Saturday, 8 March 2014

Not Being Idle!

Phew, I can't believe nearly a week has gone by since my last post!  I haven't made loads of progress on the doily but ended up doing more wrist warmers for friends and also got my knitting out!  Spring is in the air and I don't really knit in warm weather so I thought I should try to move on a bit with this cardigan I've had on the needles for some time already (and which some of you have seen before I'm sure!).

I started joining other ladies at the local wool shop on a Saturday and it's really nice to have a knit and a natter with like-minded people who enjoy talking about wool, and crochet, and colours, and other crafty endeavours.

As always, I have too many projects on the go and my previous Fair Isle cardigan was also a while in the making but that's ok.  I get there eventually!

Flora Jacket designed by Alice Starmore

This looks kinda red and green from
a distance, doesn't it?

But what I love about Fair Isle is
the amazing mix of colours
which you can see better in the photo below.


There's purple and teal and orange
and green and cerise and different mixes
of sandy and pebbly colours.
Wonderful.


 This was the pattern and colours on my previous Fair Isle.
(just in case some of you wondered…)



Hope everyone's having a nice weekend.


Best wishes,
Frivole
Posted by Frivole at 17:07

16 comments:

  1. Orsi8 March 2014 at 18:21

    Fabulous pattern! It looks quite difficult to knit with all these colour changing.
    Is it a tube knitting?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Frivole9 March 2014 at 00:31

      Hi Orsi, no, not difficult in that it's only ever two colours in each row; you just have to change often. It's knitted in the round (like a tube) and the colour changes are made in the steek where the front opening of the cardigan will be. This part will be cut and with it, all the loose ends. This means that in spite of the many, many colour changes, there are no ends to sew in with this type of Fair Isle. Love it.

      Delete
  2. Fox8 March 2014 at 21:39

    Fabulous colours! Gotta love that Alice Statmore!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Frivole9 March 2014 at 00:32

      Oh yes, I've always admired her designs. Not in the shape of her knits but in her choices of colours. Wonderful.

      Delete
  3. Tally Tatty8 March 2014 at 23:48

    Chère Frivole, Quel artisanat!! Quelle merveille!!Bien que je sais tricoter, j'ai du mal à croire que votre tricot est fait main!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jane McLellan9 March 2014 at 07:48

    Wow, looks fabulous! Did you do a steek in the blue version? Sounds very scarey to me.I like doing fair isle knitting, but have never done steeking.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Frivole9 March 2014 at 08:16

      Hi Jane, steeks are fabulous and not scary at all! You should have a go. Yes, the blue cardigan also had a steek down the front where the button band now is. I also use steeks for the armholes. The wonder of them is that you can keep knitting in the round all the way to the top. You never have to go back and forth so everything is in knit stitch and charts are easy to follow. Steeks do work best with original shetland wool which has a "grippy" quality so that when you cut down the middle, it doesn't unravel.

      (gotta be careful the auto-corrector keeps changing steek to steak!)

      Delete
  5. Margarets designer cards9 March 2014 at 09:26

    Beautiful fair isle, going to look lovely when finished.
    Have a lovely weekend, the weather looks set for a lovely sunday
    Margaret

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Frivole9 March 2014 at 11:50

      Oh yes, it is at last, isn't it Margaret! The sun is shining, the birds are singing and I think I need to go outside to do a bit of gardening!

      Delete
  6. Lace-lovin' Librarian ~ Diane9 March 2014 at 12:23

    I have always been fascinated by Fair Isle, and I will knit a Fair Isle sweater some day. I love the colors you've chosen!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Megan Mills9 March 2014 at 17:06

    Both are stunning. If I saw you wearing them I'd stop you in the street to ask for a closer look! Is the cardigan a Starmore design as well? The colours remind me a little of our paua shells...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous9 March 2014 at 17:38

    I love the colours in both these Fair Isle cardigans, but it does look very complicated!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Tally Tatty9 March 2014 at 17:41

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Meryl3 October 2015 at 01:42

    I love your Fair-isle knitting, both designs are really beautiful, is the blue one and Alice Starmore as well? I am new to fair-isle knitting although I have knitted very well for around 60 years. How experience in fair-isle does one need to be to knit one of the 'AS' designs? I think I might like one of her kits for a Christmas present.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Frivole4 October 2015 at 11:09

      Hi, the blue design which you can also see here (http://leblogdefrivole.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/cardigan-finished.html)
      if you want to see the whole thing but the colours are better in the photo above, is by Ann Feitelson. I have one of her books and she has some lovely designs. I don't think you need to be particularly experienced to tackle one of Alice Starmore's designs - what's wonderful about Fair Isle is that although they look really complicated (and they do have lots of colours), you only ever need to tackle two colours in every row. It's just that you have to change often. But that's not a problem as with shetland wool and steeking, you don't need to sew ends in, you just knot, pull and leave to felt. Perfect. I hope you decide to have a go!

      Delete

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