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There are several different directions you can work from when creating an intarsia chart. This is the one that is easiest for me:
1. Create a gauge swatch and measure how many stitches and rows you’re getting to the inch. I’m getting 5 stitches and 6 rows to the inch.
2. Because knit stitches are not square, you’ll need special graph paper with a rectangular (not square) grid. There are tons that you can find online, just search on “knitting graph paper.” I used the Sweaterscapes graph paper to make the Tux sweater.
3. Measure how many inches high and wide you want your intarsia to be, and mark this out on the graph paper. Use your measurements from step 1. Every 5 squares across will be an inch of my knitting. I want my intarsia design to be 8 inches across, so I mark off 40 squares across. Then I mark off 48 squares high, because I want it to be 8 inches high (6 [rows] X 8 [inches] = 48 [squares]).
4. Draw your intarsia pattern freehand, or use the cheapie light box - i.e. a window during the daytime. The tricky part of doing this is getting the image the right size! You may have to fiddle with it and print it out several times before you get it just right. I manage to print out a Rebel Alliance logo to (almost) exactly 8 inches square, then center it inside the 40 x 48 box I outlined in step 3.
Print out the image, and the graph paper, and tape the graph paper over the image. Then tape the whole thing to the window (note: this works better during the daytime). Voila, instant light box! Pencil the outlines of the image onto the graph paper.
I fiund it easier to understand the pattern if it’s colored in. Easy in this case, since it’s only one color. Use a highlighter, so you can still see the grid lines through the marker.
5. Voila, intarsia pattern! I get really stupid when I’m in the middle of knitting, so I set a red marker on one side, and a blue marker on the other, then wrote “red” and “blue” on the matching sides of the pattern. That way I only had to check and see if I was knitting from red to blue, or from blue to red, in order to figure out which direction to read the pattern in.
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Thank you for your clear instructions. I will try this.
Comment by Lisa —
4/8/2006 @ 4:16 am
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I am so grateful for this! I can’t wait to get started. I’ve been searching for an intarsia pattern of a running shoe for a vest I’ll make for my husband, and haven’t yet found a website that has one. Now I can make my own, even though I don’t draw well, because I should be able to find an advertisement with a picture.
Comment by Karen —
3/18/2007 @ 10:00 am
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I wish I could knit that well, because I would use that exact pattern to knit something for my boyfriend! Maybe once I get better… ^_^
Comment by Sophie —
9/8/2007 @ 9:19 pm
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I loved your suggestion, im going to try making a dolphin at both ends of a scarf and so I have printed off an 11 X 17in. dolphin in grayscale and am going to trace over it on graphing paper, this will make my graph smaller. you have no idea how long ive been searching for more patterns that i like. now on to the work, and then double sided fabrics here i come!
Comment by Thomas —
10/25/2007 @ 10:06 am
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wayyy da goo….rocket science-tistzzz…
Comment by halariouss —
1/21/2008 @ 12:27 pm
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