The simplest Fair Isle pattern uses circular or double pointed needles, cast on any number of stitches. Knitting then continues round and round, with the colours alternated every stitch.
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What is the difference between Fair Isle and stranded knitting?
At its most basic, the difference lies in where the colors are in your pattern. If the colors run across the width of your knitting, you’ll be working stranded, or Fair Isle knitting. If the colors are more blocked off, and don’t show up throughout the row, then you’ll be doing intarsia knitting.
Is Fair Isle always knitted in the round?
Fair Isle knitting is knitted in the round. On a chart, each square represents a knitted stitch, either a pattern stitch or a background stitch. Every row of the chart represents a pattern repeat that continues around the piece. Read from right to left, from bottom to top.
Is it hard to knit Fair Isle?
‘I find Fair Isle quite easy to do – especially quite traditional patterns as you only use two colours at time. The repeats are symmetrical so they are easy to remember once you get going. ‘Also when you knit a Fair Isle you create a double thickness that means you’ve got a very warm jumper.
How long does it take to knit a Fair Isle sweater?
Knitting and finishing a single sweater takes 20 hours or more; “designing the shape and writing the knitting instructions takes around three, and the color and pattern design anything from eight hours to a month, depending on the complexity.”
What is the best yarn for Fair Isle knitting?
wool
Using wool is the best choice of yarn for fair isle knitting. Traditionally, the yarn used was a fine yarn and the wool had some “tooth”, the term for the grippy texture that does involve an itch factor, but ensures that the colors bond to each other well.
Where do Fair Isle sweaters come from?
While the Fair Isle sweater was popularized in no small part due to the royals, the style’s origins stem from a community north of England. Fair Isle is an actual island, fairly isolated north of Scotland in the Shetland archipelago.
How often should you catch floats?
When you catch your floats, your carried yarn will be caught by your working yarn, behind the stitches without showing on the front. You can catch your float every other stitch or every 4th or 5th stitch. Jeanne prefers every 4th or 5th stitch.
How many stitches can you carry yarn?
You can carry yarn for stretches longer than 5 or 7 stitches, but pushing the traditional limits requires that you catch the float.
How many colors does Fair Isle have?
2 colors
Fair Isle is a very specific type of stranded knitting from Fair Isle, a tiny island in the north of Scotland and part of the Shetland Islands. In Fair Isle knitting, only 2 colors are used per round and yarn is carried for a limited number of stitches across the back of the work.
Are Fair Isle sweaters made on Fair Isle?
The term ‘Fair Isle Knitting’ has nowadays unfortunately become generic and is used worldwide to denote any form of multicoloured knitwear. However, whilst there are many imitations, Fair Isle is still the only place where authentic Fair Isle made in Fair Isle garments are produced.