9-17-16 Knitting Fair Isle, offered by Mary
First Mary completely covered a long table with her collection of Fair Isle knitting books. Later we would all browse through them. As she pointed them out, she gave us a brief history of this stitching style, originating from a tiny
island off the coast of Scotland, with influences from Scandinavia.
First Mary completely covered a long table with her collection of Fair Isle knitting books. Later we would all browse through them. As she pointed them out, she gave us a brief history of this stitching style, originating from a tiny
island off the coast of Scotland, with influences from Scandinavia.
She explained that the traditional patterns have alternating rows of a larger design, with smaller designs called 'piry's'. Usually, the design is limited to two to three colors due to the increased thickness each added color would contribute.
Mary is not only a Fair Isle knitter, but also a designer. She has shared with us her design for a 2-color hat. The design color is variegated, so the impression is of more than just two colors. The group agreed that this hat would be an excellent 'knit-along' project. Mary will be available for a portion of each meeting to troubleshoot, until the project is finished. Mary provided us with two hand-outs, one of a tutorial online that she highly recommended. Tips from Mary: - Fair Isle takes more stitches per inch because of the stranding on the wrong-side, so the gauge will be different. Always swatch a piece, be sure to include a full repeat of the design. -Traditionally knit in the round, to create the striping affect, the chart of a pattern is read differently from other design charts. One always reads the pattern from 'right to left' on every row. -When done correctly, the background color will always be under the main color, when looking at the stranding at the back. To achieve this, the background color should be the one held in the right hand, for those knitting with both hands. You may need to be more attentive to the movement of your strands if you keep both colors in the same hand. ISSUES to Beware: -We may need to call upon Mary's help, when knitting in the round, to keep the stripes aligned when changing rows. -Also, traditionally, for Fair Isle sweaters, steeking is used to add sleeves to avoid breaking up the pattern design. Thank you, Mary, not only for the information and the pattern, but especially for offering to be our coach on our first knit-along project. Kudos for a valuable and delightful program! |