Fair Isle Part 2--Finished!

I knit a size 43 chest on size 3 needles.


At the beginning of this project many moons ago, I cast on provisionally using the crochet cast-on (thank you, Lucy Neatby tutorial). So my last task was picking out the provisional cast on and knitting the corrugated ribbing from the bottom of the vest down. I really like this idea because if the vest tends to shrink a bit in length, as garments sometimes do over time, I can easily lengthen it at the ribbing.





Corrugated ribbing is slow-going for me. I hold the main color in my left and pick it up, and then purl with my right hand in the secondary color. I could only do about 5 rows before getting rather tired. More on that later.

I'm sure my husband's engineering students are oogling his handknits as we speak. Right.

I changed the colors in the corrugated ribbing for the neck and arms to a darker palette of Heather and Natural Black

The ribbing at the bottom is Natural Black, Moorit, Ghillie Green, and Heather. I like the way the darker colors frame the vest, although the original color choices are quite nice also.

The kit from Schoolhouse Press was quite generous. I did buy two extra skeins of Oatmeal but only because I had delved into that color for another project. In fact, I think I have enough left to eek out another vest. Sigh. But not right now.

Fair Isle Part 1

Once I got to the armholes the knitting did go a lot faster as the circumference became smaller with every round and the knitting fell into more of a rhythm. I chose machine stitching on the steeks since there were 3 steeks (2 arms and 1 v-neck). That seemed like too much crochet. I prefer red wool to mark the path. Tradition rules!

Although I cut my first steeks in Denmark in 1974, it still feels like magic when the shears do their magic. I cut steeks on my very first knitting project, an Faeroese drop shoulder sweater in cream with green color pattern throughout. Youth is fearless.

The amount of ends to darn in was a bit daunting. Yes, I know they can be woven in as you go but there was enough going on at the time. One more thing might have pushed me over the edge.

The inside of a Fair Isle sweater is beautiful also; that is, once the ends are woven in.

Signs of Spring

Robins are back! Yea for Turdis migratorius! I also heard the call of the Redwing Blackbird this morning on my walk. These are sure signs that spring is not too far away, even in the unpredictable Midwestern plains.

See how Bob's Fair Isle Vest is coming along? I have one more OXO and two peeries at the top. One of those peeries is NOT done in the round. I'm a little nervous about that. I'll have to practice my knitting back backwards technique. It's only for 7 rows so I should be able to cope. Then I will cut the steeks and begin the borders for the armholes, v-neck, and the bottom ribbing. I cast on provisionally so I could tinker with the length as the last step of the project.

Yesterday I went to the library to select books and to make my first Toy Society drop. My plan was to leave the knitted cat on a shelf in the children's department. For some strange reason I got cold feet and left without The Drop. There were quite a few children in there plus two clerks shelving books. So I didn't think I would get away with placing the toy and photographing it without being noticed. I might try again today. Meanwhile, I'm about half-way through Wrap-me-up Puppy by Susan B Anderson.

Saturday Musings

The Fair Isle Vest is too demanding to work on while doing anything else. I work on it mostly on weekends, first sitting at the table by the kitchen and now on the sunporch. Every weekend I try to complete one of the OXO bands and one peerie band. I bought the kit for the vest while attending one of Meg Swansen's Knitting Camps quite a few years ago. It just never seemed the right time to work on it. Two balls of the oatmeal shetland wool are AWOL, the apparent victims of a Shetland wool binge, so I ordered two from Meg at Schoolhouse Press. The slight difference in color doesn't bother me with all that is going on in the vest. I also purchased the DVD of Meg knitting the vest since my knitting videos seem to have walked away since our move to this house. This DVD was filmed on Washington Island in Door County, one of our favorite places, so it is very enjoyable. As Meg suggested I used a provisional cast on (crochet chain) in order to knit the corrugated ribbing later. That will enable me to adjust the length of the vest for my tall husband. He will look very handsome in the vest!

Another tip I learned from the DVD is to weave a circular needle through the bottom of the vest to make a "nest" for the balls of wool while knitting. Great idea! This also keeps the bottom of the vest from curling upwards as I knit.

While enjoying the challenge of an intense project I needed something to do while watching the British television series that we are currently enjoying on Netflix. We are big fans of Netflix because we can get all sorts of BBC productions. Some of our recent viewings are Hamish Macbeth (I call it the Andy of Mayberry of Scotland) and Inspector Lynley. Tonight we're going to watch a P.D. James mystery. I completed two little bootie sets with scraps of sock yarn. The first pair (all green) seemed a bit small so on the second pair, I lengthed the instep just a bit. They are adorable if I must say so myself and the atypical colors make them even more appealing. Both are knit with Knit Picks Essential. The only seam is up the back from heel to top of cuff. The pattern, Oh! Baby Baby Booties by Judy Nemish was free on Ravelry and knitlist.com.

A Fair Isle on the Horizon

This morning our prayer shawl ministry team, Knit One Pray Too, met at our local coffee shop, The Blend. I really enjoy getting together with these ladies. They have such a desire to serve. Each time we've had a request for a prayer shawl, someone has already made one or is willing to do so. Usually we meet once a month on the third Wed in the evening at Crossroads United Methodist Church but once in a while we switch to a day meeting. Today M and I both brought our relatively new copies of A Prayer Shawl Companion. The others were interested in looking at the patterns, prayers, and poems in the book.

I'm on a bit of a baby binge again. I finished another Pinwheel Blankie. Sarah was here one day and I demonstrated for her how to start that blanket. When I finished the Raspberry Wool Peddler's Shawl I didn't have a project to launch right into since the next project was requiring a lot of swatching and planning. I picked up the Pinwheel Blankie and it felt good in my hands. At the time I needed something soothing. With the first Pinwheel Blankie I made (yellow) I came so close to running out of yarn on the border that I overcompensated on this one. So the end result is just barely 36 inches across. That is big enough for a tiny baby, especially if it is used over a stroller or car seat. It might be a bit skimpy for actually wrapping around the baby.

Another fun project was Alice Starmore's Wee Baby Bonnet pictured on the front of Piecework Magazine Jan/Feb 2009. I used remnants of Shetland Wool from Meg Swansen/Schoolhouse Press. I would eventually like to make the cap in the more highly contrasting colors chosen by Alice Starmore but I used what I had on hand. The little ear flaps are so cute; I love the way they tuck under the edge. The cap is actually a swatch for a Fair Isle Vest, a kit I purchased years ago from Schoolhouse Press. During our move in May 2007 I lost or misplaced a few things. In fact, the only errant objects that I know of are two knitting videos and one of them came with this kit. Although the video is not absolutely necessary I think I would enjoy watching it as it was filmed on Washington Island, in Door County WI, which is one of our favorite places on the whole planet.

My, didn't the baby bonnet have a boatload of ends to weave in? I've started on the Fair Isle Vest but it is slow going. You would think the baby bonnet in the exact same wool (different colors), washed and blocked, would be an accurate enough gauge swatch, but so far the vest is looking looser. I am gamely plowing ahead and trusting my needles, wool, and hands. That could be a BIG mistake for when you make a gauge error on Fair Isle you will pay dearly in the end. This much I know.