Fair Isle - The look for Fall/Winter 2010

If you have been following the runway last year for this year's Fall & Winter collections, you would have noticed quite a bit of knitted items that remind you of ski attires with pictures. Stranded-knitting is in this year and I plan to do it.

What's more? It's not just stranded-knitting works that will be in, but Fair-Isle knitting! Not sure whether I will tackle fair-isle though.

But why am I saying "stranded-knitting" and "Fair-Isle kniting"?

Those two terms refer to different things, but with the same technique.

"Stranded-Knitting" is the basis of "Fair-Isle Knitting". Stranding in this place means knitting with two or more colours on the same row, whilst at the same time, carrying the unused colour yarn on the back of your knitting (creating what we knitters call "floats").

Fair-Isle knitting refers specifically to the style of stranded-knitting originating from the Fair-Isle Island belonging to the UK. This type of stranded-knitting is distinctive by colour play, whereas the colour in the foreground motifs or the colour in the underlying background changes over a number of rows. Normal stranded-knitting (e.g. Norwegian jumpers) does not change the colours, i.e. maintaining the bitonality throughout the whole work.

That being said, of course, there are exceptions. But at the least I hope that this will help you correctly identify a piece of knitting correctly to be Fair-Isle or "just" stranded-knitting.

For more information, you can read the following blog posts by fellow knitters out there:

HERE is an example of stranded-knitting work that I did and blogged about:


Norræna hættuspil, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.


Ps. Now, don't get stranded-knitting and fair-isle knitting all confused with "intarsia", that's a whole different story.
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Who's Terry? - Of Men and Garments

Who's Terry?, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Start: 14th January 2010
Finish: 21st August 2010
Needles: 3.5 mm and 4 mm Addi Turbo
Yarn: "Saphir" by Bernetta Wolle; 65% new wool, 15% super kid mohair, 20% nylon; Colour #438.02 (beige/natural), dye lot #9006381
Pattern: "Terry's Pullover" by Carol Feller, from Interweave Knits, Holiday Gifts 2009
Modification: Knitting the sleeves in the round. I really cannot fathom why the designer knitted the body in the round and knitted the sleeves flat (she said it's easier to join)...but I think that it's kinda nonsense and seaming down the sleeves totally beats the purpose of this otherwise wonderfully seamless construction....because it's obvious that it can be done seamlessly.

Continue reading Who's Terry? - Of Men and Garments.

Back in the biz: Knitting and Blogging


N97 mini Verhüterli, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Start: 25th July 2010
Finish: 01st August 2010
Needles: 2.5 mm - 80 cm Addi Turbo
Yarns: Wollmeise 100% Merino Superwash in "Veilchen" and "Granatapfel" (using the rest that I have from weaving)
Pattern: Judy Magic CO 48 sts, knit the round for the first round then add the colour on the second round *2 red, 2 purple* for the total of two rounds, then move over one stitch and continue in the same manner until the new colour lines up with the second round, then start going back the original way to make a zigzag pattern

Continue reading Back in the biz: Knitting and Blogging.

Catching up


1001 Nuits au café, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Start: 21st March 2010
Finish: 04th April 2010
Warp: Wollmeise, 100% superwash merino; colourway "Maharani" (148 strands)
Weft: Wollmeise, 100% superwash merino; colourway "Barista"
Loom: Ashford Knitter's Loom, 30 cm, 50/10 heddle
Finished size: 190 cm long / 26 cm wide
Continue reading Catching up.

Eine Nacht auf dem kahlen Berge

Start: 2nd March 2010
Finish: 6th March 2010
Warp: Wollmeise, 100% superwash merino; colourway "Emil" (116 strands)
Weft: Wollmeise, 100% superwash merino; colourway "Granatapfel"
Loom: Ashford Knitter's Loom, 30 cm, 40/10 heddle
Finished size: 212 cm long / 25 cm wide

Time flies...and I left the blog quiet for a while. But there's a reason for the silence this time around. I'll get to that in a minute.

The scarf has been finished for a couple of weeks now and I have been wearing it out many times already.

Continue reading Eine Nacht auf dem kahlen Berge.

Woven


60/365-2010: Veilchenkraut, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Start: 28th February 2010
Finish: 01st March 2010
Warp: Wollmeise, 100% superwash merino; colourway "Kraeuterbeet" (116 strands)
Weft: Wollmeise, 100% superwash merino; colourway "Veilchen"
Loom: Ashford Knitter's Loom, 30 cm, 40/10 heddle
Finished size: 210 cm long / 25 cm wide

Well, seems like the weaving bug has got to me. I seem to be churning out woven scarves left and right within a few days.

Continue reading Woven.

Still around


52/365-2010: Samantha, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Start: 18th May 2009
Finish: 21st February 2010
Needles: 2.5 mm Inox DPNs
Yarn: Wollmeise Twin; 80% superwash merino, 20% nylon; colourway "Tant Groen, Tant Brun och Tant Gredelin", light intensity
Pattern: "Sam" by Cookie A. in "Sock Innovation"
For: A.

Wow, I haven't blogged anything for a while now. Sorry. I just didn't have any FOs to show and I think that I have lost my knitting-mojo along the way, too. Besides, my energy had been focused elsewhere.

But here I am...still around. Haven't fell off the face of the earth yet.

Continue reading Still around.

Norræna hættuspil


Norræna hættuspil, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Start: 28th December 2009
Finish: 13th January 2010
Needles: 3 mm Addi Lace for ribbing and 4 mm Addi Turbo for the rest
Yarn: Schachenmayr Nomotta "Shetland Alpaka"; 50% new wool, 25% baby alpaca, 25% mohair; Colours #9225 (natural, lot #6535), #9211 (light brown, lot #6532), #9293 (dark brown, lot #6533), #9262 (light blue, lot #6537) - 9 skeins of the natural colour, otherwise one skein each
Pattern: "Pullover in Karisma Superwash" from Garnstudio Drops Design
Modifications: Won't be making the turtle-neck, but instead make it a round-neck, since the yarn is too scratchy for bare skin. Knitting the children's size for fit, but lengthening everything using the adult's small size.
Name: "Norræna hættuspil" is Icelandic and should mean "Nordic venture"

Continue reading Norræna hættuspil.


Black Opal, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Start: 25th October 2008
Finish: 19th December 2009
Yarn: Rohrspatz & Wollmeise Sockenwolle, 100% Superwash Merino in Blue Suzanne (dark)
Needles: 3.5 mm - 80 cm Addi Turbos
Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert from Knitty Fall 2004.

Continue reading .

L'Antithèse


L'Antithèse, originally uploaded by elemmaciltur.

Start: 14th December 2009
Finish: 15th December 2009
Needles: 5 mm Addi Turbos
Yarn: Wolle Roedel "Soft-Merino"; 100% Merino Superwash (100 m - 50 g); Colour #393 (Grey), Lot #166; used up 2 balls
Pattern: Winging this one myself. Based on Scrumptious Neck Warmer (Ravelry link) by Kristin Goedert

Continue reading L'Antithèse.

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