# Fair-Isle (Made Easy)



## GinB (Sep 2, 2012)

Fair-Isle was one of the techniques I taught in a recent KP workshop. As I notice posts asking questions about the technique, instead of repeating the same information over and over, I thought it would be helpful to enter it here and provide a link to it when necessary. (This way, people can save it in their "My Pages" or "Bookmarks".)

*FAIR-ISLE:*

First, start by watching these tutorials. They will help what you read below make more sense:

*Fair-Isle Tutorials:*;

_How to stitch and different ways to hold the yarn:_





The above link has been provided courtesy of Liat Gat and KnitFreedom - http://knitfreedom.com/; liatm on Ravelry.

_Fair-Isle knitting on a knit row and introducing a new color:_





_Fair-Isle knitting on a purl row:_





The above two links have been provided courtesy of Kyoko Nakayoshi and Cotton and Cloud - http://cottonandcloud.com/; cottonandcloud on Ravelry.

Now that you have watched the videos, you know that you can hold one color of yarn at a time or you can knit a combination of Continental (holding the unused strand in your left hand) and English (holding the Main Color simultaneously in your right hand). If you feel comfortable using the Continental/English method, feel free to do so. However, because you are just learning, these instructions will use the simpler method - holding one color at a time.

*NOTE 1:* _If you carry the unused yarn too tightly, that section will have no give, it might pucker on the front side and it will be tighter than the rest of your work. If you carry the unused yarn too loosely, it will make the floats (unused yarn carried behind the stitches) sag. As you knit (or purl), make sure that your stitches are loose enough that, when you stretch any portion of them, the floats stretch comfortably with no pulling, but not loose enough that the floats sag. (Its not a bad idea to double-check a rows floats again before moving on to the next row.)_

*NOTE 2: * _The rule of thumb with Fair-Isle is not to carry floats (yarn carried across the back of your work in Fair-Isle) any more than 5 stitches. If the article you are making is for a child, some people are concerned that a child might get their fingers tangled in floats. If that is a concern of yours, an easy way to rectify it is to make shorter floats._

*LOCKING YOUR YARN:* If the first stitch of a new row is a different color than the last stitch of the previous row, its a good idea to lock your yarn within that last stitch of that previous row:

Before knitting (or purling) that last stitch in the row, place the tip of the right needle into the stitch on the left needle. In the back of your work, place the new color (the color you are changing to) over the old color (the color you are changing from). The new color should hang down across the old color (strand), leaving a tail long enough to weave in. Knit (or purl) the last stitch in the old color. That locks the new yarn into place for the next row.

It is always best to practice a new technique using scrap yarn. Once you stretch the work and see that there is no puckering and no sagging of the floats, then you can move on to using the yarn intended for the project.

Notice in the photos below that the floats do not sag, nor is there any pulling or puckering.

Ginny
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## GinB (Sep 2, 2012)

Now if you really want to see something beautiful in Fair-Isle, take a look at *this* new post:

http://www.knittingparadise.com/t-214157-1.html

Doesn't that just make you want to go out and buy the yarn and start knitting it???


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## deemail (Jan 25, 2011)

thanks so much for compiling this info...have 'my paged' it...as you suggested.


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## GinB (Sep 2, 2012)

deemail said:


> thanks so much for compiling this info...have 'my paged' it...as you suggested.


Dee,

Between the videos I spent quite a bit of time selecting and the materials I provided from my knitting experience, you should have no problem with the technique. The only other thing I can tell you is that practicing on scrap yarn is a very good suggestion.

Ginny


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## Leezy (Aug 8, 2011)

Thank you for this great resource! I will watch the videos this weekend before I start my grandson's x-mas stocking.


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## Windbeam (Jul 31, 2011)

This is great, thanks !


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## nana r (Feb 3, 2011)

thank you Ginny for all of this great information


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## SaxMarloes84 (Oct 25, 2013)

Thank you so much for this!


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## MRSCippy (Oct 9, 2013)

I loved watching the videos. I'm planning on trying in very very soon. Thank you so much. I just need to find patterns for fingless gloves.


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## Browniemom (Sep 24, 2012)

Thank you vey much. Have bookmarked. :thumbup:


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## DollieD (Mar 7, 2011)

Bless your sweet heart!
I bookmarked both Intarsia, and Fair Isle!
Thank you so much!


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## Linuxgirl (May 25, 2013)

Thank you for sharing. Great work. Bookmarked like you tutorial on intarsia.


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## blawler (Feb 20, 2012)

Thank you so much for sharing this information and the one on Intarsia with all of us. I copied both posts to Word documents and saved them on my hard drive for future reference. I'm currently working on some Fair Isle socks and it helps a lot to feel like I know what I'm doing??!!.


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