The Nubian Queen
- Cherries on Top
- Apr 12
- 4 min read
Colour-work knitting can be created in different ways, and four classic techniques are; intarsia, mosaic, stranded, and double knitting. Over the next four blogs, I want to shine a light on how each works, and why they offer us unique ways of approaching our knitting and our design work. To kick us off, we are starting with my favourite; Intarsia!
Intarsia.
It seems a long time since I designed the Nubian Queen sweater with its bold intarsia colour-work image. Back in 2018, many people thought colour-work was synonymous with stranded knitting; indeed most colour-work knitting patterns were influenced by Fair Isle, Nordic and Icelandic stranded colour-work designs. Many new knitters had not heard of intarsia and many more experienced knitters had a poor experience of the technique. So, when Nubian Queen had its moment of fame after being seen at Vogue Knitting Live in 2019, it got a lot of attention. What was this new technique? How could you use so many colours? Where were the floats? Is it the same as duplicate stitching?
Of course, I didn't invent the technique. Intarsia knitting patterns had been popular in the 1970's and 80's and having started knitting in the early 1970's, I had been used to knitting patterns with this technique.
Luckily, since Nubian Queen, the perception of colour-work has changed. Designers are producing wearable designs in a variety of colour-work techniques, from the traditional stranded and Fair Isle, to double knitting, mosaic/slip stitch and of course intarsia knitting. Intarsia knitting has had a modern revival in recent years since Nubian Queen, with many young and influential designers producing some incredible designs.
Although many knitters are now comfortable to tackle this colour-work technique, there is still a little mystique attached to intarsia knitting. So in the first of this 3-part article on colour-work knitting, I will attempt to demystify the art of intarsia knitting.
Historic Background.
Long before knitting got hold of the idea, intarsia was first used in woodworking and described a technique where various shapes and sizes of wood are fitted together to form a mosaic-like picture. The word intarsia is derived from the Latin word, 'interserere’, meaning to insert. The art was perfected in Islamic North Africa before being introduced around Europe, and perfected in Sicily and Andalusia where it was used in intricate furniture and woodwork designs.
(Reference: MS Dimand, "An Egypto-Arabic Panel with Mosaic Decoration" The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, 33.3 (March 1938:78-79))
In knitting, the term is used for the colourwork technique where patterns can be created in knitwear using multiple coloured yarn. The technique allows the knitter to create intricate and colourful designs.
Differences between intarsia and stranded knitting.
Below: (Left) Intarsia can be knitted flat, and colours can be changed mid-row
(Right) Classic Stranded Colour-work is knitted in the round with two or three colours in each row.
In intarsia knitting, a separate ball/bobbin of yarn is used for each colour block, making it ideal for large, colourful patterns. Stranded knitting, on the other hand, is suited to smaller, repeating patterns as the non-working yarn is carried at the wrong side, giving strands in the back.
Stranded knitting results in a double thickness and a more bulky fabric due to the strands, whereas intarsia knitting produces single thickness fabric that is flexible.
Stranded knitting usually involves a maximum of 2 colours in a row (occasionally a third colour is added), but in intarsia knitting, there is no limit to the number of colours, so intarsia is like painting with yarn where the only limitation in numbers of colours is your imagination.
Stranded knitting can give tension issues with puckering of the knitted fabric. Many knitters find that when transitioning between areas of plain stocking stitch and stranded knitting, the stranding causes a reduction in gauge and the knitter has to change needle size to maintain an even tension in the fabric. As each colour block is knit with one colour in intarsia knitting, there is no tension change throughout.
How it works.
After winding a few yards of yarn for each colour block onto bobbins (different blocks of the same colour will require their own bobbin),you simply begin knitting your pattern, following the chart. When you arrive at a point where the colour changes, you bring the new colour up underneath the old one (to prevent holes) and start knitting with it.
Patterns to practise intarsia knitting.
Although it requires a bit more planning due to preparing the bobbins, all you need to know is how to knit and purl, so any intarsia pattern can be worked on. My Snug Wrap requires a few colour changes and I think makes for a Wow finished accessory. Also the Sankofa cushion cover design is a good beginner intarsia project. And Nubian Queen is really not that hard as a first intarsia project.
Play Around.
The joy of intarsia knitting is that you don’t have to do a full pattern to start playing around with it; a simple swatch is all you need to start enjoying painting with yarn. Simply cast on with one colour, and as you go add more to see which shapes and patterns you enjoy coming up with. I like to plot mine with square paper at first, simply colouring in the squares as I like and then following the stitches from there. You can get fancy digital versions for designs later, but as always, simple steps are the best steps!
I hope that you enjoy playing with yarn in a new way that may become a new favourite in your tool kit, and I look forward to seeing them on Instagram when you tag me to your projects.
Enjoy your knitting!
With colourful joy,
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