You guys, fair isle is THE BEST. I had so much fun working on this hat. Even though I had to do it twice (more about color issues and change of heart here). Picking colors is a lot more complicated than one would expect, not only do they need to go together but there is also contrast to consider, otherwise your pattern won't look much like a pattern at all! I ended up using a lot of blue, a touch of yellow to make it pop and some grey so it wouldn't pop too much. It's all about balance I guess.
Fair isle can be quite impressive but knitting it isn't that complicated. You never work with more than two colors at once and except for a few tangles here and there it's just about following the pattern. Tension can be an issue, but that's what blocking is for right?
Honestly, there is only one thing I do not like about fair isle, and that is the gazillion ends one has to weave in at the end. Some more honesty? I still haven't woven them in… Won't stop me from wearing it though!
Yarn now! As you might know, fair isle comes from Scotland, it's actually the name of a small island near Shetland. So of course I had to use some scottish yarn! I went with Jamieson & Smith 100% Shetland wool. It's quite a rustic yarn, you can almost picture the sheep enjoying the Shetland lands and weathers! It comes in a lot of colors all very very gorgeous! It's quite nice to knit with, soft enough that your hands won't hurt, nicely elastic (always nice when working in fair isle!), it's quite shiny and blocks beautifully. Basically, I love it!!
So, what next you ask? Well I have a few projects in mind :)
Plus a few dozen more on my Ravelry fave ;)
I've said it before and I'm going to say it again. I think the colours together are beautiful. It's one gorgeous hat.
ReplyDeleteThose colours really are beautiful - I love the pop of the yellow against the blue, just lovely. I'm glad I'm not the only one who can't wait to weave in ends before wearing!
ReplyDeleteI love this hat such beautiful colour choices. When it comes to all the ends rather than snipping them off when you don't need them why don't you just twist them up your work as you go so you don't have to keep re-joining them in. :) It means less sewing in. Looks superb though. X
ReplyDeleteYour hat looks great. I love the blue on blue with a pop of yellow. Choosing colors for stranded knitting can be quite difficult, I agree. I've restarted numerous stranded projects because colors weren't working out right once the knitting started. And I love all the projects you are eyeballing! Especially the mitts + hat and the cardigan!
ReplyDeletenice work. Love your colors.
ReplyDeleteIt's beautiful!! Looks so complicated, I'm dying to try colorwork! I love that you knitted it with real scottish yarn too :)
ReplyDeleteit's so pretty! love the combination of colors.
ReplyDeleteThese colours are just wonderful - you made great choices here! And the pattern is very pretty too. A real success.
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