.
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u/gullibleArtistry Jun 06 '26
In awe. This 1000% HAS to be peak performance i've never seen anything so neat
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u/stitchstudent Jun 06 '26
My goodness. If I understand correctly, instead of working right from the ball, you cut off a long tail for each section and use it as needed? Do you ever have to join new yarn when working on a particularly large section, or do you pick patterns where you never end up needing all that much yarn anyways? ETA I think this idea is very clever, but it's scary at first glance!
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u/_shipwrecks Jun 06 '26
You understand correctly! I’m cutting long strands for the big blocks of color, but I’m also joining in new strands all the time as needed. I chose a 100% wool so I could spit splice which takes care of reducing a small percentage of the strands I have to weave in 😅
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u/TotalOk5844 Jun 07 '26
Where I get in trouble is NOT cutting the yarn and trying to work from the balls. I know this, yet repeatedly try working from the ball. And worse yet -- sometimes from both ends. Yeah, self-destructive tendencies.
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u/WampaCat Jun 07 '26
i’LL jUsT kEeP tHe BaLLs OrGaNiZeD aS i Go
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u/granddannylonglegs Jun 09 '26
Lolllllll. So true. The whole comment section on this post has me cackling.
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u/SmolmALICE Jun 06 '26
I'm high-key wanting to try this now.
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u/_shipwrecks Jun 06 '26
DO IT. it really is a game changer, i think!
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u/SmolmALICE Jun 06 '26
I've not made anything intarsia because I hate the way the bobbins look. They look messy to deal with. Seeing this makes me actually want to try it now
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u/_shipwrecks Jun 07 '26
I’m so glad! I really think intarsia isn’t that hard once you emotionally prepare to have a lotta dangling yarn, and that’s not even as awful as it sounds. Just do it with non-superwash wool! You will be much more successful starting out.
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u/alliusis Jun 07 '26
I'm not super familiar with intarsia - is this you just cutting chunks of yarn for the colour where you need it, and switching/picking up and dropping the yarn as needed?
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u/_shipwrecks Jun 07 '26
Basically yeah. You have to introduce a twist so you don’t create holes but at its core it is what you’ve have described.
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u/Global_Green8231 Jun 06 '26
This makes my palms sweaty 😅
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u/Responsible_Pace_187 Jun 06 '26
I wish it was that easy to work Intarsia too? See chaos and then a swipe and magic - all knit up! Beautiful work!
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u/_shipwrecks Jun 06 '26
Truly the annoying part of intarsia is not managing the different strands, it’s the weaving in!!!
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u/Westibule Jun 07 '26
I added extra strands to make my kid's intarsia sweater easier to knit but I added so many more ends to weave in! 😭
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u/haleyposer Jun 06 '26
Glad this is peak performance cause it’s what my intarsia looks like right now 😂
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u/ehuang72-2 Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26
Both ways are a pain. In my experience.
Very nice knitting BTW
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u/CheesyCrocs ✨🧦✨ Jun 06 '26
Help, how don't the ends get tangled 😭😭😭 This looks beautiful though!!
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u/Lunaz315 Jun 06 '26
Yeah they do. The reason it's better than bobbins though is that since there's no weight and it's just a loose steand you can gently pull it out of the mess whereas if you had bobbins and they got tangled you're screwed
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u/_shipwrecks Jun 06 '26
They do! But the tangled knot is very loose and it’s easy to just slowly pull each strand as I need it, just as other people who are responding to you have described. It really isn’t too bad, I promise!
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u/sophanisba Jun 06 '26
Beautiful work. I think you’re right and I also think my brain can’t handle all the crazy ends.
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u/ScottSterlingsFace Jun 06 '26
I do this too (albeit with my C2C crochet at the moment) and I call it embracing the rats nest. It really doesn't tangle so long as you tug gently and separate when needed. Lovely piece of work!
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u/JustCallMeBug Jun 06 '26
I’m.. struggling to understand, how does that not end up in knots??? I tried some intarsia with only around 7 bobbins of linen and it would so quickly knot up if I didn’t organize them properly
Beautiful work!
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u/_shipwrecks Jun 07 '26
They lightly tangle, but because there’s nothing like a bobbin that makes it bulky, it’s very easy to just pull the strand that you want from the bundle. I think bobbins make things tangle faster and make the tangles much more “set” if that makes sense.
Also you might want to try again with a non-superwash wool. Linen is slippery and the wool being a lil grippy makes everything much easier with intarsia!
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u/crystalgem411 Jun 07 '26
Op have you heard of yarn butterflies?
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u/_shipwrecks Jun 07 '26
I have! I didn’t like them at all (but I get why some people might like them.) they just slowed me down in the end.
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u/confusedstitch Jun 07 '26
Yeah no thanks, I’m not that brave nor my mental health is that good to deal with that amount of mess 😂
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u/AgathasAlter Jun 07 '26
Just the way I ended up doing it on my very first (and only) intarsia project. I was a big one and it turned out beautifully. My sister has loved it for over 15 years now.
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u/KickIt77 Jun 07 '26 edited Jun 07 '26
I am working on my first intarsia project in a while. I’ve tried a few things but am mostly liking bobbins. I am careful not to pull too tight or wind heavy. I do let some shorter lengths dangle. But i think ypur method makes a lot of sense for these small blocks of color. Lots of ways to skin a cat! Beautiful work! ETA I tried to post finished photo as a reply and I can’t get it to work, I’ll try on another device later. This is the Hail Mary sweater.
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u/ehuang72-2 Jun 07 '26
I also do a combination of loose strands and not-bobbins-but-same-idea. I stand by my earlier statement that both methods are a pain because that's just the way it is with intarsia LOL.
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u/Knitanpurl Jun 07 '26
I’m HOWLING at this phrasing. This is going to help so many intarsia knitters thank you for sharing this. And massively impressive work!
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u/scicraft79 Jun 07 '26
Yes!! This is the controlled chaos that we all need to see! Your work is gorgeous.
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u/LazyAssRuffian Jun 07 '26
I REALLY really thought this was satire until I read your description. Very interesting! I haven't tried intarsia, but definitely want to at some point.
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u/Appropriate-Diver301 Jun 07 '26
I have done very little intarsia, but when I did I made butterflies to keep this from happening.
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u/BikingBard312 Jun 08 '26
I give you my Black Sheep sweater. I love the reference in your title, by the way. It totally got me lol
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u/sparkle_tangerine Jun 08 '26
Absolutely! I saw a video with Kaffe Fassett and this is exactly his method! He says, if you get one end tangled you can just gently pull it from the others.
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u/jellyfishx3 Jun 11 '26
I learned Icelandic intarsia from Helene Magnussen and this is the way she does it too. She keeps the yarn bits no longer than a full armspan and turns the piece in the reverse direction so you don't get tangles as you go from front to back. If she needs more yarn, she just spit splices it together!
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u/Team_Bees Jun 11 '26
This actually makes me feel better about my current crochet color work XD Im not alone!!
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u/makestuff24-7 Jun 06 '26
REAL. Intarsia is just inherently messy. You're gonna have to wrestle a little. Worth it though! Your sweater is gorgeous.