Intarsia Tutorial #1: Basic Intarsia Technique ~ Beginner Crochet Intarsia Tutorial ~ Easy To Follow

Hey everyone, it's Deja from crocheteverafter.com. Today I'm going to show you how to do intarsia crochet in rows. This was a viewer request. You can leave your request also, if you'd like, below in the comments or on my website, and you'll see a list of upcoming viewer requests as well on my website, so you can see where you are in the line. But this is my most recent. And it's going to show you how To do basic intarsia, and then I'm going to have a couple other videos on a little bit more advanced intarsia and intarsia in the round, but this is going to go over just basic stitches like what you see here. Now if you know my patterns, you know that I like to do fair isle crochet a lot, and I'm going to explain to you the difference between fair isle and intarsia real quick, just in case you are wondering what's the difference. So, in Fair Isle crochet, this is one of my Fair Isle beanies, this is the Hearts Abound beanie, which you can find on my website. Round or row that you work can only have two colors at once. So what that means is as I work in a row or a round, I can only use a maximum of two colors because of how the stitches are worked. In Fair Isle Crochet, you're running your yarn that you're not using along the back side of your project. They're called floats. So, using a maximum of two colors for these floats is a requirement of Fair Isle. So I can't take my hearts and move them around. I can't have an alternating green, pink, green, pink if I wanted. With intarsia, I can. So as you can see, in these rows, I have three colors. I have purple, green, and teal. I can add as many colors as I want. It's just a matter of how many balls of yarn I want to deal with at one time. As you can see on both sides, it's the exact same. It's a total reversible fabric, unlike Fair Isle where you only show one side. And there's no yarn. Carries. So that's one difference between intarsia and tapestry crochet. Tapestry you'll see yarn floats inside of stitches. With intarsia you're taking a whole block of color and putting it in one area and keeping Keeping all of your tails. I'm going to show you how to do that in just a second. There are exceptions to the rule. You can carry your yarn, and I'll talk about when and why you would do that, but I'm going to show you a couple tools that make intarsia easier, and we're going to work from a graph that I made for this little pattern here so that you can see how to read those. So let me grab that and we'll get started. Okay, so before we get started with the actual how to work in intarsia, I'm going to talk about how you might want to manage your colors. So when you're doing small blocks of color, like this square here, if you're not going to be using a lot of yarn at once, it pays to either make a small ball of yarn, if that is what you want to do, or to invest in these little bobbins. And these are made... And kind of specifically for working in small groups of yarn. So you can see I have the purple already wound around this bobbin. I'm going to wind some teal around this bobbin just so you can see how they work. So you have the little handy dandy holder here. And you just start winding. You go through that top hole and you just wind around until you think you have enough To cover the space that you're working. It's okay if you run out of yarn, you know, you'll just have some extra tails that you'll have to weave in at the end because you're going to have another join, but these are really cool because unlike a ball of yarn, when you pull it and it rolls all over the place, this kind of stops, so you have your yarn, and until you need another link and you pull it through, it stops itself, so it doesn't unwind all over the place. So those are kind of cool. So I'm going to finish winding this teal and then we will get started on how to kind of guesstimate these kinds of things that you're going to need for your intarsia, how many balls of yarn you might need for an area that you're working so that you're prepared before you start. Okay, I've got my bobbins wound, and I'm going to start with my pattern. So, I just have a basic little graph that I made up so you can see how to read these. Now, looking at my graph, you can see that I've already done rows 1 through 8, I believe. Yeah, 1 through 8. So I'm starting, I'm all the way up here now so that we can, I can show you how this looks already done up and woven in, and then also how to add these colors. So when I look at my pattern, I see all of my color changes as I go along. So it's important to look at what you have to know how many balls of yarn you're going to need. When I look, I see I have green, then I have purple, I have another green, I have blue, and then I have another green. So in a perfect world, if I want no yarn carries, I want three balls of green so that I can do each of these sections, even though they're kind of all connected in between my squares, I want three sections of green or three balls of green to do those three sections so that I can have a truly reversible fabric. So that's what I've done. I have the ball of yarn that's already attached to my swatch. I have another ball and another ball. So I have three balls of green so that I don't have to carry any of my yarn. This is important to figure out before you start because if you only have one skein of green, You're not going to be able to join in, you're going to have to carry your yarn and that's more like tapestry and that's not going to give you a really clean picture because you're going to see the yarn floats and I'll