Technique Tuesday – Introduction to Intarsia Crochet

---

---

An Introduction to How To Work the Intarsia Crochet Colorwork Technique    

---

Technique
Intarsia Crochet

---

What is it?
Here's the definition you'll find via the folks at Merriam-Webster.com:

Intarsia
in•tar•sia
\in-ˈtär-sē-ə\

Definition
1 : a mosaic usually of wood fitted into a support; also : the art or process of making such a mosaic
2 : a colored design knitted on both sides of a fabric

Origin
German, modification of Italian intarsio
First Known Use: 1867

"Intarsia." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intarsia>.

Click "Read More" link below for the full post.

And we have to say, that definition sums it up quite nicely! Intarsia began, and continues to this day, to be a method of making shapes and pictures from little pieces of wood, marble, and… well… yarn! More specifically, and most importantly to us, is the fact that Intarsia Crochet (and intarsia knitting) is making a shape or picture that is double sided. More on that distinction in a moment…

If you keep going down the rabbit hole of research and knowledge that is the internet, you will find lovely photos of wood inlaid benches and cabinets primarily from Italian churches as well as the evolution of the woodworking technique of intarsia into marble inlays in such places as the floors of famous/infamous Italian structures.

Even without this dive into the deep end of research and exploration, it isn't a stretch of the imagination at all to see how folks with hooks, sticks, and lengths of wool came to emulate this technique and make intarsia their own.

We would like to send a thank you back through the tunnels of time to those creative folks as it was their creative endeavors that have led us here to this tutorial on this very day.

Ain't history grand?
 

Now, before we go any farther, let's jump back here for a minute and touch upon that distinction we mentioned earlier about Intarsia Crochet being double sided.

There are two main techniques for making colorwork pictures and graphic shapes in your crochet and knitting. They are Fair Isle and our subject for today's tutorial: Intarsia. Put simply, you can think of Fair Isle as stranded colorwork and Intarsia as double sided colorwork.

Without going too far into it, Fair Isle Crochet (and Knitting) uses a technique where the strands of yarn are carried behind the work until they are picked up and used again in a stitch. This creates strands or floats on the inside of your work. It is beneficial when you are using a LOT of different colors or if you are making particularly intricate designs like reindeer prancing through a meadow of snowflakes with borders of Douglas Firs while gents and fair maidens carry buckets of who knows what round and round. Yes… I have owned that sweater…

Intarsia Crochet (and Knitting) uses multiple lengths of individual color to create pictures or geometric shapes. No yarn is carried in strands behind the work so the picture you make looks the same on the front and the back of the piece you crochet.

---

Why Use It?
Intarsia Crochet is a clean, neat, and tidy way to add colorwork to your crochet pieces without the potential issues stranded colorwork techniques can present. For example, if you are making a sweater for little Joey or Susie and want to add a dinosaur to the front, you might be better off using Intarsia Crochet since you really don't want any tangley bits for small humans to get twined up in.

Note: Yes, we know, there are ways to minimize the snag & tangle effect sometimes associated with stranded colorwork… don't send hate mail… we're just not addressing that topic today.

In addition, if you aren't making a particularly intricate design (ala reindeer in snowflake meadow) there isn't any need to carry the strands of yarn across the back of your work. In fact, if Joey and Susie's dinosaur takes up most of the front of their sweater, if would even be a little nutso to float such long strands across the back of your work. You would be MUCH better served to utilize separate balls of yarn to represent your larger blocks of color as in the technique of Intarsia Crochet (and knitting).

Finally, if you have a piece you are stitching up where both sides of the work are going to show (a scarf or an afghan, for example), you definitely should explore using Intarsia Crochet to create a clean double-sided fabric.

---

To Work Today's Tutorial
Here's a list of materials we used to make today's Intarsia Crochet tutorial. While you can, of course, use any materials you have on hand, these materials listed are what we recommend you use while you are learning.

Yarn Used
CYCA 4
Worsted Weight, 100% Pure Wool

NOTE: You will need to wind off a separate length of the darker colored yarn for today's tutorial. We used two lengths of the darker colored yarn and one length of the lighter colored yarn. For the purposes of this tutorial, we call them First Length of darker colored yarn, length of lighter colored yarn, and Second Length of darker colored yarn.

