Return of the Holographic Sweater
Exit, Front Left
Well, I think my next major finished item is going to be my mother's sweater. It's giving me a case of the "not enough yarn heebeegeebees" with regards to the raspberry color, but I think that is just because it was a kit and I didn't get to buy myself my usual extra skein security blanket. This is what happens, folks, when you don't learn about the importance of gauge early in your knitting career -- your knitted garments come out too big and you end up eternally concerned that you won't have enough yarn to finish a project.
A Little Fair Isle Border
The little white yarn thread is a life line to help me pick up stitches. The button band is a double thickness with the Fair Isle pattern on one side and stockinette to cover up the stranding on the other. After my ordeal with the Fair Isle rows, I didn't have the energy to pick up stitches and deal with the back of the band and the Japanese Three Needle Bindoff.
Needless to say, I won't be ordering from Virtual Yarns any time soon. At least not until I do a little practicing. If anyone out there knows of a good book or web reference with good pictures of knitting Fair Isle with both strands in your left hand (Continental) please let me know.
Lovely, lovely, lovely. I love this sweater. I know I've seen an explanation of the knitting method you're talking about...I'll try to find it. I still use the picking-and-dropping method myself, but I always want to do it the other way (two yarns in left hand). Meg Swansen talks about this method in her article about speed knitting in the latest Vogue, by the way.
Hello! I taught myself the two-handed method of fair isle knitting last year -- throwing one colour with the right hand and scooping the other with the left. It took a bit of practice, but I found it pretty comfortable once I got going. Philosopher's Wool has a video that I found helpful. They also have a book, which I have not checked out. I love Cul de Sac, by the way -- beautiful work!
First, I want to tell you how much I loved your updates on the culdesac vest. You've persuaded me to make one for myself.
I haven't been doing fair isle very long, but I put both colors on my left index finger and I haven't had any problems gauge-wise doing it that way.
Boy,I wish you could drop by for a visit [except not now as Oliver and I have the chicken pox :-[ ].I can do fair-isle with a strand in each hand,but find it a pain.I usually do it with both in my left hand.It would be easier to show than describe - I have the top strand over my first finger,the second,lower strand over my second finger.
The rest of the yarn follows the route normally taken by a solitary strand.
You have to fiddle about until you feel comfortable.May I suggest ... a swatch !
Lisa -- I saw that article in VK... I liked her idea of just not thinking about it too hard and doing it. When I get the chance, I am just going to play around with a swatch and see what I can get to work.
Jen -- I actually took a class in Fair Isle last winter and learned two handed. That's why its bugging me so much that I couldn't remember how to do it. Probably I just need to sit down and teach myself like you did. I'll probably remember things better if I do it that way.
Betsy -- good luck with your culdesac -- if you need any help, let me know. I tried carying both yarn strands on my index finger but had some problems with the two getting twisted. How do you deal with that?
Emmma -- Mmmm... swatching. Good idea. Actually, it's one that had even crossed my mind. Last night I just wanted to get that band done and didn't have the patience to start a swatch. It's not fair that you are so far away. I'd love to sit in your living room and see you do it. I'm not even bothered by the chicken pox since I had those as a kid!
Whatever method you choose to hold the yarns do try to find something where a)you don't twist the yarns each time you knit a stitch or you'll go insane and b)you are always holding the same yarn above and below the other. This makes a huge difference in how color patterns look and I can tell instantly if someone has switched the yarns in their knitting.
Here's a better explanation of what I mean - http://www.users.cts.com/crash/j/jgibson/knitting/2color.htm
Ann Feitelson's The Art of Fair Isle Knitting on page 55 shows knitting with both yarns on the left index finger. She says she has tried it that way and it is "workable but not especially swift."
Then she talks about holding both strands of yarn in the left hand, one over the index finger and one over the middle finger (a mirror image of the Shetland method) and says it is Meg Swansen's method of knitting two colors. There's also an illustration of this method. She says this method "offers appealing advantages for Fair Isle knitting."
I don't know if you're going to find this book easily but it is a treasure.
Hello Theresa,
I'm trying to explain "my" way of holding both colours with my left index finger. As a German I only know the continental way of knitting ;-)
Foreground colour goes between index and second finger to the back and then counterclockwise around the index finger. Background colour goes counterclockwise round the index finger and then between index and second finger from back to front. Both strands cross themselves at the back of the index finger to keep tension. Is this explanation understandable. Sorry if my knitting english isn't that good.
I enjoy following your blog, and I enjoy the progress of your projects. You mentioned "Japanese three needle bind off". This is the first time I've heard that term. Is this method any different than the usual three needle bind-off? If so, can you point me to a site where I can see how it's done? Thanks.
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