show you what that looks like in a little bit. So make sure before you start your pattern to look at it and try to figure out what you're going to need so that you can make your balls beforehand. Really important. I'm going to start reading this graph so that we can do our next row of work. So each little square equals a single crochet. So as I can see on row eight, and as you work your graph, because I'm working in rows, I read back and forth. So row one is going this way because as you know, when you make a foundation chain, you make your foundation chain and then you turn your work and you work from right to left. So this is gonna be row one. When I do row two, I'm going to read from here across, then row three is going back across, row four, row five, six, seven, and eight. And I'm actually sorry, I keep saying row eight, I am actually on row nine. So row nine is a right side row, which means that's my front of my work. Even though this is reversible, there is a wrong and right side. And if you look closely at my colors, this is my right side. When I turn it over, you're going to see little lines of yarn, here's one right here, one right there, those are from my tails, this green right here, this little line, that's my wrong side, those have those little tiny lines that aren't part of stitches, those are actual tails of yarn that you'll see when we're working. So when you're looking at it fast, you can't really tell the difference, it's blending in with the colors, but if you look really close you can start to see where those lines are. So you definitely have a wrong and right side row. But knowing that you work back and forth on this graph is very important. You're not going to work across and then come back and work across. So we're on row 9, and the first thing I'm doing is 4 single crochets in green. So let's just start with that, and then we're going to work on joining our new color. So with any row work in single crochet, you always want to chain 1 at the beginning of your row. And then I'm just going to do 4 single crochets in green. Now, what I'm going to do is I'm going to stop before I do the final step of my fourth single crochet, because now I want to change my colors and I want to add in my purple. Let's put this back here so we can look at it a little bit more while we're working. So I now have four single crochets in purple. So to join in my purple, I leave my last stitch unworked, I don't yarn over and I don't pull through. I leave the green off. And because this is a right side row, I leave my tail behind me, and that's going to be really important on the next row. So we have to know what row we're on so we know where to put our tails, and that'll make more sense on the next row when we come to it. Now to join in my color, I just simply grab it with my hook, and I pull it through those Those two loops on my hook. It's a little loose. Don't worry about that. You can just tighten it down a little bit. When you come back and work with this tail of green, it's also going to tighten it down, so you don't have to worry if it comes a little loose. Now I like to secure my purple tail, or any tail that I have, with a couple single crochets around it. So as you can see, I'm kind of laying it along the top of my work. I'm going to insert my hook under both loops and you'll see my tail is laying on top and then I'm going to yarn over and pull up my purple and you'll see it's laying in between my tail and my loop, yarn over and finish off that single crochet and now I've woven in my tail. And that way it's a little bit more secure until I'm ready to weave it in. So I'm going to do one more stitch like that, so I'm going to go through, leave it on top of my work Yarn over, pull up, pull through. And I'm only going to do two stitches because some people like to work around their tail as they go. I like to actually weave it in because it's more secure. When I work in just a straight line of it, it will kind of stick out a lot easier. So I'm going to leave the rest of my tail hanging out the back. So now I'm not going to work it in. I'm going to do another single crochet, and that's the third of the fourth. Now I'm going to work up to my last step for the fourth single crochet because now I got four green again. So I'm going to grab one of my balls of green, and this is where intarsia can get really... Not fun. Your yarn can get very, very tangled as you work because you're adding in all of these tails and all of these balls of yarn. So you've got to kind of be careful of how you're turning your work. When we get to the turn, I'll show you kind of how you should manage your ends. So again, I just loop my yarn and grab it with my hook and pull through. Slide down my purple a little bit, find the tail and lay that on top of my work so I can weave it in a little bit. So when you're first adding in, it takes a little bit of extra time to work these stitches. So I secured that one in. I'm going to do another one around my tail. Once you get all of your colors added in, it goes a little bit faster. Again, I'm doing four single crochets in green and I'm stopping at that fourth single crochet because now it's teal time. Teal! Up to four balls or four strands of yarn. So as you work, you have to pull this off yourself, because I'm not going to unwind, because that's the beauty of the bobbin, so it doesn't unwind on you, so you don't have lots and lots of mess everywhere, but you have to unwind it before you start. So again, pull my yarn, pull it through, go in the next stitch, here my tail, and as I'm working, you see I just drop off my tails, I just leave them where they are laying, I don't