It’s called mosaic knitting, and it was first written about by Barbara Walker back in the 70s.
It calls for using two colors to create intricate patterns, but it is incredibly simple.
Family Circle Knitting Holiday 2003 issue has an article on it, and my MIL was nice enough to pick up the magazine for me.
I’m trying a practice swatch of the afghan, but I figured out what I was supposed to do very quickly.
It is so easy, and I can’t wait until I can get a pillow done.
Anyone heard of it? Done it?
Yes. As well as the book dedicated to mosaic knitting, Barbara Walker includes mosaic knitting patterns in her other knitting stitch treasuries.
I’ve done a few afghan squares with it, and I’ve got about 1/3 of a baby blanket (wasn’t going to finish in time, ended up making the baby a felted bunny instead) of mosaic knitting done. I might finish it someday.
It’s very cool. For me, it’s much easier than other two color techniques (or easier than stranding, weaving, or intarsia) and you do get cool patterns out of it. (If you’ve ever liked labarinths or mazes, this technique was made for transferring those to knits).
Back in the late 70’s, I did a whole afghan based on motifs in Barbara Walker’s book. I had only 2 duplicate squares in the whole afghan. (I don’t remember what size it was though.)
It’s pretty easy, and fairly fun. But for some reason, I’ve never done anything else in mosaic knitting.
Enjoy! I love learning new techniques. The last thing I learned wasdomino knitting. It’s nice and modular. This technique was used on a pattern for socks in Knitters Magazine a few months back. The pair I made is found on this page.