If I want to knit intarsia and it calls for 2 colors on the first row I was wondering “Can I cast on more than 1 color using the long tail cast on and if so how? Like If I need 20 stitches in white and 2 stitches in green repeatedly, how am I going to cast on those using the log tail cast on? To me it seems like I would be doing multiple long tail cast ons and then joining them together on the first row.”
Hmm… That’s a good question. I know I saw info somewhere…I’ll see if I can find it.
Oh…here it is. Since you need to do two of one color then one of another just cast on twice one of the colors.
I never though about using this method for two color cast on but it works well. Thanks, Jan. It also gives you a nice knit and purl edge which looks good in ribbing.
For an intarsia cast on, you’d have to carry the second color across the first in some way (like fair isle) in order to avoid a long strand of the second color or else, cut the yarn after each color was cast on. I don’t know of another way.
This is where the short tail CO is most handy.
Since you are doing intarsia, you should already have several balls of each color ready for use. CO X sts with 1st ball of color A. CO X sts with 1st ball of color B. Then CO X sts with 2nd ball of color A, followed by X sts with 2nd ball of color B. No need to join the colors as you go, just get the CO sts on the needle.
Your intarsia sections are now set up. When you work the first real row all of the sections will become joined (do a twist, where the colors change, as usual). You don’t have any floats behind your CO. You do have the ends to weave in, but what did you expect with intarsia? 