#fair isle

FAIR ISLE KNITTING

by David Isle

Since the early 19^th century, elegant menswear has based itself around solid colors. Still today, more than 200 years after Beau Brummell’s proclamation that male clothing should be simple and austere, many men wear patterns only with reluctance, and even then only following the lead of some style icon. The Prince of Wales (later, briefly, Edward VIII) was one such style icon.

The Prince of Wales was, in the words of my friend voxsartoria, a man who loved pattern. Perhaps more than any other individual, he launched the complex style of dressing that characterized the 20s and 30s, often considered the Golden Age of menswear. Among his finds was the Fair Isle knit.

Fair Isle is a knitting technique that creates multicolor geometric patterns, knitted in rows. Traditionally, only two colors would be used in each row. The yarn in the color that’s not used for any given stitch is carried through on the reverse side, so that fair isle has effectively two layers, making it very warm. This was particularly well adapted to the Shetland islands in Scotland, including Fair Isle, the tiny island from which the technique takes its name.

Fair Isle sweaters were not well known outside of the immediate surrounds of Fair Isle itself until 1921, when the Prince of Wales, then already an international style icon, began wearing sweaters and vests in the pattern for sporting and other casual events, and even for a famous portrait painted by John St. Helier Lander. Who knows whether this was the young Prince’s early attempt to curry favor with the Scottish on the heels of the British government sending tanks into Glasgow to quell a 1919 socialist uprising. Given the Prince’s later abdication of all governing responsibility, I am inclined to guess that the fashion statement was more important to him than the political one.

In any case, in testament to the fact that “groupthink” is not an invention of the modern Internet clothing forum culture, Fair Isle sweaters quickly became ubiquitous in England. Most Oxford and Cambridge undergrads owned one. Soon all manner of clothing items were being knitted in Fair Isle patterns.

The initial hysteria has now subsided. But Fair Isle patterns remain popular for holiday knitwear in particular, often in the same patterns that were used before their discovery by the Prince of Wales, a bit of Scottish history in a Christmas party full of beglittered jukebox reindeer.

Happy Finnish Independence Day!

Patronus Mittens pattern by Amanda Sund.

HP2 pattern by knittinglotta.

Harry Potter Inspired Cowl pattern by Suzy Anderson.

HP beanie pattern by knittinglotta.

Expecto Patronum Mittens by Dianna Walla.

Pattern available for purchase: Knitting Magic: The Official Harry Potter Knitting Pattern Book

fair isle sweater detail

Band of Outsiders, Autumn/Winter 2012

I made these a few weeks ago. They are “name socks” - a Finnish designer Niina Laitinen made a pattern for every alphabet, so you can “write” your name or any other word on your socks. These spell my name, Minna. 

Here are the alphabets. White (purple on my socks) is the background colour, grey makes the pattern.

♦ mrmrknits on instagram ♦

A sneak peek of what I’m currently working on! I’m not very good at multi-coloured knitting, but I’m trying.

[koinobori cowlbygingerhaole on etsy ]

This cowl was directly inspired by the Waves Mittens by tincanknits, a pattern which can be had for a mere $5 USD and which I hope I did any justice at all. I kind of winged the whole thing. I hope to do a lot more knitting with Japanese patterns.

Guess what! You can get the pattern for this gorgeous Fair Isle hat for just $3! It’s easier than it looks, like a LOT easier. Happy knitting!

[Leeward Hat PDF Patternbygingerhaole]

A cowl and a scarf I’ve had hanging around finished for a long time, finally both in my shop!

1. [home again cowl]
   
2. [sunlight waves scarf]

[prism hatbygingerhaole on etsy ]

I treated myself to this gorgeous Taiyo Sport yarn when I went to this yarn and all-year Christmas store in Kailua, but it took me two months to figure out what to do with it. I knit the entire friggin’ ball into a linen stitch scarf and frogged it because it just wasn’t right. This is great, I’m super happy with how it looks!

My friend Kori is having her first baby soon, and I wanted to knit her her first Christmas stocking. She said Shiloh’s room has a fox theme, and since my family name is Fox, I had a bunch of Fair Isle patterns on deck. The back is the same as the front.

This thing turned out WAY bigger than I expected, it’s like 3 feet long, but I did say I would make it big enough to put her actual baby inside for photos. I lined the inside with red cotton to avoid having to weave in the shitload of ends inside!

knatalieknits:

Here is how I deal with color work’s skipped stitches! I use this technique for everything, not just polka dots. It can be done on a flat project, but the purling version takes some time to master!

Check out my Ravelry for patterns you can use this with! (also on Etsy)

This is mf’n brilliant!

[dacha hatbygingerhaole on etsy ]

Finished this a little while ago, I just kept forgetting to post it. I fell in love with Malabrigo Arroyo (the blue-green), but have had a hard time pairing it with other yarn. It’s very particular, but gorgeous.