Fair Isle
Fair Isle is a colorwork technique where two yarn strands are carried across the whole round, with short floats on the wrong side between color changes.
Explanation
Fair Isle, named after the Shetland island, is a form of stranded colorwork that typically uses two colors per round, letting the unused strand float loosely across the wrong side between color changes. The floats need to be loose enough to avoid puckering the fabric, but not so loose that they catch on fingers or buttons. Fair Isle is traditionally knitted in the round so you always see the right side of the pattern, which makes it easier to track color changes as you go.
Also known as: Stranded knitting
Two colors at a time
Traditional Fair Isle generally uses only two colors per round, even though a whole garment may draw on five colors or more. The unused strand is carried loosely across the back until needed again, and because the patterns keep color changes close together, the floats rarely run long.
The technique takes its name from Fair Isle in Scotland, but related traditions exist across the Nordic countries — Norwegian Selbu knitting follows the same principles.
Holding two colors
The commonest mistake is pulling the float tight. Spread the stitches out along the right needle before switching colors, so the strand behind has enough length that the fabric does not draw in.
Many knitters hold one color in each hand — one Continental, one English. The strands then never tangle, and the colors stay consistently assigned to foreground and background.
Common mistakes
- Pulling the floats tight, which gives a puckered, uneven fabric.
- Switching which color is held on top partway through, which changes the look of the pattern.
Keywords
- Fair Isle
- stranded colorwork
- colorwork
Frequently asked questions
Why is my colourwork puckering?
The floats are too tight. Spread the stitches out on the needle before every color change so the strand behind has enough length.
How long can a float be?
Five stitches as a rule of thumb. Beyond that, catch the float by crossing it with the working yarn.