Managing long floats in Fair Isle knitting

re: Managing long floats in Fair Isle knitting

ViolaN — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 17:11:46 GMT

Hi to everyone

altho I really like your scarf, I do not use long floats when i knit fairisle..I don't like the mess it eventually becomes thru wearing..but i weave in my yarn ,never carryiing it over more than 3 stitches and never drawing the yarn up tight. the front looks nice. the back is wearable and the complete project will last for years.Be sure not to leave a hole when bringing in the new color by bringing the new yarn under the one just used Zoe has the right idea..Thanks Zoe

Viola

re: Managing long floats in Fair Isle knitting

Zoe — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 21:20:10 GMT

When I knit fair isle or stranding, I use both hands; the main color I knit continental style and the contrasting colors are knit English style. I have found that the yarns just cross each other automatically as I knit. In the knitting, there is never more than 6 stitches together of a single color before changing colors. If there is then an intarsia knitting style needs to be done. I just found this works for me. Happy knitting everyone!

re: Managing long floats in Fair Isle knitting

wiremysoul — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 13:39:05 GMT

As a new knitter who's been apprehensive about colour work, I want to thank you for the excellent tip on tacking floats! I'm not so scared now, and I think I might just queue up something outside my comfort zone thanks to this!

--Jan aka WireMySoul