Tag: stranded

Fair Isle Wrist Warmer Knitting

Some knitter I was admiring mentioned that she liked to knit wrist warmers to match her sweaters. She used some of the leftover yarn so the warmers would match. I thought this was a wonderful idea! That is all it took for me to search for wrist warmer patterns.

The design is just a tube to fit the lower arm, so how difficult can it be? I wanted to knit colorwork, because I enjoy it. This type of accessory would be perfect for when I wear my Cobblestone cardigan. The sleeves are very wide which allows cool air to go right up my arm.

With quite a few projects unfinished at the present time, I really hate to begin something new, but Fair Isle pulls at me. There is great fun in combining colors and patterns to see how they turn out.

I began the wrist warmers by following a free pattern (Fair Isle Cuffs). It is written to knit flat (hmmmm?) but I wanted to knit around. My plan was to follow the designer’s chart to make things easy. Of course, things changed, as they usually do.

Yarn Colors Chosen

I decided to use many colors in this pattern – 12 to be exact! Most of the yarn is from Jamieson & Smith, but two skeins are Rauma wool and one is Tukuwool (the dark rust color). My only real plan was to mirror the colors on each end when knitting the corrugated rib.

Knitting Fair Isle wrist warmers

I began with a cast on of 64 and used a size 2 US needle. I love my 9-inch circular needles and use them as often as I can. No DPNs are needed! Yay…! About halfway in, I reduced the stitches to 60 by doing a couple of k2tog’s on two rows. I wanted a 60 count because it is divisible by many numbers.

The pattern says to discount the first and last stitch if knitting in the round. For some reason pattern chart ended up not matching evenly for me, so I gave up following the chart provided and went rogue…! I have a lot of good books that contain charts and began using those.

Knitting Fair Isle wrist warmers

With a final count of 60 stitches, I could knit any chart that contains a repeat number that divides evenly into 60, and there are a lot of them.

BOR and All Those Ends

Here is a look at the join, or beginning of round stitches. Once the massive amount of ends are woven in, this will look better. I’ll close any gaps. Washing and blocking will even it all out better too.

Anyone who does a lot of colorwork knitting must learn to love (or at least like) weaving in ends.

  • Knitting Fair Isle wrist warmers
  • Knitting Fair Isle wrist warmers
  • Weaving in ends on Fair Isle wrist warmers

Making Wrist Warmer Number Two

My plans for knitting the second wrist warmer include using the same twelve yarn colors and matching the ribbing. Other than that, all I can say for sure is that the patterning will be different – at least in places.

Wrist-warmers are now done and washed. The pattern at the wider end (arm end) begins the same but then takes it’s own course. I enjoyed trying out different color combos and love that no DPNs are required.

fair isle wrist warmers
Fair Isle wrist warmers

Please Read On

I have a lot more to say about my knitting, so please keep reading!

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Knitting Three Sweaters

At the beginning of 2021 I decided I would make this a sweater knitting year. Right now I have three sweaters on the needles, after having a few “fail” moments to narrow down the patterns.

All three sweaters are pullovers and two have colorwork yokes.

Sweater #1: The Hand-spun Yarn Sweater

Because I really wanted to knit a colorwork yoke with wool, I chose the Meadow Moon pullover pattern by Jennifer Steingass. It is knit top-down with stranded colorwork at the yoke and cuffs.

I’m using dark blue Rauma Finull yarn as the main color along with a hand-spun yarn, purchased from Wound Up Fiber Arts, for the colorwork. The hand-spun yarn is variegated in brown, tan, blue and maroon colors.

I have finished the yoke and separated for the sleeves with lots of stockinette to come. *Update: As of November, I have finished the other two sweaters (see photos below) but this one I am still slogging along with the round and round knitting. It’s great for long car rides or tv watching, but will take me a while to finish.

knitting Meadow moon fair isle sweater

Sweater #2: The Double Yarn Sweater

I’ve had a huge skein of light green yarn sitting around driving me nuts because I didn’t know what to do with it. The Miss Babs yarn was an impulse buy, or maybe it was on sale, who can remember? But it’s a pretty light green and I wanted to combine it with mohair.

