knitting: Question about Intarsia

Ashley (

spinningbee) wrote in

knitting,
@ 2004-07-08 09:14:00

Question about Intarsia
How would I graph

into a sweater for my mom for Christmas? She's involved in politics, and I'm planning on knitting her a navy blue cardigan with red and white clay star buttons down the front, and that graphic on the back.

Thanks for your help! :)

(Post a new comment)

	rudbekia 2004-07-08 06:42 am UTC (link)
	Intarsia, huh? You've certainly advanced in your knitting skills! I think the stars would best be done afterwards in duplicate stitch. And while you're at it, perhaps you should make it a twin set and knit a camisole with a big W on the front! (Replies frozen)(Thread)

	verminefasciste 2004-07-08 06:50 am UTC (link)
	"W" is for Wisconsin, and the Badgers own your rack. My only question is, if the oval office changes hands in November, how will she feel about the cardigan then? I would hate for all that hard work to be for nothing. Even he loves the knitting. (Replies frozen)(Parent)(Thread)

	rudbekia 2004-07-08 06:58 am UTC (link)
	I'm sure that neau's mother would still love it, if for no other reason than to wear the item which was knit was much love and care. The camisole W might be a little less UW-Madison if it were in blue. I think that it would look really good if the body of the camisole were knit in white and the W knit in FunFur. Fluffy! (Replies frozen)(Parent)(Thread)

verminefasciste
2004-07-08 07:02 am UTC (link)

I'm sure that neau's mother would still love it, if for no other reason than to wear the item which was knit was much love and care.

I would certainly hope so.

The camisole W might be a little less UW-Madison if it were in blue. I think that it would look really good if the body of the camisole were knit in white and the W knit in FunFur. Fluffy!

And you could knit pom-poms to go with. ;)

(Replies frozen)(Parent)(Thread)

	rudbekia 2004-07-08 07:08 am UTC (link)
	Pom-poms! Brilliant! Neau, would that be too much? (Replies frozen)(Parent)(Thread)

	spinningbee 2004-07-08 07:18 am UTC (link)
	LOL, knit pompoms would rock. She could use them when she rallies against homosexual marriages. ! And I just finished a shawl with 50 different types of yarn (kind of intarsia one-line-at-a-time...) so I feel ready for something a little more advanced. (Replies frozen)(Parent)(Thread)

verminefasciste
2004-07-08 07:25 am UTC (link)

She could use them when she rallies against homosexual marriages

Could we at least try to avoid hitting on "hot topics"? Unless one wishes to start a complete shit storm, I think it's best to avoid things like that. (And, y'know, if one DOES wish to start a complete shit storm, that's another page in the manual entirely.)

Since you've received a quality answer on the how-to now, I will be deleting this post if it gets out of hand. More than it already has. Just a heads-up.

(Replies frozen)(Parent)

	rudbekia 2004-07-08 07:25 am UTC (link)
	If actually knitting full size rah-rah pompoms (or are they properly called ponpoms? any cheerleaders here?) gets to be a little tiresome, you can always just purchase some ready made one and knit covers for the handles. Intarsia one line at a time? So the stripes were knitted vertical instead of horizontal? (Replies frozen)(Parent)

	everybabyweeps 2004-07-08 06:44 am UTC (link)
	you should be burned at the stake! or is it steak? whatever. BURN. :P (Replies frozen)(Thread)

	eldil 2004-07-08 06:45 am UTC (link)
	I think that's really uncalled for. This shouldn't be a discussion about political beliefs, but about INTARSIA. (Replies frozen)(Parent)(Thread)

	everybabyweeps 2004-07-08 06:48 am UTC (link)
	I really doubt that if bush is re-elected, we will even have the CHANCE to do intarsia anymore. hes anti-knitting. (Replies frozen)(Parent)(Thread)

	rani23 2004-07-08 06:56 am UTC (link)
	Okay, while I'm definately not voting for Bush in the next election, I really must ask just where did you get that information? Secondly, again, I agree with eldil on this one -- this is a totally inappropriate comment. (Replies frozen)(Parent)(Thread)

	everybabyweeps 2004-07-08 06:58 am UTC (link)
	ok would 'try google' be a better one? (Replies frozen)(Parent)(Thread)

	sheisgone 2004-07-08 07:02 am UTC (link)
	I was just going to say that. Neau, did you Google this first. I sure hope so. (Replies frozen)(Parent)

	knittingproject 2004-07-08 07:08 am UTC (link)
	you honestly think that no one was going to point out how ridiculous that logo is? if you haven't noticed this is a very opinionated group, she had to expect some sort of comment. (much like my free range wool question, yay drama) (Replies frozen)(Parent)(Thread)

	verminefasciste 2004-07-08 07:14 am UTC (link)
	Sigh. Don't make me turn this car around. (Replies frozen)(Parent)(Thread)

	knittingproject 2004-07-08 07:17 am UTC (link)
	just wait until i tell your father! (Replies frozen)(Parent)

	copperlegend 2004-07-08 07:44 am UTC (link)
	"Are we there yet?" "Yes, get out." ...all while the car's still moving! (my ex's mom was a bitch...) (Replies frozen)(Parent)

	margorand 2004-07-08 06:54 am UTC (link)
	I think it's a joke, actually. (Replies frozen)(Parent)(Thread)