do anything with them, I just forget about them until I come back to them. So we're almost at the end of our row, and then we're going to turn our work and we'll see how we pick up all these strands of yarn. So here's my fourth teal, and then I have four more green. So I'm going to find my green that's not attached to anything yet. I'm trying to keep all the balls out of your sight so they're not too distracting, which means I'm probably going to have a big tangled mess at the end, but that's okay. Now I'm going to pull through again, my tail secured, two single crochets. Alright, so now we've got our first... Row of intarsia done. Looks pretty clean. Backside, crazy mess. Lots of tails. So when you turn your work, how I was saying, try to keep it from being too tangled, if you're normally working your crochet, you probably have a tendency that you don't even realize to keep turning it the same way every time you work your rows. So instead, when you turn it, Try to turn it backwards from the way that you normally turn it. So turn it one way, and then when you come to the end, turn it the other way. And that will kind of help keep all of those strands untangled about as best they can be. But normally when you're working, it's unconscious. You just turn your work, you keep turning it the same way. So try to be conscious about turning your work and turn it back and forth instead of Just one way to try to keep those strands a little untangled. Okay, so now we are on row 10 of our graph. Now remember, I said you have to go back and forth on your graph. So now, even though we're working from right to left again, we're reading our graph from left to right. So this is where it can get a little confusing. You just have to remember what row you're on and which way you go. So just remember, even rows, you're reading left to right, even though you're working them right to left. So this is the wrong side of our work, and that's very important for when we start joining our new colors. So first off, we're going to do four stitches of green again. So we chain one, do three normal single crochets, and then we stop on the end of our fourth one again. So we have our green, or our teal, sorry, unwind a little bit off of the bobbin. And now I'm going to join it so that I can do my four stitches of teal. So I'm going to grab my yarn and I'm going to bring, and I almost messed up completely, so this is part of the wrong side. I have my tail, normally when you change color you just leave your tail behind you and you keep working. Well, we want to keep all of our tails on one side. We want to keep them on the wrong side just so we don't have lots of crazy tails going So, what I do before I change colors is I take the tail that I'm working and I bring it to the front, and I just move it out of the way, I can hold onto it with my thumb. Now I'm going to join in my teal, and I'm going to do that by coming around the back of my hook and bringing it and wrapping it around, so from front to back, just like you normally would yarn over, it's just you have to bring it around your work before you bring Bring it around your hook. And I'm going to pull it through like normal, and I'm going to give it a little bit of a tug, just because I don't want this little line that I've created from my tail to be super bulky or loose. So I'm going to pull it a little tight just to make sure that that's snug, and then I'm going to work my four single crochets. You can either grab it and work it into your stitch, and that'll mask it even more. It just kind of brings it over a little bit. Or you can leave it where it's at and just work into your stitch. Whatever you like best. I usually just, whatever I'm working as I'm working, if I grab it, I grab it. If I don't, I don't. So all of these other tails that you worked when you first started, those are just going to sit there and you're going to weave them in at the end. So just kind of ignore them until you need to weave in. So again, I'm going to have my color change and I have four green. I'm going to bring my tail around and grab it. I'm going to grab my green. Bring it from back to front, pull it through, make sure my tail isn't too slack, and then start my four single crochets. So because I am picking up this green in the center, because what I could really do if If I wanted to, I'll show you on the next row because it's only four stitches. There's another way that you can do it, so there's always different ways to work crochet. It's kind of whatever you like best. Nothing's ever really wrong, so don't let anybody tell you that you're doing it wrong because there's really no set rules for crochet. I'll show you another alternative to having three balls of green here. So I bring my tail to the front. This is one of the more... Harder parts until you get used to it, just bringing your tails all to one side, always on the wrong side. You might forget the first couple of times, and I did a whole single crochet. Remember, stop right before you finish it. Grab your purple. The reason that I have this crazy design up at the top, kind of the letter I almost looking, It's because... In the next video I do, I'm going to show you how you're going to work with your tails when you have to start a few stitches away from where your tail is. How you can mask it and hide it so it's not this big, long float going across three stitches over. So check out that video if you need help with that portion, if you have a pattern that has that kind of stitch pattern. The last four. And now we are on row 11. Okay so for row 11 I'm going to show you how you can avoid the center ball of green yarn if you