After knitting a swatch combining it with dark green mohair, I moved on to try a very light green mohair and loved it. So, although I wanted to knit something to use up the Miss Babs yarn, I now have a bunch of dark green mohair sitting around that needs to be combined with something…! Can’t seem to overcome the yarn stash blues.

I chose the free pattern called Calliope by Espace Tricot. The pattern is simple, with raglan shaping and it’s a top-down sweater.

*UPDATE: Finished after three months and the sweater is quite large. I think it’s the washable yarn. The fabric is very soft and comfy, but the body is very wide and I have to roll up the sleeves!

  • free Calliope sweater pattern

Sweater #3: Heading Into New Territory

Last but certainly not least, I am knitting an Icelandic sweater using Lettlopi wool. I saw someone on Instagram knitting with this yarn and thought it looked interesting. I found it for sale in Iceland and bought the skeins needed to knit Farfuglar from the Lopi 40 book. The name means “Migrating Birds”. My colors are opposite from the pattern shown, but using the same colors – air blue and white.

I’ve never used Lettlopi yarn, but I have fallen in love. This pattern book is awesome, but not really for the inexperienced sweater knitter. Instructions are basic. I think I will manage, but I’ve already learned a new rib stitch and decrease called KRPR, which is a right-slanting decrease. I had to look that one up.

This is a bottom up sweater, which is not my favorite, but I look forward to getting to the pretty yoke pattern.

UPDATE: Finished Farfuglar (link to my Ravelry page with notes) the end of October – a one month knit. This was my favorite project of the three sweaters so I worked on it the most! All I would change is the body ribbing at the bottom which tends to curl up. Maybe make it longer, or knit a bit differently. It fits me perfectly!

Farfuglar sweater in Lettlopi yarn
Yoke close up bird pattern Farfuglar sweater
Farfuglar sweater front showing sleeves and yoke

Last Words

These three sweater patterns are easy enough that I can switch off between them as I feel like. The Meadow Moon yoke is done for now so I’ll be knitting straight stockinette for a while until I get to the sleeve cuffs where new colorwork is needed.

Calliope knitting is also simple with a long rib being knit at the bottom of the sleeve. I will have one more sleeve to go.

Farfuglar (which means Migrating Birds) has a lot of stockinette to accomplish before I begin the other sleeve and then get to the fun yoke pattern.

I’ve never knit more than one sweater at a time, and I’m not a super experienced sweater knitter, but this is fun. I will not get bored and I like having the choice when it comes time to knit.

Now, which one will I finish first? Answer – Farfuglar! Can’t wait to knit more projects with Lettlopi wool.

knitting three sweaters
Three Sweaters – October 2021

Fair Isle Warm Ears Wool Hat Knitting

This is my third time knitting the Triple Patterned Watchcap hat pattern from the “Hat’s On” book (link to book below). This Fair Isle hat has a brim which is knit in such a way that it will be doubled and therefore keeps the ears nice and warm.

me wearing the watchcap hat
My new hat

The pattern begins with a Latvian Braid which is called a Twined Herringbone Edge in the pattern. For some reason I always have to review notes on how to create the braid and usually I begin doing it incorrectly! But once I realize my mistake, I can do the braid without a problem.

The braid will be at the top part of the cuff once it’s flipped up. This pattern is in chart form only, and you have to own the book to get the pattern. Hat’s On! is available at Amazon here. (This is an affiliate link and I could earn money if you follow the link and buy the book.) It contains patterns from simple / beginner to difficult / experienced and I’ve had my book for years trying to work up to knitting that pretty hat on the front!

Knitting the Cuff or Hat Band – Colorwork Pattern #1

I like to place markers to help me keep the pattern straight. On the cuff that means every ten stitches.

hat, knitting, triple-patterned watchcap, hats on book,
Using markers for pattern

Once the first pattern of the triple-patterned hat is complete the remainder of the knitting is done with the cuff turned inside out. My needles are very crowded while knitting the XL size.

