Book Review – Fearless Fair Isle Knitting

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.

Specific to knitters, you can join our Knitting Patterns Only group to get, well, knitting patterns, ask questions and gain inspiration for what to knit next.

Looking for Yarn online? Check out Lionbrand our preferred source for purchasing yarn online.

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If your family is the sort to do a turkey trot for Thanksgiving, or even just to take family pictures, you’ll want to get started knitting up some Turkey Sack Hats with this pattern from Underground Crafter.

The pattern uses super bulky yarn and is rated easy. It’s knit flat but there are a few skills in here around the shaping of the eyes, which includes changing colors, working bobbles and doing a wicked purl 3 together decrease. Twice.

But that’s all in one row, and the rest of it is pretty simple. The beak is worked separately and sewn on, and the side of the hat is stitched up to make it into a hat.

What’s great about this one is that it comes in 10 sizes, ranging from newborn to adult large, so you really can make one for everyone in the family. And because it uses super bulky yarn you can knit a bunch pretty quickly if that’s a thing you’d like to do.

It’s also fun because you could use this base pattern to make different animals or for different holidays. Make it all in orange and stitch on a jack o’lantern face for Halloween, or make a white one that’s a snowman, for example.

In any style this would also be a fun gag gift for that person in your life who has everything or doesn’t want gifts, or if you do a secret Santa or white elephant gift exchange at work or elsewhere.

And make sure whether you’re making it a turkey or some other character that you include the pom poms at the top! They’re just so cure and a great way to add a bit more color to the project, and they’re easy to make. (See also: ways to make a pompom with yarn.)

You can grab the free pattern at the Underground Crafter website.

[Photo: Underground Crafter]

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