New Adventures in Fairisle

fairisle-teacosy-blue-yellow-emma-varnamObsession is an ugly word. I am not sure whether I can admit it, but you know me. When I get the bit between my teeth I have to keep going until I have satisfied that particular crafty itch. Since I conquered my fear of continental knitting and simultaneously realised that the two-handed technique of fairisle knitting was so much neater (stay with me honey), I have become slightly, ever so slightly obsessed.

fairisle-teacosy-blue-yellow-emma-varnamFrom finishing the Steiger hat and then the Arrows Hat I was scouting round for a new project to practice my new found skills. I’ll be honest with you, knitting in the round for stranding is much more easy than working in rows. However it was a good idea to practice the continental style for purl. Not quite so natural.

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Teacosy dream

I really can’t tell you why I thought of a teacosy. I suppose I have made quite a few hats in the last few weeks and really couldn’t justify squeezing another into the drawers of my dressing table. Deep within my knitting book library, I found an old fairisle pattern and then began working up a swatch of the pattern in some left over yarn. The swatching process allowed me to workout the edging and the width of the final design. I have made hundreds of teacosies in my time. I’ll confess a dreadful thing. I don’t actually drink tea. But having a teapot and a choice of cosies seems like a very civilised thing.

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Spring Colours

Don’t ask me why a finally alighted on the colour scheme of blue, cream and yellow. It does however feel like the perfect Spring combination. The yellow and the cream were already in my stash and I just needed to pop out and buy the blue. All three colours are from Debbie Bliss Rialto 4ply.  Home from the shops, I immediately cast-on and the rest of the day was spent in a fairisle dream.

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I am hoping to write up the pattern over the Easter break. I couldn’t begin to thing of a name for the pattern but since posting the completed project on instagram and facebook lots of you have thought of some suggestions. Please feel free to add your thoughts below.

Wardrobe plans

For my next move on the fairisle journey, I feel compelled to design a cardigan. I have in my mind a particular outfit I would like to make for summer. Obviously if you live in Australia, then making a cardigan for summer will make no sense at all. Believe me, here in the North-West of England we get quite a bit of use from a cardigan. I have so, so many crochet projects to complete – but obsesssion calls and my knitting fingers are itching to get going.

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1 thought on “New Adventures in Fairisle”

  1. As someone else who can also get a tad obses, I completely understand! It’s impressive stuff you have going on here, stranded knitting is a bit of a nemesis of mine though so I generally avoid it. It doesn’t half look good though.

    S x

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