Up to this point I have been really enjoying Eveleen. 😀
I struggled and won with the lace pattern – I’ve now finished all the lace for the back and front and I’ve completed the plain part of the back.
A welcome relief after so much concentration. 🙄
There’s eyelet holes between the bands of sparkly black to take a thin ribbon – cute!
I thought I’d do the sleeves next- saving the intarsia flowers for last. The sleeves were tiny but very curly!
That’s the cute little picot edging -which was a bit hard on the hands in the sparkly stuff – I was very relieved to get of the edging and back onto the 4ply soft. These were quick and easy.
“Oh, great!” I thought “On to the intarsia flowers…”
I excitedly wound some bobbins and started….
Oh my! This is really hard! 😯
Eveleen has lulled me into a false sense of security and confidence and then turned around a bit me! With big teeth! 👿
I can manage Fair Isle but I have never been brilliant at Intarsia in the past. Why I thought I’d be able to do this I don’t know 😥
The pattern is 42 rows, in 6 different yarns – 3 colours (pink, lilac and green) but 2 different textures – 4ply soft and Kidsilk Haze – this was another welcome surprise that the Rowan picture didn’t do justice to! I love the idea of this combination of textures and well as colours in intarsia.
Here’s what I’m trying to reproduce..
I started after dinner at 7pm and finally want to bed at 1:30 am and had only managed 10 rows. I swear, the house could have burnt down around my ears and I wouldn’t have noticed I was concentrating so hard.
This is how much I have to show for my efforts (the stitch markers are showing the start/end of the the chart to save too much frantic counting)…
and here’s the back eeek! 😮
There’s 18 bobbins so far and I’m not at the most complicated bit yet. I need to buy a LOT more bobbins.
This one might beat me.. 🙁
You have done exceedingly well, I am MOST impressed. You could try just using long lengths (as per Kaffe) instead of bobbins for the smaller pieces of yarn. They do seem a little easier. Personally speaking, of course.
Sue
this is brilliant you are very clever, I know the feeling sitting knitting till early hours – you get so engrossed but when you get the result you want its the best feeling in the world. I have done this a few times with an aran pattern – my favourite.
Ruth
Sue, this is beautiful, I fully empathise with the tangle of bobbins at that back but from the look at what you’ve already achived it will really be worth the pain!!
Good luck with the next 10 rows. Maybe you need to start a slightly less challenging project to have some respite.!!
Regards
Jane
I’m guessing from the number of bobbins that you are doing ‘strict’ intarsia – the kind where you don’t carry ANY yarn across the back so the reverse is very very neat and tidy. Am I right?
As a veteran of all those 80s picture sweaters can I suggest that you try the easier version where some of the yarns are carried across the back, a bit like Kaffe Fassett does in his patterns? It cuts the number of bobbins down to a minimum. In fact you are very virtuous to even use bobbins. If I were knitting this, I would have left the yarn on the balls!
No cancel that thought, if I were knitting this I would duplicate stitch the pattern on to the top of the stocking stitch!!
Yours, Very Lazily
Bat
That’s looking good…………..and challenging!
When I’m using multicolours I make little bobbins using the wool.
You start off by laying it across your palm then winding it round your thumb and pinky in a figure of eight until you have enough yarn. Then you wind the end round the middle of the little bobbin and tuck in. The bobbin has a centre pull which will hang securely at the back of your work and causes little hassle…… in my experience!
Hope this was clearer than mud
That looks lovely. The intarsia looks complicated though I can sympathize with you, I had a total of 12 bobbins on my tartan legwarmers!
That is an amazing amount of work. You’re so patient!
BTW, you are the only person I can find on the entire Internet, who has made the Rowan Denim Brooklyn sweater. Yours came out great!
I am slogging through it and sure hope it shrinks like they say. The sleeves look really big!
Cheers,
Ellen
You’re making great progress. Intarsia isn’t supposed to be quick. Keep at it, it’s looking really good already. Earlier this year I made this baby blanket: http://beelzebubknits.blogspot.com/2007/02/stripy-baby-blanket.html The top & bottom panels had 30 bobbins hanging off the needles. I promise you, it is worth it.
Most of the colour sections are quite small so I definitely second the idea of getting rid of the bobbins. Long strands of 3-4 feet hanging off the back is much easier to untangle and manage than bobbins in my experience. (And if you’ve seen my Kaffe coat you’ll know I’ve got a fair bit of experience!)
Also, for a fair bit of the chart I would suggest carrying the background colour across the pattern as someone else suggested.
Good luck! It will be gorgeous when you’ve done it and well worth the effort.
Oh you are doing great with that. Such a pretty range of colours. I don’t like intarsia knitting myself as I get in such a mess!