Bond Machine Knitting - Intarsia Bobbins

Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 09:52:49 -0800
From: "Cheryl Brunton" (cherylb@oregontrail.net)
Subject: [BOND] idea for intarsia bobbins

KNITTED INTARSIA BOBBINS

This is so cool and a complete accident!!.  I am in the process of
making a complex intarsia sweater.  I had started a pocket liner then did not use
it.
Well there it was just cast aside but the same color I wanted to use for
the next intarsia insert.  I just unraveled a bit, hung it over the required
number of needles as usual.  The  still-knitted area of this'knitted
bobbin',  nicely weighted down the yarn, and best of all kept it
orderly, up and out of the way of the yarns for the rest of the row.

Is this clear as mud? Picture a little square of knitting (20 x 20)
hanging off your intarsia area instead of a bobbin.

I had been using light weight clothes pins to weight some of the color
changes so I wouldn't have so many to run through my fingers to maintain
tension, and used their wt. also to control the start ends on the first
row of an intarsia design.  As bobbins clothes pins work all right, but
there are a lot of edges to catch on the other yarns, and they often provide
slightly too much weight.

So for my next intarsia project, at the start I plan to knit up in a
series, all the different colors to be used in the intarsia design.  Here's how::

Sample Series of intarsia colors
CO 20. 7R WY, ravel cord
20-40 rows of the first color ravel cord
20-40 rows of the next color ravel cord

and so on for all the intarsia design colors.  When finished simply pull
out the ravel cords, gently unravel one end of each color and insert in your
knitting as it comes up in the design
I figure that 20-40 rows are all the weight the color change would
tolerate and still knit smoothly without attention..
It might not work with a slippery yarn.  My yarn was boucle and did not
unravel without a tug. This worked well
Another plus is that if your were using different types of yarns in the
intarsia design, this Sample Series of color changes would show you
gauge differences--it would indicate right at the start which were usable and
which not.
Enjoy,
Cee
cherylb@oregontrail.net

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 14:48:12 -0800
From: "Ann" (annduncan@iname.com)
Subject: RE: [BOND] idea for intarsia bobbins

I used this idea several years ago for the balloon sweater in Family
Circle Easy Knitting.  Just knit up the approximate number of stitches for the
area and unravel as needed.  Example - the balloons were oval with the widest
point 15 stitches and 20 rows tall. So I knit 15 stitches by 20 rows.
Then I realized that since the balloons didn't cover the corners, I only
needed about 16 rows.  The curly edges keep the 'bobbins' neat and out of the
way. 
One time that the natural curl works to your advantage!

Ann Duncan-Acord
The Computer Tutor
Las Vegas, NV
annduncan@iname.com

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Author : Steph Thornton.
Last modified on : 3rd April 2000.