Knitting and so on: First of August

Ever since moving back to Germany last winter - after having lived in Switzerland for 18 years - I have started to feel a bit nostalgic about my time there. And when I explored the idea of combining intarsia and short rows a bit more, I thought it might be fun to knit a Swiss flag.

So in honour of Swiss National Day, here's a little pattern with a Swiss flag. The finished piece can be used as a coaster or potholder - or just as a bit of Swiss decoration for your table. Since it is knitted in intarsia technique, it looks reasonably OK from WS as well.

For other ideas of combining intarsia with short rows see also my Wölkchen washcloth, my Wedges Wrap and my Citrus Fruit Potholder).

This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Materials & Size

I used about 20 grams of DK weight yarn - in red and white
3.5 mm knitting needles - I used dpns because the rows are quite short and you only have 14 sts on your needles
scrap yarn for provisional CO
a tapestry needle for grafting

The coaster that I knitted is a square that measures about 14 cm on each side.

Techniques & Notation

Intarsia: Changing colors with the intarsia technique - as shown in this YouTube video by knitwithpat; or this YouTube video by Francoise Danoy. The picture below shows both sides of the piece:

Throughout the pattern, the following notation is used: C1 (k4); C2 (k10, w+t, k10); C1 (k to end) means, knit 4 stitches in C1, change to C2 and knit 10 sts, do a wrap and turn, knit 10 stitches and then change back to C1 and k to end. I.e. color is indicated before the knitting instructions for that yarn. the knitting instructions for that yarn are given in brackets after the color and color changes are indicated by a semicolon. I.e. color is indicated before the knitting instructions for that yarn. the knitting instructions for that yarn are given in brackets after the color and color changes are indicated by a semicolon.
Short rows with wrap and turn (w+t) - as shown in this YouTube video by Very Pink Knits.
Since this washcloth is knit in garter stitch, you don't have to pick up your wraps - except in two rows, i.e. the rows where the wrapping color is different from the color of the wrapped stitch. These rows are indicated in the pattern. Here's a YouTube video that shows how to pick up your wraps (also by Very Pink Knits).
Note: in some rows the wrap has to be made just at the color change in the row below, e.g. Ridge 3 where you knit 11 sts in C1 and the 12 stitch that is to be wrapped was knitted in C2. In this case, it's advisable to change the color (as if to knit the next stitch in the new color), wrap and turn in the new color, and then to change back. This gives nicer color edges.
Provisional CO: My favorite method for a provisional CO is the crochet provisional CO - it is shown in this Youtube video by New Stitch a Day.
Grafting in Garter Stitch: A technique to get an invisible (knitted) seam - this technique is shown in this YouTube Video by knittinghelp.com.
Weaving in ends while knitting: as shown in this YouTube video by So, I make stuff.
Weaving in yarn while carrying it back: Draw a long loop of C2 to the point where you want to knit it (picture 1). This gives you a really long float. Knit the first stitch (picture 2). Before knitting the second stitch, catch the float by put the left hand needle under the float (picutre 3) and then knit the stitch with your working yarn as usual. If you catch the float every second stitch, the WS will look as shown in picture 4. (This is a bit like catching floats in stranded knitting as shown in this YouTube video by Knit Purl Hunter.)
The last two techniques (this and weaving in ends while knitting) will are used to avoid a long float that runs parallel to your knitting - and to avoid cutting your yarn.

Click to enlarge

Instructions

With scrap yarn do a provisional CO of 14 sts.
Knit the very first row (WS) as follows: C2 (k9); C1 (k5)
Ridge 1 (RS, WS): C1 (k5); C2 (k8, w+t, k8); C1 (k5)
Ridge 2 (RS, WS): C1 (k5); C2 (k7, w+t, k7); C1 (k5)

Ridge 3 (RS, WS): C1 (k11); C2 (w+t); C1 (k11) - on the RS weave in C2 yarn while you're knitting up to the stitch where you're using it.

Ridge 4 (RS, WS): C1 (k10, w+t, k10)

Ridge 5 (RS, WS): C1 (k9, w+t, k9)
Ridge 6 (RS, WS): C1 (k8, w+t, k8)
Ridge 7 (RS, WS): C1 (k7, w+t, k7)
Ridge 8 (RS, WS): C1 (k6, w+t, k6)
Ridge 9 (RS, WS): C1 (k5, w+t, k5)
Ridge 10 (RS, WS): C1 (k4, w+t, k4)
Ridge 11 (RS, WS): C1 (k3, w+t, k3)

Ridge 12 (RS, WS): C1 (k2, w+t, k2)

Ridge 13 (RS, WS): C1 (k1, w+t, k1)

Ridge 14 (RS, WS): C1 (k1, w+t, k1)

Ridge 15 (RS, WS): C1 (k2, w+t, k2)

Ridge 16 (RS, WS): C1 (k3, w+t, k3)

Ridge 17 (RS, WS): C1 (k4, w+t, k4)

Ridge 18 (RS, WS): C1 (k5, w+t, k5)

Ridge 19 (RS, WS): C1 (k6, w+t, k6)

Ridge 20 (RS, WS): C1 (k7, w+t, k7)

Ridge 21 (RS, WS): C1 (k8, w+t, k8)

Ridge 22 (RS, WS): C1 (k9, w+t, k9)

Ridge 23 (RS, WS): C1 (k10, w+t, k10)

Ridge 24 (RS, WS): C1 (k11); C2 (w+t); C1 (k11)

Ridge 25 (RS, WS): C1 (k5); C2 (k7, w+t, k7); C1 (k5) - on the RS draw a long C2 loop

Ridge 26 (RS, WS): C1 (k5); C2 (k8, w+t, k8); C1 (k5)

Ridge 27 (RS, WS): C1 (k5); C2 (k9, turn, sl1, k8); C1 (k5)

Repeat ridges 1 to 27 twice more.
Then knit ridges 1 to 26.
Cut your yarns but leave tails long enough for grafting.
Graft in garter stitch: 5 sts in C1 and 9 sts in C2.

After grafting there is still a small hole in the middle of the piece - you can sew this closed with your C2 yarn tail. Sew in ends afterwards.

Chart

If you prefer to work from a chart, here's one. The numbers in front of the ridge indicate the number of stitches per color - the red number for the C1 stitches and the black number for the C2 stitches.