Intarsia by holding, one carriage pass per colour

Machine types that can knit it

• Single bed, punch card
• Single bed, electronic
• Single bed (punch card) + ribber
• Single bed (electronic) + ribber
• Double bed with pushers (Passap type)

Steps

1. Hold engaged.
2. Colour 1 needles to B, others to E.
3. Thread colour 1 and knit across.
4. Colour 1 needles to E; colour 2 needles to B; re-thread colour 2 and knit.
5. Join each pair of areas by wrapping the boundary needle (cross).
6. Repeat for every row.

The full card

What it looks like

Same face as intarsia. On the back, joins may look less regular, and a float appears wherever a colour's yarn had to travel across held needles.

How it behaves

Flat.

How it works

The carriage is set to hold. Only the needles of colour 1 are in work; the rest are at E. Knit colour 1, put those needles to hold, bring colour 2's needles into work, re-thread, knit, and so on. One row takes several passes.

Machines

KH-821 single bed (hold function, see ch1). Works for 2–3 large vertical blocks. Dubied: no hold position, so no.

Parameters

blocks per row 2–3 (practical); passes per row = number of colours (+ empty return passes).

Steps

1) Hold engaged. 2) Colour 1 needles to B, others to E. 3) Thread colour 1 and knit across. 4) Colour 1 needles to E; colour 2 needles to B; re-thread colour 2 and knit. 5) Join each pair of areas by wrapping the boundary needle (cross). 6) Repeat for every row.

Charting

As intarsia. Add a "pass order" sub-row: 1a, 1b, 1c …

Limits and common problems

A colour whose yarn has to cross held needles to reach its area leaves a float on the purl side. Start each yarn at its own boundary or hand-feed it [inference]. Slow. Row counter ≠ design rows.

Combines with

stripes inside one block; partial-knit shaping.

Related techniques

• Hand-laid intarsia, single bed
• Intarsia carriage or built-in intarsia setting
• Partial-knit pseudo-intarsia
• Diamond / lozenge colour block
• Boundary behaviour and finishing in intarsia