Intarsia is a technique, found in both woodworking and knitting, that involves creating designs using inlaid pieces of materials, often wood or yarn, to form a mosaic-like picture or pattern.
In Woodworking:
Intarsia is a form of wood inlaying, where sections of wood (and sometimes contrasting materials like ivory, bone, or mother-of-pearl) are fitted and glued into a solid wood matrix to create a decorative pattern.
It differs from marquetry, where a pattern is assembled from veneers glued onto a surface.