How to Knit a Girl’s Tunic Sweater in Intarsia

A far cry from old-fashioned golf sweaters, the diamonds in this knitted argyle sweater are reinterpreted with a feminine flair. Scattered across a dark background, each jewel sparkles in hand-painted yarn. Three-quarter-length sleeves and a bateau neckline offer a ladylike finish.

• Size: Finished chest measurement: 37-1⁄2 (39-1⁄2, 42, 44-1⁄2)", to fit an adult woman
• Yarn: Sportweight yarn (shown: Blue Moon Fiber Arts BFL Sport, 100% Blue Faced Leicester, 661 yd.)
  MC: Thraven (black), 2 (3, 3, 3) skeins
  CC1: “True Blood” Red, 1 skein (40 yd.)
  CC2: Jade, 1 skein (32 yd.)
  CC3: Tanzanite (violet), 1 skein (36 yd.)
  CC4: Sunstone (orange), 1 skein (50 yd.)
• Gauge: 28 sts and 36 rows = 4" in St st
• Needles: Size 3 (3.25mm) 16" circular, 24" circular, or size needed to achieve gauge
• Notions:
  Stitch marker
  Tapestry needle
  Charts
• Seed stitch pattern:
  Row 1: *K1, p1; rep from * to end of row.
  Row 2: Purl the knit sts and knit the purl sts.
  Rep Row 2 for patt.

Front:

Back and sleeves:

Start by working the lower front edge with this one step:

1. With smaller needle and MC, CO 132 (140, 148, 156) sts. Work back and forth in seed st until piece measures 2-1⁄2" from beg, ending with a WS row.

Now, work the front body:

1. With larger needle, work in St st for 4 (8, 12, 16) rows as shown on chart, dec 1 st at end of first row — 131 (139, 147, 155) sts.
2. Cont foll chart outline corresponding to your size. Work even, including intarsia motifs as indicated on chart, through Row 134 (136, 138, 140).

Shape the armholes:

1. BO 7 sts at beg of next 2 rows — 117 (125, 133, 141) sts. BO 4 sts at beg of next 2 rows — 109 (117, 125, 133) sts. Dec 1 st at each end of next 7 RS rows — 95 (103, 111, 119) sts.
2. Work even, foll the chart outline corresponding to your size, to Row 204 (204, 206, 206).

Shape the neckline and shoulder:

1. As indicated on Row 205 (205, 207, 207) of chart, work 35 sts in patt. BO 25 (33, 41, 49) sts, work to end of row — 35 sts each side.
2. Cont working on right shoulder only, foll chart. BO 3 sts at beg of next 3 RS rows — 26 sts. Dec 1 st at beg of next 5 RS rows — 21 sts. Work 2 rows even. BO 7 sts at beg of next 3 WS rows — no sts.
3. Beg with a WS row, reattach working yarn to left shoulder. Cont working in patt according to chart, reversing neckline and shoulder shaping.

Work the lower back edge:

1. With smaller needle and MC, CO 132 (140, 148, 156) sts. Work in seed st until piece measures 2-1⁄2" from beg, ending with a WS row.

Work the back body:

1. With larger needle, work back body through Row 134 (136, 138, 140) of chart, dec 1 st at end of first row, foll the chart outline corresponding to your size — 131 (139, 147, 155) sts.

Shape the armholes:

1. Beg with Row 135 (137, 139, 141), BO 7 sts at beg of next 2 rows — 117 (125, 133, 141) sts. BO 4 sts at beg of next 2 rows — 109 (117, 125, 133) sts. Dec 1 st at each end of next 7 RS rows — 95 (103, 111, 119) sts.
2. Work even, following the chart outline corresponding to your size, through row 174. Work intarsia motif as indicated, beg on Row 175.

Shape the back neckline and shoulder:

1. As indicated on Row 217 (217, 219, 219) of chart, work 33 sts in patt. BO 29 (37, 45, 53) sts, work to end of row — 33 sts each side.
2. Cont working on left shoulder only, foll chart. BO 4 sts at beg of next 3 RS rows — 21 sts. BO 7 sts at beg of next 3 WS rows — no sts.
3. Beg with a WS row, reattach working yarn to right shoulder. Cont working according to chart, reversing neckline and shoulder shaping.

Make the sleeve:

1. With larger needle, CO 59 (63, 67, 73) sts. Work in St st for 4 (8, 12, 16) rows, then work intarsia motif as indicated on chart. At the same time, inc 1 st at each end of every RS row 7 (8, 10, 11) times — 73 (79, 87, 95) sts. Inc 1 st at each end of every other RS row 20 (21, 21, 21) times — 113 (121, 129, 137) sts. Work even through Row 112 of chart.

Shape the sleeve cap:

1. Beg with Row 113 of chart, BO 7 sts at beg of next 2 rows — 99 (107, 115, 123) sts. BO 4 sts at beg of next 2 rows — 91 (99, 107, 115) sts. Dec 1 st at each end of next 20 (19, 18, 18) RS rows — 51 (61, 71, 79) sts. BO 2 sts at beg of next 6 (8, 10, 10) rows — 39 (45, 51, 59) sts. BO 3 sts at beg of next 2 (0, 2, 2) rows — 33 (45, 45, 53) sts. BO 4 sts at beg of next 2 (4, 2, 2) rows. BO rem 25 (29, 37, 45) sts.
2. Make a second sleeve to match, changing color of intarsia motif if desired.

