How to Estimate & Manage Yarn Tails in Intarsia Knitting

This tutorial is part of our Read Along Knit Along series & is brought to you by LoveKnitting, Eucalan & Knitter’s Pride. Learn about our sponsors and enter to win the RALKAL prize pack here. 

When you’re working an intarsia knitting pattern, there’s going to be a point where you need to estimate how much yarn you’ll need to work a specific section of your pattern. That is, a specific, contiguous section of one yarn color to achieve the visual design of the pattern. Once you’ve got that sorted, the next step is to decide how you’ll wrangle your tails once they’re part of your knitting. It might sound like a lot, but I’ve got two straightforward video tutorials for you today that should help bring everything into focus.

If you’re looking for basic intarsia instructions, this 101-level tutorial should help you out. 

For example, if you were knitting this intarsia swatch, you might want to estimate how much yarn you’ll need to work just the cream-colored square.

Intarsia 101: How to Estimate Yarn Tails

In this video, you’ll learn how to estimate the amount of yarn you’ll need to work a section of intarsia colorwork in knitting. An easy trick is demonstrated, along with tips to help you avoid common tail estimation pitfalls.

Intarsia 101: How to Manage Yarn Tails 3 Ways

Once you’ve estimated your intarsia yarn tail length, you’ve got a few options for how to manage it. Whether you prefer fast and loose (literally), bobbins, or a yarn butterfly, this video will show you a few things. One, how to work each method. Two, why you might want to use each method. And three, the pros and cons of each.

Any questions?

As always, if there’s anything confusing for you in either of these videos, go ahead and give us a shout in the comments. I’m happy to help!

This tutorial is part of our Read Along Knit Along series & is brought to you by LoveKnitting, Eucalan & Knitter’s Pride. Learn about our sponsors and enter to win the RALKAL prize pack here.