This is my first Fair Isle sample ever! Very exciting. This particular sample is from my Stitches Etc. class with Jane Slicer-Smith. We had an intarsia chart to do, and since I got through it rather quickly, she told me to go ahead and start on the little Fair Isle chart she'd provided. I actually did it twice, changing which of the three colors I was using as A, B, and C, just to see the different results I could get. :) I'd never really worked with either Fair Isle or intarsia much. Being a mostly self-taught knitter, I picked up cables and lace more easily (both just stitches out of place - so simple in my mind - always have been good with spacial-orientation type things). All the tricks with the color work about weaving in the ends and tension and balancing colors in both hands... well, it was hard to get a grip on all by myself. So, when our Etc. class had a morning spent on colorwork, I was very excited!
And I liked Fair Isle much more than I thought! All those ends are still very fiddly and obnoxious, and I don't think it'll replace cables or lace as my preferred technique, but it does open up some fun patterns. I think it'll be a while before I try a full garment in it though. Spending all that time knitting, and then having to steek still scares me. The Steeking class at Stitches did help with the understanding of it all, but that doesn't make me any less nervous about cutting into my knitting!
I have to say, I did like Fair Isle better than intarsia. I don't like the big blocks of color that are so common in intarsia, is the problem, I think. I do like the self-striping intarsia patterns though. There are some very cute ones playing with the self-striping yarns worked in narrow intarsia stripes. (Like this or this). But the big swirls of color blocks... well, I guess it's just not really something I'd wear, so why spend my time knitting it, right?
So, was thinking that to practice the Fair Isle in the meantime, that I could find some cute felted Fair Isle bags first! Like this one or this. Noni is good for some examples too. Practice the technique, work on getting my tension even, and then felt it all down so you can't see any of the mistakes! (Looking at the picture above, although the sample isn't blocked, you can DEFINITELY tell my tensioning needs practice!) Kind of the same way Fuzzy Feet is great sock practice. :) And there are some great Fair Isle hats, too, for smaller garments as practice. My favorite is the Fake Isle hat (this is one variation). It's still Fair Isle, but only 2 colorways. It looks more complex than it is, since one of the two is a self-striping yarn. When I get comfortable with that, one of my books has a Fair Isle capelet pattern that would be great garment practice for me. It's not felted, so you can actually see the tension, but no steeking, just knit in the round. It's way down on the queue, though, since I'm not quite ready to try it! Besides, other patterns have been waiting longer :)
And I liked Fair Isle much more than I thought! All those ends are still very fiddly and obnoxious, and I don't think it'll replace cables or lace as my preferred technique, but it does open up some fun patterns. I think it'll be a while before I try a full garment in it though. Spending all that time knitting, and then having to steek still scares me. The Steeking class at Stitches did help with the understanding of it all, but that doesn't make me any less nervous about cutting into my knitting!
I have to say, I did like Fair Isle better than intarsia. I don't like the big blocks of color that are so common in intarsia, is the problem, I think. I do like the self-striping intarsia patterns though. There are some very cute ones playing with the self-striping yarns worked in narrow intarsia stripes. (Like this or this). But the big swirls of color blocks... well, I guess it's just not really something I'd wear, so why spend my time knitting it, right?
So, was thinking that to practice the Fair Isle in the meantime, that I could find some cute felted Fair Isle bags first! Like this one or this. Noni is good for some examples too. Practice the technique, work on getting my tension even, and then felt it all down so you can't see any of the mistakes! (Looking at the picture above, although the sample isn't blocked, you can DEFINITELY tell my tensioning needs practice!) Kind of the same way Fuzzy Feet is great sock practice. :) And there are some great Fair Isle hats, too, for smaller garments as practice. My favorite is the Fake Isle hat (this is one variation). It's still Fair Isle, but only 2 colorways. It looks more complex than it is, since one of the two is a self-striping yarn. When I get comfortable with that, one of my books has a Fair Isle capelet pattern that would be great garment practice for me. It's not felted, so you can actually see the tension, but no steeking, just knit in the round. It's way down on the queue, though, since I'm not quite ready to try it! Besides, other patterns have been waiting longer :)
6 comments:
Nice 'F' post and I loved the felted bag links. (I always like a bag link.) I've not done much colorwork and none that wasn't in the round. I haven't found a way to purl in two colors. WHEN I do, I've a slipper pattern I want to try.
I can't believe that's your first Fair Isle swatch. It looks fabulous! Stranded knitting has always been a stumbling block for me, too. This is the year I set it as a goal for myself, and your post really inspires.
For a first Fair isle project you did quite well! Getting the tension right needs practise, but it's impossible to get it right everywhere, I think. Consider it 'Fair isle charm'!
You give me hope. Beautiful swatches.
You give me hope. Beautiful swatches.
That's a really impressive swatch. Fair isle is one of the few knitting things I've been too intimidated to try. This gives me hope.
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