really want to. It's going to throw the design off a little bit because you're going to have some stitches that are worked around some yarn, so let me show you what I mean. If you have maybe just, One stitch of color, so maybe this was these were really close together And there was only one stitch of green in between then this might make more sense Or it might be better to do so that you're not having just one stitch of green running up the center with its own little ball of yarn what you can do is instead of leaving your tail behind and joining a new color here is work it into your stitches So, just like kind of how we caught the purple, or any of the tails that we join, put your tail along your stitches, and then bring your new color in, and then you're going to crochet around that piece of yarn until you need it again. So you would do four purple and just crochet the green into it. These bobbins, the only bad part about these bobbins is they can hinder your quickness. You have to remember to unwind a little before you start. So just lay that green in between your stitches, and then when you're ready to switch colors you just drop your purple, pick up your green, now you don't need that center ball of green. And then you can just drop this here. Or you can work it all the way across. If you want to just use one ball of green, you can work it all the way across. That's more like tapestry crochet. And depending on what side you're looking at, you might see the tail sticking through. You might see the colors. You can see the green kind of peeking through here. These colors aren't too contrasting, so they kind of blend a little bit better. If I was using like black and white, then you might really be able to see it. So that's why I like taking the extra time and figuring out how many balls of yarn I need so that I can do each of these little colors by themselves so I can have a really good reversible fabric. So, working just basic intarsia is pretty easy as long as you remember where is your right side, where is your wrong side, where are you dropping your tails off, and how many balls of yarn that you need so you can figure that out beforehand. That way you can do as many colors in one row as you want, which is a great benefit There's a benefit of intarsia that you cannot do in fair isle. I'm actually working on an intarsia project where I have like five different colors in one row so you can get very tangled very easily so remember to turn your work you know opposite ways each time you turn. I'm sure I turned it the same way I normally turn my work because everything's tangled right now. You can see how everything gets very tangled up so you might want to stop every once in a while and detangle yourself. I'm going to do this last row, and I'm going to show you how we do just the single green row at the top. Alright, I have detangled myself a little bit, and I'm ready for my last row of color here before I do a solid row of green. So you can see what I do with all these extra rows of green that I have, or these extra balls of green. These, the eye stitches, are going to be a separate So if you need that one, look for the intarsia video that talks about hiding your tails. So remember we're on our wrong side again, easy to see our wrong side because we have all the tails on that side, so we're going to bring all of our tails to the same side and start joining in. Once you get all your colors worked in, the stitches go pretty quickly. It's just keeping yourself untangled so that you can easily get more yarn, because when you get all tangled up, it's hard to get the slack on your yarn. It starts getting really, really tangled up like when you have a yarn barf. If you don't know what a yarn barf is, that's when you first pull that strand out of the That skein of yarn and that big ball of... Yarn barf pops out with it that you have to untangle before you can start your project. So it's kind of like you get the yarn barf. So we are almost at the end of this row. See it's gone by a lot faster. So once you get used to putting your tails on the wrong side and picking up your colors, you can get going pretty quickly. So now we are on the row of all green. And I have green already here, which is my main green. And all I do, because this is the end of the purple, I cut my purple off. I have a long enough tail. This is the end of this green. Cut that green off. This is the end of the teal. Cut that teal. That's the end of this green. So I'm going to cut this green off. Now I have no tangles. Now I just have my green. So all I have to do is work my green all the way across. Very easy. Until I need to join in more colors for my next design, I can just cut all the rest of them off. So now, let me show you so you're not confused on what to do once you hit one of these colors. You don't pick up anything, you don't do anything. You just single crochet all the way across, nice and easy. All those tails just sit there. You don't have to do anything special with them except weave them in when you're done. So see the back side, we have lots of tails to weave in. I've already woven the ones below, so you can see. Take your purple and weave it in in your purple. Take each of these greens, weave them in the greens. So weave in within the color that you're in to try to get the best reversible fabric possible. So if you need the help on how to hide your tails with stitches that are a few stitches away from the color that you're using for your intarsia project, check out that video I'll see you in the video next. And it'll give you tips on how to hide those tails. And this is basic intarsia, so thank you for watching.