So a little research into the challenge of felting intarsia has proved interesting so far. Knit stitches are wider than they are tall, and felting shrinks work more from top to bottom than from side to side. But intarsia pulls the work inward from side to side, elongating the image - and making a simple adjustment of the pattern image much more difficult. In an ideal world, the effects of intarsia will cancel out the effect of the felting, leaving the aspect ratio at 1:1. But it doesn’t take looking at the President to know that the world is decidedly upside down. The only way to tell is going to be to swatch a pattern sample:

This is my first attempt at intarsia. The pattern needs some work - the single stitches I’d intended as fine lines get lost in the pattern (although it’s certainly helpful that they’re breaking up the work so there aren’t any really long stretches of carried yarn - any more than 5 seems terribly problematic, and I know even that is hugely pushing it.) True, it could be a peony… but it could also be a bulbous squid, or an eyeball with tentacles.

The yarn is Peer Gynt 100% wool in DK weight on size 8 needles. I want the felted fabric to be extremely dense, possibly with the ability to stand up on its own. And one thing I’ve learned about intarsia- I’m going to want to knit this sucker in the round.