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Book Review – Fearless Fair Isle Knitting

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Fearless Fair Isle giveaway

Congratulations to Nancy!

I saw a few people on last week’s giveaway, when I asked for knitting resolutions or skills they wanted to learn in the new year, who said Fair Isle or colorwork knitting, so this seemed like an appropriate followup.

Fearless Fair Isle Knitting by Kathleen Taylor aims to take the scary bits out of colorwork by explaining the basics and providing little collections of patterns that use the same designs in different ways.

The stripes, checks and curlicues section, for instance, includes a hoodie vest (it’s on the cover), a pair of socks and a felted bag, all of which use the same designs.

There are garments for men, women and children as well as plenty of hat, mitts, bags, socks and gloves. I love the Nordic Snowflake dress and the Prairie Earth and Sky women’s cardigan to name just a couple (in all there are 30 patterns, which you can check out most of on Ravelry).

Some of these patterns are sure to be intimidating to new stranded colorwork users, but there are enough small projects, or those that use colorwork on only a portion of the project, that I think a newer colorwork knitter could find some fun stuff to try, and of course those with more experience would find some things they’d like to tackle, too (if you’re a Fair Isle expert, check out the stunning Dragon Ride Shawl at the back of the book).

If you’d like a chance to win this one, leave a comment on this post before the end of the day Sunday, Jan. 1. Can you believe that? Since I asked for craft-related resolutions last week, I’d love to know if you have any other resolutions or goals for the new year. Or if you do One Little Word, I’d love to hear your word. (I think mine is energetic.)

Thanks for visiting, commenting and sharing, and good luck!

Looking for more knitting patterns for knitted Cardigans? Check out these Knitting patterns we found on Etsy.

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Add a Little Lace to Your Knitting Patterns

If you’re new to lace knitting or just aren’t sure how to incorporate the technique into garments, check out these tops and sweaters that use lace as a decorative element.

The easiest lace out there is eyelets, and you can practice them plenty with this eyelet covered sweater from Knitcro Addict. It uses light/DK weight yarn and is worked in four pieces knit flat. It’s intended to be a little cropped and a little oversized, and includes sizes XS to XXL in the pattern.

If you’re in parts of the world where it’s getting colder as you read this, the Nora sweater from Bummbul might be a good choice. This is actually a great one for learning lace because it’s worked in super bulky yarn, which makes it easier to see what you’re doing and makes the lace super graphic. This one just comes in one size, with a 42 inch (106) cm bust, but that could fit a variety of people depending on how much ease you like.

Minimi Knit Design has a cute allover lace cardigan worked in one piece from the bottom up. It’s worked in lace weight mohair held double, which maybe isn’t the best for those new to lace (because it can be hard to rip out) but it sure is pretty. Sizes range to fit from 30 to 66 inches/76 to 168 cm bust measurements.

If you’d rather not have lace all over your sweater, you can knit the Lumi sweater from Originally Lovely, which has a chevron lace pattern on the yoke and is otherwise worked in reverse stockinette stitch. (It’s worked inside out so you don’t have to purl every stitch.) The pattern has 9 sizes from XS to 5XL and uses worsted weight yarn.

Or try the super romantic sookie blouse from Trust the mojo (available on Ravelry). This sweet top is started working flat from the bottom up and has a V-neck and I-cord edgings. The sleeves are worked separately in the round, and the pieces are all joined together to work in one piece to finish off the top. It comes in eight sizes and is available in English and French.

You can also pair lacy sleeves with an otherwise plain top, like on the Starflower Wrap from Annelise Driscoll Gingrow. This intermediate pattern makes a wrap sweater with generous lacy sleeves and a double wrap belt. The pattern has nine sizes, from XS to 5XL, and is available for free from Hobbi.