In the photo below, I have flipped the finished brim inside out and begun knitting in the opposite direction for the top of the hat. The remainder of the hat will be knit this way, so the cuff looks inside out. It will turn up when the hat is completed.
hat knitting, triple-patterned watchcap, colorwork, fair isle,
Brim is finished, turned to begin hat top

Knitting Pattern #2 of the Triple Pattern Design

I am following this pattern exactly and the second colorwork pattern is a bunch of circles. It’s for fun only because when the hat is complete the cuff will be turned up to cover this section of knitting. But, Fair Isle is much more fun to knit than simple stockinette. This section could actually contain anything, or nothing at all. When I knit this hat in green and gold, I put a heart pattern in this second section.

I will say that this knit made my hands ache. I did knit at long periods of time, but the wool is quite stiff to work with. The last two hats I made like this were knit with Brooklyn Tweed’s Arbor yarn, which I would have used again, but had no more good colors left. This hat will have a different look because of the yarn, but that’s okay because I also love this type of wool.

Colorwork pattern #2 will be covered by the cuff when the hat is finished.

Pattern #3 Completes the Crown of the Hat

As I began pattern number three, I was running low on the brown yarn. I was sure the red would be sufficient, but the brown ball was pretty small. I had used the Teak yarn to knit a pair of boot cuffs for my daughter, so I didn’t begin this knit with a full skein. I do have another brown yarn – BT’s Meteorite – which I am keeping close by, just in case.

It turned out that I had just barely enough brown yarn to finish up the crown – see my image below, far right…! One little strand was leftover. It’s what knitter’s call playing “yarn chicken”.

  • balls of wool yarn
    Harrisville Highland Wool, Teak and Brooklyn Tweed Shelter, Amaranth
  • Triple Patterned Watchcap knit in brown and red wool crown of hat
    Crown
  • Yarn Chicken!
  • Triple Patterned Watchcap knit in brown and red wool

The Wool Yarn

In keeping with my plan to use up the yarn I already have, I found two worsted weight, pure wool yarns that I like together. The yarn I am using for this hat project is Brooklyn Tweed’s “Shelter” in colorway Amaranth (shades of red) and Harrisville Highland Wool in colorway Teak (brown). Wool is wonderful for colorwork and will help to make this hat extra warm on cold days.

The Size and Needles Used

I am using a size 6 needle (16 inch circular and DPN’s) and knitting the size XL hat. Both hats I knit previously came out with head circumference measurements exactly matching the pattern. Because this hat is done in stranded knitting around the brim, it won’t have a lot of stretch. The XL should measure 22 inches when finished and that should fit my head nicely. Yes, it does!

The finished hat, after washing and drying, measures approximately 22 inches around. There isn’t much stretch to this pattern and it fits snug, but not tight to my head. I rinsed it twice in wool wash as there was a lot of color coming out. Yarn tends to be pretty dirty by the time a project is knit, so washing is essential.

  • me wearing the watchcap hat
  • Extra large watchcap size Fair Isle hat
  • washing the watchcap

I Now Have Three Triple-Patterned Watchcaps in Three Sizes

Two hats, the size Large and Small, were knit using Brooklyn Tweed’s “Arbor” which is a very nice yarn. I enjoyed knitting with it more than the wool, but I love the outcome of this wool hat.

  • Triple Patterned Watchcap hats in three colors
    Knit in sizes, XL (red), L (green) and S (pink)
  • Triple Patterned Watchcap in three sizes and various colors
  • Triple Patterned Watchcap three hats same pattern
knitting divider

Latest Blog Posts

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Fair Isle With Multiple Colors, How to Choose Yarn

Tips for deciding on yarn colors when knitting a project that calls for multiple strands of color.

One of my favorite types of knitting is stranded knitting using two or more colors. Fair Isle is the best, where only two colors are used at a time on any one row. When more than two are used in a row, it is not technically Fair Isle. It’s more difficult to manage three strands of yarn also. I avoid that, but using two colors, one in each hand, is quite fun.

I’ve seen a lot of knitters complain that they are not good at choosing colors for this type of knitting. When five or more colors are needed in a project, like the hat below, combining the perfect colors can be daunting. It is tough to envision them blending throughout the work. But, there are ways to choose colors that will work.

Katie's Kep hand knit hat in stranded colorwork using Rauma Finull yarn
Katie’s Kep knit in darker colors

First I Choose a Background, or Main Color Yarn

I enjoy picking out the colors for a colorwork project myself. By day, I do design work for my job and create graphic designs which have to do a lot with color matching. Maybe this is why I enjoy choosing my own yarn colors for projects.

