Or “How Addictive is This!”
- Marathon knitting – the act of knitting through a marathon of tv shows – binge watching works well with binge (marathon) knitting; watching sports with your partner on Sunday works well with marathon knitting
- Marathon knitting – act of knitting the same thing over and over again
Many sock knitters are Marathon knitters. What kind of Marathon knitter are you? Right now I am a Marathon Tam Knitter.
Lately I’ve been working on fair-isle tams; lots of tams; multitudes in fact! Why?
A number of reasons; the first; fair-isle knitting is the topic of the next Retreat for Mad About Ewe (the store where I work); the second; knitting is addictive; the third; fair-isle knitting is very addictive; and fourth; Tams are fun to knit, small and colourful; and fifth; did I mention that knitting is addictive!?
Fair-isle Knitting is a type of stranded knitting where by you carry the colours that you are not knitting across the back of your work, catching the lengths, or floats between the colours as you knit. There are a few rules (or things to keep in mind) when working traditional fair-isle knitting;
- never work with more that 2 colours in a row (I break this one sometimes)
- catch the long floats so that they lay flat, catch every 3 sts or approx. every inch
- do not twist the colours to catch them, just lay the yarn to be caught across the fabric in front of the working yarn; the act of knitting the next st will “catch” and hold the carried yarn in place
- working in the round is easier than working flat
- don’t let your knitting “bunch” up keep spreading out the stitches after you knit them – this keeps the floats from being too short and then pulling the stitches in
Right now, as soon, or even before I finish each Tam – I find a new collection of colours that inspires me to knit another one. I have been alternating between making traditional tams that are only 10 inches around and/or floppy tams that are 12 inches around. The 12 inches tams are really more like slouchy hats, and I love them all.
Below is a list of what I believe are fun and wonderful fair-isle patterns. Some are free and some are payfor. Some have been designed by myself and other Fall Challenge Designers. Some are vintage. Click on the pattern and it will take you directly to each patterns Ravelry page. Have fun and check out some of your options for fair-isle knitting.
Croft Hoose; Porkie; Fair-Isle Christmas Ball; Caribou Wildflower Cowl; Fair-Isle Tam; Vermont Twilight; Fair-Isle Sticky Mittens; Ode to….; The Force Awakens Hat; Hands of Shetland.
These are only a few of the fair-isle patterns that are out there. There are thousands of fair-isle patterns on Ravelry alone!
Happy Marathon Knitting!
Lynette
Fall Sweater Challenge 