There is certainly no one way to knit any garment…and definitely no one way to knit stranded or Fair Isle designs. To put it another way, as long as the outcome is what you want, I feel there is no wrong way to knit anything.
That being said, as I have taught stranded/Fair Isle
classes, several questions have come up about how I do certain things in the
course of knitting these patterns. I am, by no means, an expert on the subject,
but I do understand when learning something new, having a place to start (i.e.
my developed methods) gives a student a foundation on which to develop his or
her own methods…methods that work best for them.
I am also an avid reader of other knitters’ methods. This
study helps me to reevaluate and refine the way I do things. I am hoping this
“tome”…as it is apparently growing in length the more I get into the
subject…will spark further gentle discussion and we can all learn from each
other.
So...over the next installments of this blog, I will attempt
to discuss several aspects of stranded knitting. Along the way, I will include how
I handle the topic at hand...again, without any declarations of this being the
right way to do things…just the way I do them.
For the sake of organization, here is a list of the topics I
will be discussing..
Non-definitive definition
Yarns used and fabric created
Gauge or Tension (including gauge swatches0
Needles used
Casting on (including several two or more color edge
treatments)
Knitting in the round (including knitting small
circumferences)
Holding yarns
Tensioning
Yarn dominance
Reading charts
Adding new colors
Finishing old colors
Weaving yarns…to catch long floats
Weaving yarns…to add new colors and finish old colors
Weaving yarns while turning corners
Using markers
Creating stitches for sleeves and/or ribbing
Centering motifs
Casting off
Weaving in the ends
Blocking
These will break down roughly as one topic per week…depending
how much I ramble on about each topic. I am sure there will be some weeks when
two or more topics will be covered.
So all that being said, let’s get started.
Stranded Knitting
(a non-definitive definition)
The broad term of knitting which employs more than one color
is generally referred to as colorwork or color knitting…and includes working
with stripes, slipped stitches, mosaic knitting, intarsia, and stranded
knitting…to mention a few.
I guess you could technically throw forms of knitting and/or
knitting techniques which can be working in a single color as well as with more
than one color ...entrelac or cables come to mind. The possibilities of adding
color to your knitting are endless, thus rendering the definition of “color
knitting” a bit muddy.
I can hear the uproar even now as there are various strong opinions
as the definitive definitions of such things. So I will abandon that line of discussion
and venture off to the subject at hand….stranded knitting.
Simply put, stranded knitting is knitting which employs more
than one color per round…where the unused yarn is stranded behind the working
yarn. That being said, I should mention that most forms of stranded knitting
use only two colors per round.
You will notice I have said “per round”. While stranded work
can certainly be accomplished by knitting flat (knit one row, turn, purl one
row), it is most often worked in the round. This way the patterning is always
facing you. Believe me, purling some of the more complicated patterns is not
fun.
But what you call the various forms of this type of
colorwork, you may ask. If you look at the outcome of this type of knitting in
terms of the patterns and colors, the broad heading of “stranded knitting” can
be further broken down into subsections…roughly, but not totally, by geographic
traditions…which include Fair Isle, Norwegian or Scandinavian, and other
knitting traditions from the Baltic Circle. (Please realize that is list is by
no means exclusive.)
Because of the popularity of Fair Isle designs, there has recently
been a tendency to name all stranded knitting…and sometimes even all color
knitting…“Fair Isle knitting”. This is definitely not a correct practice and
does a disservice to both the knitting traditions of Fair Isle and the other
styles of stranded knitting. But a discussion of the characteristics of the
various stranded knitting traditions is perhaps a discussion best left for
another post.
For this series, I will talk about some of the techniques that
are currently used to achieve the wonderful colorful patterning of this style
of knitting. Please understand, though, I will largely focus on Fair Isle and
Shetland Fair Isle because that is my interest and where I first started down
this path of knitting in color.
It is also important to remember that like most things, there
are no absolutes and the phrase “generally, but not always” should be applied
liberally.
Hey…I did say it was a non-definitive definition.
If you have any questions or gentle comments, please feel free to post them below. I'd love to hear from you.
Next week: Yarns Used and Fabric Created
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What a resource this is ! Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Anne...and I hope you will add your knowledge as well as we go along. V
ReplyDeleteGood intro. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series... and learning more about stranded knitting
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading all the posts over the next while. I love stranded work and have done quite a bit, but not adverse to learning other ways of doing things (If I discover any that I haven't used). Thank you for doing this.
ReplyDeleteSigrun, Thanks for leaving a comment. It is always good to hear from someone who is experienced in stranded knitting as well as the beginners.
DeleteWhile not totally inclusive, the idea of the discussion was to get down some basics in one place...so readers could say "yep, that's what I do"..or.."hmmm, never though of that"...or "oooh, that's how you do that."
I hope you enjoy the discussion. V
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