Fair Isle... why do I love thee?

Have you noticed how many magazine and book patterns are done using stranded colorwork or intarsia these days? So, it did not surprise me when, a couple or so weeks ago, the Wednesday morning intarsia class said they wanted to learn more colorwork techniques, as in fair isle. And being one who is ever ready with ideas that I never have time to execute, I thought this might be just the opportunity to make a fair isle hat using a Crystal Palace pattern I had seen out of mini mochi. So we set the class date for this coming Tuesday and I made a note that I better get on it...

Today, I realized that the clock was ticking and I better get a head start on this to make sure I was at the top of my game with all the techniques. As luck would have it, this morning we got the first copies of the reprint of Alice Starmore's Fair Isle knitting book, the classic that was used eons ago to make those fabulous ski sweaters and such that were popular back so long ago. But, leafing through it again, it was all fresh and new!

Tonight, I turned on the Olympics on the tely and began the hat. It has a corrugated ribbing, which is a marvel. I had forgotten how much I LOVE this ribbing. It's not the stretchiest, but is it ever beautiful!

Using one ball for the knits, one for the purls, it creates a very impactful edge. In this case, what is even more fun is that the yarn is variegated, so each set of knits and purls unfold the colors in different sequences. What a pleasure!

One of the things that this project has driven home is how wonderful fair isle is when done with finer yarns. The fabrics are soft, supple, drapeable and artwear like. 

This project has reminded me of so many reasons why I love fair isle. Maybe by the time I'm done with it, I will list and count all the ways!