Hook Used
H-8/5.00mm Crochet Hook

Skillz Used
Foundation Single Crochet – How To Make the Foundation Single Crochet Stitch
Single Crochet
Adding Yarn in the Middle of a Row of Crochet Fabric – How to Add Yarn In the Middle Of A Row of Crochet Fabric

---

Break It Down

1. Foundation Row and Row 1

Using our First Length of darker colored yarn, we started our swatch with 18 Foundation Single Crochet stitches, turned and worked 5 Single Crochet stitches. Pictured is the 6th Single Crochet stitch as we prepare to change colors for the first time in this row.

To change colors, simply work your Single Crochet as usual right up until the last step:

Single Crochet: Insert hook into next stitch, yarn over and draw up a loop (2 loops on hook), STOP!

---

2. Now move your working yarn (the First Length of darker colored yarn here) to the right-hand side of your stitch and yarn over with the new color (the length lighter colored yarn here).

---

3. Draw up a loop of the lighter colored yarn through the two loops on your hook.

---

4. Snugging up the First Length of darker colored yarn, bring it around to the front of your work wrapping it securely around the last Single Crochet stitch you just made. Now you can let go of this yarn until you are ready to pick it back up again on the return row.

---

5. Single Crochet with the new color (lighter colored yarn) in the next stitch.

Here is where you will take the opportunity to weave in the tail of the new yarn by working your Single Crochet stitches OVER the tail. This means you will lay the tail along the tops of the stitches you are about to work your Single Crochet stitches into and make those stitches around both the tail and the loops of the stitch you are working into. One less tail to weave in at the end!

---

6. Work four more Single Crochet stitches for a total of 5 Single Crochet stitches. Pictured, we have started to make the 6th Single Crochet stitch and STOPPED before the last "yarn over and draw up a loop" just as we did with the First Length of darker colored yarn in Step 1.

---

7. Once again, move the working yarn (the lighter colored yarn) to the right-hand side of your stitch and yarn over with the new color (the Second Length of darker colored yarn).

---

8. Draw up a loop of the Second Length of darker colored yarn through the two loops remaining on your hook.

---

9. Just like we did before, snug up the length of lighter colored yarn and bring it around to the front of your work wrapping it securely around the last Single Crochet stitch you just made. Let go of the lighter colored yarn until you are ready to pick it back up on the next row.

---

10. Single Crochet with the new color (the Second Length of darker colored yarn) in the next stitch.

---

11. And work an additional 5 Single Crochet stitches to the end of the row for a total of 6 Single Crochet stitches.

Here you can clearly see the finished first row of Intarsia Crochet colorwork. COOL!!

From right to left there are 6 Single Crochet stitches using the First Length of darker colored yarn; next, there are 6 Single Crochet stitches using the lighter colored yarn; finally, there are 6 Single Crochet stitches using the Second Length of darker colored yarn.

You can also see the First Length of darker colored yarn hanging down in front of the work and the lighter colored yarn hanging down in front of the work as well. The Second Length of darker colored yarn is, of course, still on the hook since we are about to turn and work the next row with it. So… here we go… TURN!

---

NOTE: Upon turning your work, you should take this opportunity to uncross your three lengths of yarn. This is a simple matter of turning your work then moving the two lengths of darker colored yarn to opposite sides of the length of lighter colored yarn… usually one over the length of lighter colored yarn and one under the same length of lighter colored yarn.

---

12. Row 2 – Here we are still working with the Second Length of darker colored yarn.

Just as in the beginning of Row 1, we make 5 Single Crochet stitches and prepare to change colors by working our 6th Single Crochet stitch right up to the STOP where you have two loops of the Second Length of darker colored yarn on your hook.

Here you can see we have moved the Second Length of darker colored yarn to the right-hand side of the stitch we are currently making and are ready to yarn over with the length of lighter colored yarn that is conveniently located behind our swatch.

---

13. Draw up a loop with the lighter colored yarn.

---

14. Snug up the Second Length of darker colored yarn and wrap it securely around the last Single Crochet stitch you just made. 

