changing colors--need help!

Help gang! My choir suddenly decided to participate in our church
auction with a music-type basket of goodies--of course, I decided to
knit a piano-key scarf. BOY do I have to work fast! Due in a week and
of course have a zillion other things on my plate. So I'm using size 9
circular needles with worsted weight, knitting a piano front and a
white back section to it.

Ok--to my question--imagine the piano keys----I consistently must
switch from white to black by stopping the white and starting the
black (it's too much distance across to carry the white yarn behind),
and therefore, I have a natural division of stitches right at the
color change. I have tried tying the black/white ends together in the
back to cinch up the gap, but it's still there.

Is there some easy, attractive way I should be doing these color
switches? Again, the distance is too long to bother carrying the black
across for the 3/4 of the scarf that is knit in white. So it just
keeps stopping and starting, leaving gaps. Ugh. Thanks all!

Wendy

Google up "intarsia"

On 2 May 2007 17:16:22 -0700, myswendy wrote:

Help gang! My choir suddenly decided to participate in our church
auction with a music-type basket of goodies--of course, I decided to
knit a piano-key scarf. BOY do I have to work fast! Due in a week and
of course have a zillion other things on my plate. So I'm using size 9
circular needles with worsted weight, knitting a piano front and a
white back section to it.

Ok--to my question--imagine the piano keys----I consistently must
switch from white to black by stopping the white and starting the
black (it's too much distance across to carry the white yarn behind),
and therefore, I have a natural division of stitches right at the
color change. I have tried tying the black/white ends together in the
back to cinch up the gap, but it's still there.

Is there some easy, attractive way I should be doing these color
switches? Again, the distance is too long to bother carrying the black
across for the 3/4 of the scarf that is knit in white. So it just
keeps stopping and starting, leaving gaps. Ugh. Thanks all!

Wendy

On May 2, 8:24 pm, WoolyGooly wrote:
Google up "intarsia"


I have knit many, many hats, mittens, etc with intricate patterns and
intarsia before. The problem this time seems to be different. I have a
block of color change that is consistent over several rows (the width
of a black piano key). I can't carry the white because the gap is too
long and it seems wasteful. I can't carry the black because that
absolutely WOULD be wasteful, since 3/4 of it is white (and I don't
want the black to show through, at any rate). So in effect, one color
ends and one begins en bloc, causing a vertical gap in the work.

myswendy wrote:
Help gang! My choir suddenly decided to participate in our church
auction with a music-type basket of goodies--of course, I decided to
knit a piano-key scarf. BOY do I have to work fast! Due in a week and
of course have a zillion other things on my plate. So I'm using size 9
circular needles with worsted weight, knitting a piano front and a
white back section to it.

Ok--to my question--imagine the piano keys----I consistently must
switch from white to black by stopping the white and starting the
black (it's too much distance across to carry the white yarn behind),
and therefore, I have a natural division of stitches right at the
color change. I have tried tying the black/white ends together in the
back to cinch up the gap, but it's still there.

Is there some easy, attractive way I should be doing these color
switches? Again, the distance is too long to bother carrying the black
across for the 3/4 of the scarf that is knit in white. So it just
keeps stopping and starting, leaving gaps. Ugh. Thanks all!

Here's a similar pattern -
http://www.magknits.com/Dec06/patterns/counterpoint.htm - maybe there's
a good explanation you could use.

sue

Is there some easy, attractive way I should be doing these color
switches? Again, the distance is too long to bother carrying the black
across for the 3/4 of the scarf that is knit in white. So it just
keeps stopping and starting, leaving gaps. Ugh. Thanks all!

Wendy

Are you twisting the colors when you switch colors? When you are knitting
with the white yarn, at the color change pick up the black yarn for the next
stitch with the white yarn on top of the black. Be sure to keep the stitches
at the change close together on your needles.
DA

Hallo Wendy i knitted a lot of color changes , but what you describe
here looks mostly like my "Log Cabin Sweater , where i have rteal
blocks with straight lines ,,,
thus you knit some rows in complete color 1 and part rows with 2
colors, you should TWIST the thread when coming to that part ,,,
if that is you true email i can scan the back of this sweater and send
it to you as `help` picture.
mirjam

On 2 May 2007 17:43:03 -0700, myswendy wrote:

On May 2, 8:24 pm, WoolyGooly wrote:
Google up "intarsia"


I have knit many, many hats, mittens, etc with intricate patterns and
intarsia before. The problem this time seems to be different. I have a
block of color change that is consistent over several rows (the width
of a black piano key). I can't carry the white because the gap is too
long and it seems wasteful. I can't carry the black because that
absolutely WOULD be wasteful, since 3/4 of it is white (and I don't
want the black to show through, at any rate). So in effect, one color
ends and one begins en bloc, causing a vertical gap in the work.


Oh, ok. I misunderstood the problem. There's a technique for doing
intarsia in the round that may be useful to you, in Interweave Knits
Fall 1999 issue. I'm sure by now it's been "genericized" and
published all over the web.

Thanks to all of you, guys! I will try that! It's coming out great but
for the open spaces (I guess I will have to go back and weave those
together--this is a rush job).

Wendy --panting on the piano scarf. HAHAHA!