This month, we’ve been tackling intarsia in the round … and the results have been pretty spectacular! It’s always great to see the amount of learning that happens in the monthly knitalongs, but this month in particular, it’s been really inspiring to see knitters take on a technique that was new to almost everyone!
A few speedy knitters have already finished not one, but two socks! Jennifer speculated that Julia Farwell-Clay’s Heartgyle Socks, this month’s featured pattern, must be magic as she’d never gotten through a sock so fast. I love this photo she snapped of the wrong side of her sock — it’s so tidy (and do check out her gorgeous finished pair on her Ravelry project page):
Ravelry user Noirem’s wrong side!
Some intrepid knitters have tweaked the charts to suit their taste:
Mandyscragg opted to omit the crosses on her heart.
While dbukko added a diamond to her motif!
Other knitters have applied the technique to other projects, as Julie did for er cheeky fox socks. The pattern originally called for duplicate stitch, but she has adapted it for intarsia in the round — how clever!
Purplepolkadots Mini Fox Socks
As always, there’s also been lots of fun chat to go along with the knitting. Our intarsia focus has led many knitalong participants to reminisce about the popularity of intarsia sweaters in decades gone by … and dig them out (do check out this month’s KAL thread for some amazing kntiwear)! And there’s also been plenty of sock discussion, including talk about working socks two at a time (TAAT), fitting afterthought heels, and casting off methods for toe-up socks. I love all the knowledge exchange that happens beyond the month’s featured technique!
Lesley (Altomedea on Ravelry) shared that she was new to toe up sock knitting and has been experimenting with stitch counts and hidden gussets to get a sock that fits her feet.
And when it comes to the intarsia in the round itself, the biggest topic of chat has been keeping the join that allows you to work your in the round knitting as if it were flat neat and tidy. As with most skills, this requires a bit of practice - or maybe even ripping out a first attempt and giving it a second try! Most have agreed that a gentle tug when working at the join and a good blocking result in a neat appearance in the finished object.
Jen shared this photo of her join preblocking during discussions of how to keep things tidy.
And a few folks, after giving intarsia in the round a few tries, have decided, for one reason or another, it’s not for them — and that’s okay too! You never know if you’ll like a technique until you try it, and finding out that you actually don’t enjoy something (as opposed to being too apprehensive to try it) is valuable in its own right. With twelve patterns and twelve techniques, it’s inevitable that some won’t be your favourites. One of the great things about the Boost Your Knitting programme is that the projects are small — perfect for sampling techniques and seeing what works for you!
If you’re working on your own intarsia in the round project, we’d love to see you over in the knitalong thread! And if you’d like to make your own pair of Heartgyle Socks, you can find Boost Your Knitting, as well as Coop Knits Socks Yeah! 4ply, in the online shop.