We are having a Loom A Long hosted by Kelly Jones with her fun Butterfly intarsia design. Join Kelly on Wednesday, June 17 as she works with all knitters to create this intarsia Butterfly design. This Wednesday Kelly will be available with lots of helpful hints at knittingboards yahoo group. Just post your questions for Kelly. The pattern is also in the “files” folder at the yahoo group. Here’s the link: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Knittingboards/
Butterfly Intarsia Block
This butterfly intarsia pattern can be used for a number of different things. You can use it as a wall hanging, afghan block or make a back and sew it together for a pillow. You could even adjust the main color rows to make placemats, or use cotton yarn for a dishcloth or pot holder, or use wool and felt it for a bag front.
I really hope you enjoy knitting this up! Intarsia designs are a great use of “extra” yarn.
Supplies: 18”or 28” small gauge Authentic Knitting Board using 36 pegs, spacers set at ½”.
Yarn: One skein (approximately 400 yards) #3 or #4 weight yarn, single stranded for background color. Small balls of yarn are all you need for the contrasting colors, use double strands for all contrast colors to make it a little fuller.
Stitch: Stockinette cast-on and stitch used throughout.
Finished Size: approximately 10” x 10”
Cast on using main color in stockinette stitch 36 pegs, count cast on row as first row of pattern. Lay anchor yarn.
Row 2-5: stockinette stitch in main color.
Row 6: start with contrast color (double stranded) and place slip knot on peg 17 (top or bottom of board doesn’t matter) work to peg 19 in stockinette stitch. Skip over to peg 25 and continue to 27 in stockinette, turn and work back over remaining contrast color pegs. You’ll place the working yarn across the top of the main color. If you ended with the working yarn on the top of peg 19 you start peg 25 at the bottom of the board (it’ll form an “x” over the main color – see photo). Make sure you leave the yarn a little loose in the “x”, or it will pull the design to the middle on the finished project. Knit off. Lay contrast color 1 down after knitting off and pick up main color. Knit in stockinette stitch skipping over the contrast color one pegs.
Repeat pattern from chart. Make sure you start each row with contrast colors and knit those off before going to the main color.
When you finish with a contrasting color cut the yarn leaving a 2”-3” tail and lay it across the center, you can tuck some of it under the “x” from the main color to hold it in place. When you finish with contrast color 1 in row 16, cut and “lay-in” tail. Restart color with a slip knot on row 19, peg 9. Make sure slip knot is snug. Continue with pattern from chart.
Bind off and tuck in all tails!