---

15. Work 5 Single Crochet stitches and prepare to change colors just like before.

Move the length of lighter colored yarn to the right-hand side of the stitch of the stitch you are making and…    

---

16. …with the First Length of darker colored yarn, yarn over and draw up a loop.

---

17. Snug up the length of lighter colored yarn, wrap it securely around the last Single Crochet stitch just made, and work 6 Single Crochet stitches with the First Length of darker colored yarn to the end of the row. Next? Yup… TURN!

---

18. Row 3 – Here I am reviving my role as hand model to demonstrate just what the switching around of these different lengths of yarn looks like in real life.

Still using the First Length of darker colored yarn, we have turned our work and have made 5 Single Crochet stitches and started our 6th Single Crochet stitch. Here, I am holding the First Length of darker colored yarn in my left hand and have the two loops of the 6th Single Crochet stitch on my hook. Notice in the background you can see the length of lighter colored yarn hanging from the back of my swatch.

---

19. Now I switch the First Length of darker colored yarn to my right hand…

---

20. …and I pick up the length of lighter colored yarn with my left hand.

---

21. Yarn over with the lighter colored yarn while still holding on to the First Length of darker colored yarn to keep everything nice and snug and maintain my stitch tension/gauge while changing colors.

---

22. Draw up a loop of the lighter colored yarn…

---

23. …and bring the First Length of darker colored yarn around to the front of my work wrapping it securely around the last Single Crochet stitch I just made.

Note: I hold the wrapped yarn in place with my thumb to keep it secure (and, frankly, to keep it the heck out of my way!) while I'm making the next Single Crochet stitch in the new color.

---

24. And now I've worked my first Single Crochet stitch in the lighter colored yarn. Note how I kept the now non-working length of yarn off to the side to keep my work nice and neat.

This switching around will take a little practice. I have an advantage since I tension my crochet yarn with my left hand and tension my knitting yarn with my right hand. I just engage both of those muscle memories at once. Still… it took practice the first time I tried it.

---

25. Keep repeating your color changes just as we have outlined here for a total of 12 Single Crochet rows.

Make that last row across the top (Row 13) by just continuing along with the First Length of darker colored yarn. If you were making a larger piece (Joey and Susie's dinosaur sweaters?) you would continue on from here with your yarn and simply weave in those ends you see in the photo of the back of the swatch.

When you have finished Row 13…

TAADAA!!

Here's the front of the finished Intarsia Crochet swatch…

And here's the back of the finished Intarsia Crochet swatch…

Granted… it's no dinosaur sweater (dang it… now I'm gonna have to make one of those for myself), but this introduction to Intarsia Crochet IS your gateway to dinosaurs, letters, number, pictures of your Aunt Mary, and any geometric shape you can dream up! We would highly recommend practicing quite a bit before attempting the crochet portrait of Aunt Mary… just sayin'…

---

A Final Word (or two…)
As with all new skillz, Intarsia Crochet colorwork will take some practice. Be patient, practice, and compare your work with the photos in this tutorial. You will get it and will soon be thinking up all kinds of creative ways to use Intarsia Crochet in your project! Dinosaur sweaters not your thing? Try using some colorblocking to liven up a solid-colored sweater or afghan pattern for a graphic touch that is VERY hot right now.

Experiment! As we said, this tutorial is just a gateway to your own exploration of colorblocking, spelling out your favorite team on a scarf or afghan, or… yes… a dinosaur sweater for me… I know y'all will jump right on that one…

And… hey… if you aren't happy with your experiment rip it out and go again! You'll get it!
 

Thanks for dropping by for another Technique Tuesday! Our aim is to build the skillz of our FAB fiber community here on the web and it's always FAB to hear from you all that what we are doing is helping you and your fiber friends.

Check back often or, better yet, click on that RSS Feed button over there in the right-hand column of the page you are on right now. That way you will always be up to date and never miss a thing!

Stitch On!
S&J

Oh hey… before you go… Here are a few more pages we thought you might be interested in. Click on any of the photos below… enjoy!

And be sure to look us up on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest by clicking on one of these icons.

---