	verminefasciste 2004-07-08 06:56 am UTC (link)
	In past posts they have interacted as friends; I tend to agree with your assessment. (Replies frozen)(Parent)(Thread)

	everybabyweeps 2004-07-08 07:17 am UTC (link)
	i USED To be her friend, until this post.. (Replies frozen)(Parent)(Thread)

	verminefasciste 2004-07-08 07:51 am UTC (link)
	You also used to be a member, until this post. Funny how that works out. (Replies frozen)(Parent)

	eldil 2004-07-08 07:06 am UTC (link)
	It's hard to tell. I mean, there's a ":P", but who knows what that means to the poster? Anyway, put me on record as being someone who doesn't think politics should be discussed here (and that the joke, if it was a joke, was simply asking for trouble). It'll just get nasty. :) (Replies frozen)(Parent)(Thread)

	margorand 2004-07-08 07:24 am UTC (link)
	there was a post about it on spinningbee's lj up until a few minutes ago... it was just a plan to rile people up on knitting. (Replies frozen)(Parent)(Thread)

	verminefasciste 2004-07-08 07:27 am UTC (link)
	It's always nice to know that you're correct. I think that a little bannage is in order, then. GAIL/platys: I am going to ban the offending poster. If you wish it to be otherwise, give me a holler and we'll come to a compromise. (Replies frozen)(Parent)(Thread)

	margorand 2004-07-08 07:36 am UTC (link)
	My bad, it's still there. Linkage here. And go ahead and hate on me for pointing this out, those of you who feel so inclined. But I don't read knitting so's I can watch people piss off the community with their snarky inside jokes. :P (Replies frozen)(Parent)

	dragonintherain 2004-07-08 07:07 am UTC (link)
	see... i'd just make it a t-shirt. :P (using the nifty inkjet transfer paper that you can get at staples/office max) rather than figure out how to knit that into something. but that's just me :D you could always print that out and put graph paper over it and graph it that way... (Replies frozen)(Thread)

	spinningbee 2004-07-08 07:21 am UTC (link)
	if i get bored with navy blue, i'll definitely just buy her a sweatshirt or something. She lives in Oregon - so something she could wear during the 364 overcast days of the year would be good. :) (Replies frozen)(Parent)

skittl1321
2004-07-08 07:12 am UTC (link)

Ignoring politics, the best way to do this would be to print the picture out at the scale you want it and to lay it onto a graph at the scale of your yarn (so that each square is one stitch) Then go through and make sure each square has only one color. If two colors are in the square make a decision about the dominant color of the square.

Once you have your graph, wind your bobbins and start a knitting

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	spinningbee 2004-07-08 07:22 am UTC (link)
	Thank you. This is the answer I was looking for. (Replies frozen)(Parent)

	everybabyweeps 2004-07-08 07:26 am UTC (link)
	-- Homeland Security chief to warn of possible al Qaeda attack to influence U.S. elections, administration official tells CNN. whoa, they must like knitting too (Replies frozen)(Thread)

	verminefasciste 2004-07-08 07:27 am UTC (link)
	That's enough. This is over. (Replies frozen)(Parent)

iko
2004-07-08 07:32 am UTC (link)

Woah, that would be rather tricky intarsia.

Essentially, you need to blow it up and apply it to knitter's graph paper, which looks like graph paper but stretched in one direction so that the boxes are wider than they are tall. This is because of the way stitches are shaped. The smaller your stitch gauge, the more detailed you will be able to go. So, I recommend that you chart first and then, based on the number of stitches it requires, figure out the gauge you will need to make the sweater the appropriate size for your mom. Lots of math! Hehe.

Then, what you need to do is calculate which row has the most color changes. I would then buy the appropriate number of bobbins and start knitting away, always making sure to wrap the yarn around each other when there is a color change.

If you were to ask my opinion, I would only do certain parts of it in intarsia. I would do the large W, the field of blue where the stars go, and the red and white stripes. Everything else, I would do in blue. I would then go back and duplicate-stitch all the details that I want in, like the stars and the white border around the flaggy-bits.

Letters almost always look pretty bad in knitting (IMHO). Atleast, a lot of letters look bad. I would simplify the text, make it blockier, which would make it more appropriate for intarsia and/or knitting.

Good luck and let us know if you have any more questions.

(Reply to this)

	coweatman 2004-07-08 08:29 am UTC (link)
	it's a shame that you hate your mother that much (Replies frozen)

dragoncrafter
2004-07-08 09:42 am UTC (link)

To turn a digital image into a knitting chart, I would:
-Open it in Photoshop

-Multiply the height, but not the width, by 1.5. (This is to deal with the fact that for most people, in stockinette, 1 stitch wide = 1.5 rows tall.)

-Tell it to constrain the proportions of the image, and rescale so that the width of the image (in pixels) is the desired width of the intarsia (in stitches).

-Zoom in on the new image until you can see individual pixels, and use that as a chart. (You'll have to make some decisions on what to do with the pixels that wind up pink or pale blue.)

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	skittl1321 2004-07-08 10:11 am UTC (link)
	ooh that's a good idea. I always spend way to much time transering my charts to knitter's graph paper. never thought to do that. (Reply to this) (Parent)

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