Help deciphering a pattern

#1

i am hoping to knit this lovely poncho:
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall03/PATTponcho.html

it’s a straight forward rectangle with two colours knitted next to each other and i have a question about joining the two colours together. in the pattern it says “twist the two yarns together where they meet on each row”.

i know it sounds like a silly question but how exactly do you twist the yarns together; a single twist or a double twist and wouldn’t this leave a hole in the poncho between the two colours. i attempted to do it on some practice yarn and got into all sorts of a muddle!

any help or guidance would be thoroughly appreciated, thanks!

#2

This would technically be considered an intarsia project because of the multiple colors in the same row. Here is a video from this site where Amy demonstrates how to twist the colors together to avoid the hole you are talking about:
http://www.knittinghelp.com/knitting/advanced_techniques/
You will find it under the heading called ‘How to knit with 2 colors at a time’

Good luck!

#3

:smiley:

thank you do much for that speedy reply! i did a little double-take when i saw the phrase “intarsia” as i am still very much a beginner, but after watching the video i reckon i could handle that twist! thank you so much for pointing me in the right direction.

is there a special trick for what to do on the very first row, as the join seems to be really loose there, or does that tighten up as you knit?

#4

It should tighten up when you do it again on the back row. And remember that if you ever end up with a hole here or there, you can fix them later with a stitch rather than feeling you have to do the knittng all over again.

#5

thanks ingrid, that’s helpful to know.

i can’t wait to start knitting this poncho and post it in the finished objects section!

:thumbsup:

#6

well, i followed the intarsia instructions and i thought i did it right… but, it turned out sort of odd!

i am knitting english style and happily going under the just-knitted-with yarn then picking up the new strand and knitting with that, sort of taking it over the old yarn. it seems to "bunch’ the join in the middle, almost making it into two ovals!

i have attached a picture for clarity, which FYI is double knitting yarn on 5mm needles (this is just for practice).

what am i doing?!

#7

Okay, let me try to figure this out. You are doing garter stitch, right? So I guess after you do your first row and then turn your work to do the next and any subsequent rows, you will find your working yarn on the FRONT side of your work when you come to that middle color switch, right? I think what you were doing is taking that working yarn from the front and bringing it UNDER your work to the back and then ‘twisting’ the two colors together. What you would need to do first is bring that working yarn to the back side of your work up and between the needles, not under your knitting, and THEN twisting the two colors together.

I hope that’s clear, it’s difficult to describe.

#8

knitqueen, thank you so much for that. :smiley:

your instructions were very clear and that is exactly what i was doing, pulling the yarn under the work instead of over the top.

i can finally start my poncho in earnest, i would have been lost without your help!

am attaching a pic of, what i hope, is the right way… looks right right to me!

thanks again!! yay!!

#9

YAY!! :cheering: Looks much better! So glad I could help.