Fair Isle Love Affair
You may recall my silliness and whining two short weeks ago of my fear of circular needles. I was so afraid of those little wonders but desperately wanted to try my hand at a Fair Isle sweater for one of my granddaughters.
Well color me over my fear! Not only did I rush right out and buy the required supplies (a gorgeous creme for the body and a lovely deep rose for the pattern), but I'm thrilled to report that circular knitting was just as easy as y'all told me it would be! I really need to stop being such a weenie.
I'm working on the sweater pictured here. I did take a photo of my progress with my camera phone, but for some reason I can't seem to transfer said pic from my phone to my computer today, so alas, there is no photo to show off.
The body portion is completed and I'm about to begin the second sleeve (on dpns, no less!). I'm smokin' now! Dpns and circulars. Who would've thought?
Once the second sleeve is complete I'll begin on the yoke. I'm so enamored with the ease of this pattern and the use of circular needles, I went out this past weekend for a little bit of fresh air combined with much needed retail therapy at my local yarn shop where I purchased more yarn to make a similar sweater for one of my other granddaughters. This one will be in a very pretty dusty deep lavendar color with white for the pattern portion. Once that one is complete, I'll one more girl sweater to knit before the holidays and two more boy sweaters so my grandbabies in ND and WI will be assured a warm and cozy winter.
But uh, oh! Not all is rosy on the sweater front. A new challenge to overcome awaits me in this Fair Isle business. But in all seriousness, I'm not too awful worried. Sure, I'll be attempting two colors for the first time ever and will have to follow an actual pattern. Being a long time cross-stitcher, the pattern portion of the sweater doesn't cause me too much panic. The thought of knitting with more than one color does however cause the tiniest frission of fear to give me a case of the willies. And I do have to remember to read the pattern portion "backwards," which might cause a few headaches.
I shall overcome. I know I will. And hopefully by the time I post again, I'll have figured out the phone to computer glitch thing, my current deadline will be behind me and I'll have started on the second sweater.
Wish me luck!
posted by Jamie Denton at 3:08 AM
8 Comments:
Hi Barbara!
I'm SO happy to see another circular knitter born! I don't even own any straight needles, as all flat knitting can be worked on circs, as well. And those Fair Isle yoked pullovers - what a great choice for your first circular project. A yoked pullover was mine as well!
Best of luck! I want to try Fair Isle, too, but I don't have the time for a sweater right now. I'm thinking a colorful and cabley bag (I love making cables!) courtesy of Berocco's free patterns.
I love Fair Isle but haven't yet worked up the courage to attempt it. I have the pattern and some gorgeous Shetland yarn for a Fair Isle tam but am so intimidated. Maybe if I work the pattern first in a solid, then it'll only be one new thing when I do the Fair Isle. Does that make sense? Or am I stalling?
Dawn - We're kindred spirits! I'm seriously considering ditching the straights as well because for reasons I don't quite understand, the circulars are so much easier on the hands. I suffer with dorsal tendonitis from time to time -- too many years typing at 110 WPM, I only wish I could think at that speed -- and I've had no pain whatsoever knitting on the circulars.
nicole - I used to believe (or complain) that knitting was a slower process for me than crocheting, but for some reason, that no longer seems to be the case. I started this sweater two weeks ago and I only have one sleeve left to complete before starting on the yoke and finishing the project. Since I'm on deadline, I'm only spending maybe a hour or two each evening knitting.
I guess what I'm trying to say is just go for it! It might not be quite the time investment you think.
laurap - You're stallin' darlink! Like I said to nicole - just go for it.
But then again, you might want to wait a few days and see if you hear me running into the street screaming because working with two colors has done me in.
I do indeed think that I'm stalling... =) But I've already got three projects on the knitting needles, and another two on the crochet hook, so I'm trying to get some loose ends tied up before starting a new project. And this is without adding the Sock Hop socks, too...
But I will do it. If I haven't cast on for a Fair Isle (or similar) project by the first of the new year, I will make it a New Year's Resolution!
Jamie, I'm curious about how you handle the yarns. Do you use one of those plastic ring thingies to keep your yarns separate or do you tension them both on your left hand or one on the left, one on the right? I tried one of those tension/yarn separators and it was more trouble than it was worth. At least the one I used was.
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