Fair Isle: Tips and a Step-By-Step Tutorial

re: Fair Isle: Tips and a Step-By-Step Tutorial

LolaL — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 08:58:31 GMT

It's possible to throw both colors. I knit with both colors on my right hand. What I do is I flip my finger up for one color and down with the other color. And the yarn doesn't get tangled up too much.

re: Fair Isle: Tips and a Step-By-Step Tutorial

Lora Clare — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 05:50:32 GMT

I second the picking with one color and throwing with the other. It works really well and you get to learn how to knit in two different ways just for fun!

ps it does take some practice, so patience is a virtue for sure in this case!

re: Fair Isle: Tips and a Step-By-Step Tutorial

Lora Clare — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 05:49:43 GMT

I second the picking with one color and throwing with the other. It works really well and you get to learn how to knit in two different ways just for fun!

ps it does take some practice, so patience is a virtue for sure in this case!

re: Fair Isle: Tips and a Step-By-Step Tutorial

GerdaP — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:03:55 GMT

Have any of you tried knitting Fair Isle by picking with one color and throwing with the other.

This way the yarns never get tangled and your tension is fine without having to space out your knitting.

If you are a picker you can even hold both colors over your finger, you space them by wrapping them opposite from each other on your hand.

This is very easy to learn and after parctice goes super fast.

re: Fair Isle: Tips and a Step-By-Step Tutorial

KelleyD — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:02:29 GMT

Oh come on....yes she made a mistake, but it's online media, so she'll change it and it will all be good.

What i want to know is where are the shawls?

It used to be that every issue had at least one gorgeous shawl pattern in it, but it seems like the last few have been missing to be replaced by sweater after sweater.

Sandi, please hunt down the AWOL shawls while you are on the Shetlands and bring them back to us landlocked knitters!!

Give us SHAWLS!

re: Fair Isle: Tips and a Step-By-Step Tutorial

ElanaV — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 01:52:14 GMT

What perfect timing. Just yesterday, having knit to the underarm of a sweater for my daughter, I realized I probably didn't have enough yarn to complete the yoke. I decided that the way to rescue it would be to turn it into a Fair Isle, but haven't tried that before. This will help. Thanks, Sandi!

re: Fair Isle: Tips and a Step-By-Step Tutorial

SusanN — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 22:22:07 GMT

Tess wrote:

>Maybe Interweave should send you to these places so you can do >some on site research just to make sure this is correct!

I'd be happy to carry her knitting bag when they send her! Just send me an email stating date of departure, and I'll be ready to hop a plane. (What do porters get paid these days?)

SusanN

re: Fair Isle: Tips and a Step-By-Step Tutorial

Tess — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:40:05 GMT

Gee, Sandi, you just ticked off a lot of knitters in the Shetland Islands, and particularly Fair Isle! While there is stranded color knitting in the Faroese Islands, I think it is generally agreed that what we call Fair Isle knitting - sweaters knit circularly with stranded colorwork and steeks - comes to us from Shetland and Fair Isle and not the Faroese Islands. Even today you can find Fair Isle sweaters being knitted by the locals in Shetland on long double points, using a knitting bel, and the yarns from the local spinning mill. Maybe Interweave should send you to these places so you can do some on site research just to make sure this is correct! ;-)

re: Fair Isle: Tips and a Step-By-Step Tutorial

Knoldine — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:32:08 GMT

whoopsie...

Fair Isle is actually an island near the Shetland islands, and has very little to do with the Faeroe Islands.

Faeroese patterns are not as colorful as Fair Isle patterns (but are very pretty despite that fact!)

And here's another did you know: Faeroe islands means Sheep Islands!