Fair Isle Knitting

Thank You!!!  I've been waiting for something to help me learn fair isle!

Linda in TN

This is just what I needed to get started on a Fair Isle project. Thank you!   ~NM in MN

Me too!!!!

Thank you so much, Sandi, for this tutorial and others.  Keep 'em coming!  I've got a gorgeous Fair Isle turtleneck to finish this winter as soon as I'm done with new twin granddaughter fun stuff ... which I'm sure will be in about 18 years!!!  Love all your free patterns, too...and your commentary.  I look forward to you each day.

Knit On!!!

Julie P in the Berkshires of MA

Hi Sandi,

Thanks for the tutorial, I've always wanted to try Fair Isle, but thought it to advanced for me.

You're moving to Canada? Will you still be the editor of Knitting Daily? I hope so!!!

Tricia

I have admired the look of fair isle knitting for years and just never had the "gumption" to try.  With your comments and pattern I am

certainly going to give it a try for handwarmers.  fran miller

i have done fair-isle but this is a great way for any one to use, to leqarn or renew some thoughts,

Carl

Thank you.  You are such an outstanding resource and support...not to mention inspiration!

Susan Leibowitz

In the past my fair isles have always puckered. Perhaps now I stand a chance for some "smooth" patterns. Thanks so much for the help.

Marilou

Another great Fair Isle resource is the two handed technique that is taught by the folks at Philosophers Wool.  I am unable to get their website to come up tonight, so I don't know if there are any online resources available, but the book Fair Isle Simplified does a great job of explaining it.  Instead of having floats between the colors, each stitch is formed in such a way that it locks the other color in.  I've found for me, that is makes a much stretchier finished product.

This may be a stupid question, but is Fair Isle knitting the same as Intarsia?  Also, what do you do at the end of the row if you're not using a color for a few rows?  Do you cut it?  Carry it?  How many rows would be considered normal and not disruptive to have a color attached at an end and not in use, ready for the next row that it'll be needed?

Thanks everyone!

Michele.

Thank you for the great tutorial on Fair Isle knitting.  I have been intimidated before about this but now I will attempt a project using this technique.  Thank you for all your great technique tutorials.

Judith

Hi MicheleM, not stupid at all! From an aesthetic viewpoint, they're both just colour knitting - intarsia at one end of the spectrum, Fair Isle at the other, with a variety of other traditions and techniques in between. Technically, though, they're in different universes!  Here goes...

Intarsia is picture knitting, usually but not necessarily of a single large non-repeating image, and often using a wide range of colours. For a complex pattern, it makes more sense to wind off small amounts of the various colours onto bobbins, etc., than to try to work with a gazillion full-size balls of yarn hanging off the back. Generally, the yarn would be cut at the end of each row/section, and re-started as necessary on the next, with no weaving or stranding at all - so lots of ends to weave in at the end!

True Fair Isle uses small repeating geometric designs, where the yarn has to be carried no more than 5 stitches across the row - usually by just carrying it at the back of the knitting without weaving in (floats, stranding). You will find some so-called Fair Isle patterns that call for the yarn to be carried over more stitches, by weaving the yarns together at the back, but these are actually part of the Scandinavian tradition, not Fair Isle - sorry, can't be more helpful on this, as I don't know a lot about these traditions (anyone care to jump in?).

Although the designs look complicated, ONLY TWO yarns are used in any one row - a background colour and a 'pattern' colour. However, the background and pattern colours may change places every X rows, or the background colour may be changed for another, giving a striped effect which adds to the complicated look (but it's still just 2 colours per row). For example, on row 1-5, you may have a blue background colour and a white pattern colour. Then on rows 6-10, you might use the blue yarn as the pattern colour, and the white yarn as background - or swap it for red. You could stick to this 3-colour scheme (2 colours in play at a time), or use up all your leftover stash for that Kaffe Fassett look! Most Fair Isle patterns will use only a few colours though.

You ask what happens to a yarn you're not using for a few rows. IIRC, Fair Isles are supposed to be knit in the round with the pattern facing you at all times, and the 'striping' effect means any particular yarn is rarely out of play for more than a few rows (1-8 rows, not more than 10).  So the out-of-play yarn could certainly be carried up to where it will be used again, by stranding or weaving it up the intervening rows (that's what I do - it may not be official FI practice, but nah, boo, it works). If you're knitting flat, however, the yarn would need to be cut and the ends woven in later...

HTH

Cheers

Rachel

Thank you!  This is just what I've been waiting for!  Looked all over for tutorials on fairisle, but couldn't find anything!  

Linda in NJ

Just to correct a bit of history:  Fair Isle patterns are from Fair Isle in the Shetland Islands, northeast of mainland Scotland.  The Faoroe Islands are a different place with a different stranded knitting tradition.

Katherine

Thank you so much, KatherineM.  I was having one of those "have I gone crazy?" moments, having never read that bit about Fair Isle and the Faroe Islands.  To build on what you wrote, the Faroe Islands have been affiliated with Denmark for about 700 years. And, of course, they have some lovely knitting as well-- it's just not Fair Isleknitting!  ;)

Also, an excellent article devoted to steeks can be found here: www.kidsknits.com/steeks_introduction.html

I have only been knitting for about 4 years. This was my biggest fear to start learning. But,,,,WOW, I love you guys. I have knitted say ,,,A LOT of your patterns. My friends love you too. It is people like you at Knitting Daily that brings great satisfatction to trying and acheving sucess in my endevors of love. I am totally hooked or should I say I am on Needles for your next article Janice Davis aka Knitsterqueen

Thank you, this sounds super helpful! I've been on and off trying to learn, poking at books looking for a good tutorial and this sounds like it may be the one!

I've never tried Fair Isle or intarsia knitting - I'm still a novice knitter.  But, I desperately want to learn and this pattern is beautiful.  I saw the coolest "trick" somewhere when working with multiple colors.  The lady rolled all of her yarn into separate balls and put each color in a wide-mouthed Mason jar without the lids.  The yarns stayed in the jars, which she lined up in a row at her feet, and smoothly unrolled out of the jar without tangling when she picked up a color.  I just love learning nifty new tricks of the trade!  Thanks for another tutorial!

Thanks so much for this tutorial.  I am in a knit-a-long with some friends at knittinghelp.com.  We are working on an afghan where each square is a done in a different technique for each month.  This month is color stranding/Fair Isle.  I was nervous about it.  Then this tutorial was posted here.  Fate, or what?  LOL!!!  Thanks again.

Sandy - I love the colors and the pattern for that bandeau, especially the way the ribbing at the bottom is form fitting.  I'm just venturing into stranded knitting and would love to make this sweater for myself, but I'm 43 and the style is more for the younger generation.  Could someone modify the pattern to make it a full sweater maybe with little cap sleeves and a scoop neck?  Thanks!  Shelly O.

I shall put some time - and yarn - aside to look and play with this tutorial.  Things always work better for me with a bit of hands on involved.  Thanks for the pdf Sandi!