Finishing:

1. Work duplicate st on all pieces as indicated on chart.
2. Weave in ends and block pieces.
3. Sew shoulder seams. Sew body side seams, leaving seed st band at bottom open at sides to form slits.
4. Sew underarm seams on sleeves.
5. With DPN and MC, pick up and knit 58 (62, 66, 72) sts along lower edge of cuff, beg and ending at center of intarsia motif. Working back and forth in rows (to form a slit), work in seed st until cuff measures 2-1⁄2" from pickup row. BO in patt. Rep for 2nd cuff.
6. With smaller circular needle, pick up and knit 146 (162, 178, 194) sts along neck edge, beg and ending at left shoulder. PM and join for working in rnds. Work in seed st for 6 rnds (about 5⁄8"). BO in patt.
7. Sew sleeves into armholes.
8. Weave in ends and steam edgings lightly to block.
   

   Girl’s tunic schematic.

Stranded Intarsia Knitting Method

‘Stranded intarsia’ method

1. Knit in the round until you’ve done the last row before the intarsia starts.
2. Start working the contrast colour, but: instead of using a separate strand of yarn every time you change from contrast colour to main colour, use only one strand per colour. When you’re not using the second colour, carry it around in the back every two or three stitches, as you would for stranded knitting.
   Note: Don’t pull your yarn too tight, it’ll take the stretch out of your work. Don’t leave it too loose either, or you’ll create holes in your work. To maintain a nice stretch, make sure that you can still spread your stitches on your needles as you would when working with one colour only. It may take some practice, but you’ll get there.
3. When you’ve reached the end of your row, cut the contrast colour yarn if you haven’t done so already. Make sure to leave a long enough tail to weave it in once you’re finished.
4. Continue knitting in the round, adding the contrast colour to each row when you need it, carrying it along the back of your work until you’ve reached the last stitch on that row.
5. Repeat steps 3 to 4 until the whole intarsia part is done.
6. Continue knitting in the round as you would normally do.

Source--  http://abfabulies.com/2011/07/how-to-knit-intarsia-in-round.html?lang=en

How to knit intarsia in the round

When you try to find information about knitting intarsia in the round on the internet, most of the time you’ll be told that it’s not possible. The big problem when you try to do it: your yarn ends up at the end of your row, while you need it to be at the beginning.
If you don’t like bending the knitting rules, you’ll have to learn how to live with it: knitting intarsia in the round cannot be done. If, on the other hand, you don’t mind a little experimenting, there are actually two methods to solve this problem:

• the yarn over method
• the ‘stranded intarsia’ method

Both methods are explained below.

Yarn over method

1. Knit in the round until you’ve done the last row before the intarsia starts.
2. Use your main and contrast colours as you would when knitting intarsia flat, until you get to the end of the row.
3. Turn your work, so the wrong side is facing you.
4. At the beginning of the row, do a yarn over.
5. Since you’re working on the wrong side of your work, purl the rest of the row as you would when knitting flat, but do not work the last stitch of the row yet.
6. Purl the last stitch of the row together with the yarn over you made in the beginning of the row, seaming both sides together while doing so. Pull tight enough.
7. Turn your work, so the right side is facing you again.
8. At the beginning of the work, do a yarn over.
9. Since you’re working on the right side of your work again, knit the rest of the row as you would when knitting intarsia flat, but do not work the last stitch of the row yet.
10. Knit the last stitch of the row together with the yarn over you made in the beginning of the row, by knitting through the back loop of these two stitches.
11. Repeat steps 3 to 10 until the whole intarsia part is done.
12. Continue knitting in the round as you would normally do.

Source-- http://abfabulies.com/2011/07/how-to-knit-intarsia-in-round.html?lang=en

Intarsia - 6 Different Ways To Change Intarsia Art

Intarsia art, an artistic form of wood inlay. Whether your an experienced intarsia artist or just a beginner, you will soon have a style that suits you when doing intarsia art woodcraft. Mostly the intarsia artists you will meet are intarsia purists, using various species of wood for color and using its grain direction to help create form. This form is enhanced by sanding to give a 3 dimensional look. The more shaping that is done with sanding the more pronounced the 3 dimensional look. The individual pieces are oiled and the pieces are either glued together or to a background. NO STAINS, PAINTS OR DYES, are used Just the natural beauty of the wood.
Let us throw out the perceived rules and suggest that there is no wrong way to create wood art, whether you want to call it intarsia or not will be entirely up to you. The changes you make will depend on your own artistic ability and the following suggestions will help with the changes you may want to make.
1: Change the intarsia pattern. We can change an intarsia pattern by just copying a portion of one pattern and joining it to another pattern or part of another pattern. This can often be completed by simply joining a few lines to make a completely different arrangement. Patterns can be enlarged, reduced, reversed, etc.
2: Consider using a readily available type of wood such as pine and stain each piece to create the look of oak, walnut, cherry, maple, and many other types of wood.
3: Why not use adornments such as glass, colored stones, feathers, metals, etc. Frequently glass eyes give birds, animals and fish a more realistic look.
4: Washes and stains on specialty woods can create or enhance colors that you absolutely cannot accomplish with the special woods you have available. White stain is acceptable to most intarsia artists to keep white woods from darkening, so why not use other color enhancements?
5: Think about just cutting your pieces and not shaping them into a 3 rd. dimension, in order to create a 2 dimensional wood art painting. Glue the pieces to a backing and put it all into a frame. Great for wooden scenic pictures.
6: The 3 most important words to remember when cutting any form of wood art. Patience, patience, patience. Depending on the complexity of your project, If you are intimidated by the number of pieces, separate it into several sections. Finish each section, then assemble the sections.
The only limit in what you can create is your own imagination. Pure intarsia art creations generally use all natural wood and natural wood colors in their creations. However, various degrees of these suggestions can help you develop an art form that will be strictly your own.
Working with wood is very rewarding for most of us. As a retirement hobby for that free leisure time there may be a definite place in your plans for intarsia or some other form of wood art. The ideas here will, hopefully, help suggest some ways baby boomers and others can fill up those free hours after they choose to retire.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carmn_Paynter