Knit Nerd - Beginning Fair Isle

I am a new-ish knitter (I've been knitting for about 2 years now) and I'm wanting to venture into Fair Isle knitting, but I am intimidated by how complex it looks. Do you have any suggestions for beginner patterns/projects/tips that you've found to be helpful in your Fair Isle knitting journey?

Thanks!
Beginning Fair Isle

Fair Isle knitting can actually be as simple or as complex as you want it to be! Below are some tips that I think would be helpful for getting started and some resource recommendations.

Keep It Simple

Choose a pattern/project with only 2 colours. Keep it simple while you are learning. The important thing with any technique is to get lots of experience in. The more you do, the easier it will become. And if you add in many different colours and try to do too much at once, you might get discouraged or have trouble being consistent.

Yarn Selection

Yarn selection is important for fair isle colourwork. I do not recommend using smooth superwash yarns. You want a yarn that is slightly more rustic and has a bit of a halo for colourwork because it helps to fill in the spaces between the colour changes and help hide any issues with tension. A non-superwash yarn will usually give you this effect. Woolen spun yarns actually work best for colourwork because of they way they bloom and fill in any gaps. There is an earlier Knit Nerd post all about the difference between worsted and woolen spun yarns!

Even Tension

Keeping an even and not too tight tension is the most important factor when knitting fair isle colourwork and most knitters new to colourwork struggle with it. Too tight tension can result in puckering and lumps and bumps and too loose tension can result in gaps and your floats showing through. When switching colours, keep a close eye on your floats. Take a quick look at the back of the work and make sure the float created by carrying the new colour behind the stitches isn’t pulling too tightly across the back of the work or sagging loosely.

Gauge

Many people find that when they work colourwork their gauge is a lot tighter than with normal stockinette. This is because the floats are just straight pieces of yarn that do not have the same elasticity of a row of knit stitches. Make sure you are swatching for your project in the colourwork pattern to ensure your gauge is correct. If your project has both colourwork and regular stockinette, you may need to go up a needle size for the colorwork. The best way to ensure your gauge is consistent throughout your project is to make two separate swatches. Of course, there are also some people who find that their colourwork is too loose and this is usually because they are leaving their floats extra loose. Every knitter is different so swatch swatch swatch!

Colour Dominance

Maintaining colour dominance is super important for getting the best results out of your fair isle project. Colour dominance refers to the way your floats are carried in the back of the work so that one colour always “pops” or stands out in the pattern and the other colour recedes to the back. There are a few different methods of carrying floats and not all allow you to maintain consistent colour dominance. If you don’t stay consistent the pattern can look messy and a bit “lumpy” to the eye even if it isn’t.

In some patterns (usually geometric) where neither colour is used more than the other (such as a checkerboard), it doesn’t matter which colour is which but when the pattern has a distinct motif that is set on a background you will want to make a conscious decision about which is dominant. Usually, the foreground is the dominant colour and the background is the non dominant colour. This allows the pattern to stand out or “pop” from the background colour. However, you may prefer the look when the colours are swapped so I’m going to be a broken record here and recommend that you swatch to figure out which you like better.

To maintain consistent colour dominance, you need to make sure the colour you have chosen as your dominant colour is always carried in front of the non dominant colour. If you are knitting with one colour held in each hand you usually want your Dominant colour held in your left hand and your non dominant colour held in your right hand. This way the non dominant colour’s floats will always be carried behind the dominant colour. I recommend swatching though since people who usually hold their yarn in their left hand to knit (continental/picking) might find that the colour they hold in their left hand appears dominant instead. 

Blocking/Washing

In the photos above, white was the dominant colour in the swatch on the left and blue was the dominant colour in the swatch on the right. You can see in the first photo how the motif stands out better in the swatch on right. This photo also illustrates how your gauge can be different depending on which colour is dominant. The swatch on the left is actually quite a bit bigger even though they both have the exact same number of rows and stitches. This is an excellent example of why you should swatch!

Blocking/Washing

Washing your work makes a huge difference in the way colourwork looks. It might look messy and uneven when you are finished knitting but trust me, it will even out once its washed. I say washing instead of blocking since you don’t need to “block it”. It doesn’t need to be stretched or pinned out. Just soak it with some wool wash for at least 30 minutes, gently squeeze or spin out the water and then lay it flat, smoothing out the surface with your hands. You can’t judge your project until it has been washed!

Resources

Pam offers a fantastic Intro to Colourwork class here at the Little Red Mitten that is being held in April. But if you are looking to get started with a pattern right away, I recommend choosing something like a cowl where gauge isn't super important. Socks can be very difficult to knit with colourwork since the tightness of the floats can make them almost impossible to get on. I also recommend starting with a simple repeating geometric motif that won't be hard to follow.

Sincerely,

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Knit Nerd