My tip is to find the base, or background color first. I could change it later, but finding the base color gives me something to work from. Usually it will be something neutral which goes with a lot of colors, such as white, tan, gray, or black. Basically any color that you will NOT be using in the design and makes a good contrast for the remaining yarn.

Decide on a Bright or Muted Combination

Before knitting, get a good idea of how the end product should appear. Do you want it to match a coat or sweater you own? Will it be brightly colored, or have muted colors to match everything? Is the design something that should pop, or blend? And most important is to choose colors you will love to wear.

For the first Katie’s Kep hat I knit I decided on dark blue as the background color. From there I decided that I wanted brighter colors which would stand out a bit. Even though I messed up on the pattern (a little) overall I am happy with the colors.

When I knit my second Katie’s Kep, I chose tan as my base color and I wanted a more muted overall design with earthy tones. The colors I chose were not bright, but were meant to blend nicely. See both hats in the slide show below.

  • Stranded fairisle colorwork hat
    Cute free pattern, Katie’s Kep, done in Rauma Finull yarn
  • Katie's Kep Fair Isle hat
    Katie’s Kep Fair Isle hat begins with a corrugated rib around the brim.
  • Katie's keep crown star
    Crown star
  • Katies keep number two
    Tan version of Kep

Choose Which Design Elements Should Stand Out

In the Keps I knit, the important design elements were the floral sections. After deciding on tan for the base, next I thought about flower color. The orange was perfect. Once the larger parts of the pattern were chosen, I needed colors for the smaller rows which separate the floral images.

For the tan Kep, I chose colors that are not “true” and have somewhat of a “gray” tone to them. For instance, in place of a real blue I would choose a gray-blue and in place of orange I would choose a rust orange. When adding row that will contrast a bit more, I chose something totally different like dark purple. Fortunately a lot of nice wool yarn, like Rauma, J&S, and Shetland is dyed in these neutral colors to make it easier to combine them.

Then there is always the copy option. The designers themselves are usually quite good at choosing colors. Here is where it is okay to copy someone online…!! Knitwear designers will usually list their yarn and colors used which takes all the guesswork out. For instance, when I knit Katie’s Kep, there were four different yarn color combinations included in the FREE pattern. I did not use them, because I like to come up with my own. But for anyone needing that help, it was right there to use.

Knitting Books That Help With Colorwork

If you like the idea of DIY, begin learning by simply studying Fair Isle colorwork knits you find online. Or buy books that have Fair Isle patterns and color selection ideas. I have Alice Starmore’s Book of Fair Isle Knitting (affiliate link to Amazon) and wow, is it ever full of inspiration! Mostly it’s over my head at this point, but I love to skim through and see the beautiful colorwork designs. It’s a fabulous book for any knitter’s library.

I also have A Shetlander’s Fair Isle Graph Book and began knitting a hat using the “green diamond” design shown on this page. It turned out that my yarn stash included colors that closely matched the colors in the book!

colorwork green diamond hat
Same colors!

And Then There’s Black and White

Just as easy, is the option to buy a kit to knit a stranded colorwork project. The yarn colors are pre-selected for you and you pay for everything at once and are ready to knit. A lot of times yarn stores will create kits for popular patterns.

Last but not least. Have you ever heard to turn your yarn image into black and white to check the contrasts? If you are wondering how that works, check out this blog post that explains it.

The Katie’s Kep is meant to use five colors, but that is up to the knitter really. Colorwork patterns are perfect for using up scrap bits of wool.

Get the Katie’s Kep free hat pattern here. Join the multitude of knitters who have already knit this wonderful pattern.

Yarn Color Combination Inspiration

Find some great ideas to inspire your newfound confidence in combining yarn colors at the places listed below.

Knitwear Designers Who Create Stranded / Fair Isle Patterns

Are you a Fair Isle designer? Let me know and I’ll add your link here.

A Few of My Previous Colorwork Projects

Clicking the title beneath the photo will take you to the project blog post page. I don’t have a link for the light blue hat, but it’s the Fana Cap pattern which is in the “Hat’s On!” book.