As much as I might like to fantasize about knitting an allover fair isle sweater, it’s probably more of a never than a someday. I have no doubt that if I practiced my stranded colorwork more and got more comfortable with it, I’d also get faster, and a sweater like Windermere wouldn’t seem quite so far fetched. So what better to practice on than lovely little hats like Schuyler by Jennifer Burke (free pattern) and Fjordland by Dianna Walla?
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PREVIOUSLY in Someday vs. Right Away: Small-scale Amanda alternatives
I did a sweater allover years ago – my tension was awful. I wish I knew the trick to not making it too tight. A friend said to use a larger needle…?
My knitting goal last year was to learn two-handed colourwork, and I started with a hat, then mittens, and then I knit Kate Davies’ magnificent Rams & Yowes lap blanket! Next up should be a sweater . . . . hmmmm…..
I have this last month started to knit an all over fair isle cardigan for the first time. It is going quite well at the moment and have even got the fair isle to match on the back and front…I find the difficult part is purl rows as you are not looking at the front of the garment so I do end up having to keep checking and also redoing the odd row. Not one to sit and watch the television to.
Oh, I so get you. Had the same situation looking at a lovely sweater design with a Norwegian pattern by Sandnes Garn the other day. After thinking about it for a couple of days I decided to start with a cowl/loop with a self-designed Norwegian pattern instead. More realistic to get that one done than the sweater. :) But one day – probably when I’ve reached retirement – I will have to have a go at a sweater though.
I wish knitters would stop calling stranded knitting Fair Isle when most of these patterns are more Nordic. Not everything is FairIsle. It’s so annoying for us fra Scandinavia who grew up with our patterns to see everything called FairIsle. It annoys our Latvian neighbors as well.
I tell everyone to call it Stranded Knitting with typical patterns from either Norway,FairIsle or …
Thank you.
Sorry to irritate you, Lisa — I do my best to be careful about it. Would you not describe the patterning on this particular sweater as fair isle?
I jumped into fair isle with the Strandlaeufer (sandpiper) cowl (on Ravelry). I guess that falls somewhere between the hat and sweater. I’m really proud of my tension and the tidy floats on the back, though I credit that more to a well written pattern than my expertise. I’d like to try fair isle again, but the thought of diving into a whole sweater definitely makes me nervous. In the meantime, that Schuyler hat is lovely!
I have done vests with the stranded color work in the yoke of the vest which turned out nicely. It is not just fair isle sweaters though that take time and care-I am currently working on a gansey which is taking me 15 minutes for each round! Think I will be done by Christmas?
I love this category. Someday vs. right away… This style of planning might save me a bit of frustration. Glad that you’re ideas are in the world, Karen. My attack plan for craft is much more improvisational and I like to think that it works, mostly but I appreciate having your pragmatic approach at my fingertips when I am stuck.
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