I am interested to try my hand at Fair Isle/Stranded knit patterns. I have never done this work before.
Before I start a big project like a sweater I would like to practice the techniques. Does anyone know of sample patterns that I could practice kind of like blanket squares?
thanks in advance!
Fair Isle/Stranded knit
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Do you have a Ravelry account? There might be something in this search you’d like to try. On the left (on my laptop) you can select various categories to edit. I asked for free patterns only.
Ravelry search
I find stranded colorwork in the round is much easier than flat. I don’t like working with floats on the purl side…so I don’t do it. lol
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I added the words Fair Isle to @GrumpyGramma’s Search page, and got 11 patterns for things like coasters, pillows, and borders. This one especially looks like it would be easy to do swatches of the different patterns: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/chunky-fairisle-cushion
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That’s pretty! Why didn’t I think of trying that? I’m glad you did!!!
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Hello
There are hundreds/thousands of free charts on the Internet, search for fairisle chart to get started. Often they can just be copied as an image and saved on your device or printed. I began this way and just made sure I knew how many stitches were in the repeat so the pattern aligned. Any “extra” stitches i just placed markers on my needle, worked the extra stitches in the main colour and worked the chart between the markers. If for example you have cast on 30 stitches and find a 12 stitch repeat on a chart you can place markers 3 stitches in from each side leaving 24 sts between markers and work the chart twice across.
I did some simple traditional looking patterns, crosses, zig zags, dots etc and then just kept going on mine trying things out, I made an owl from a chart, I think it had 6 colours- not strictly “fairisle” but “stranded colour work”, just for the learning process and the fun of it.
There are also patterns like these which you might like
But be aware these are for potholders, not blanket squares. The outcome size is not the same for each pattern and if you wanted to eventually join your squares to make a blanket you would need to either work out a gauge swatch and stitch count before hand or be prepared to add borders to the squares to even up the size prior to joining.
The patterns above are knit in the round so are double thickness. GG prefers to work stranded in the round and these patterns offer that experience. I really prefer to work flat and learned to be just about as comfortable purling the stranded colours as I am knitting them, and also to follow a chart for the wrong side. It is personal preference and whatever suits you best, there are pros and cons to both methods.
If you want to make those patterns into flat squares you need to half the stitch count on the pattern.
You can also find lots of free patterns which you can turn into squares for practise. Here’s an example of a free pattern with an 8 stitch repeat, scroll down to see the chart, you can ignore the sweater pattern and cast on any multiple of 8 sts, add 2 or 3 each end if you want a border (remember to place markers). I worked this pattern in multiple colours for my son it is very nice using different colour combinations for each section. You can also just choose one section to keep repeating if you prefer which is what I did to lengthen the sweater when I worked the pattern.
Sorry they are all Drops patterns, I have a tendency to know my way around the Drops site as I find it very accessible and easy to use.
Don’t hesitate to ask more questions as you try out stranded colour work. It’s great fun!
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I had to save Forest Flowers. Thanks for great links!
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Do you want to knit flat or in the round?
If in the round, a beanie or tam is a good beginner project. If you want to practise steeking as well, then a teacosy is a good option.
I have not had much success with stranding in flat knitting. I found it hard to catch the yarns at the edges and get a nice tension. It can be done beautifully though and I am sure other folks will have suggestions if that is the way you would like to go.
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Thank you all, these were exactly what I was looking for! I’m not planning a blanket, I just want some patterns to practice on before I try a project like a sweater. I unfortunately have run out of heads accepting hats at the moment lol….
I knit always with circular needles but can do either in the round or flat…
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Enjoy your new challenge.
I want to do this too but am not ready to start yet. I like the idea of potholders though. A nice small project to practice the necessary techniques.
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Potholders is a great plan. I’ll look forward to seeing them.
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Rowan.com has a fair isle blanket with individual squares by Martin Storey. I was able to get the pattern for free just by creating an account with them. You can maybe try them to see if it’s still available for free. They just started another knit along with fair isle-check them out!
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I will thanks!
I so appreciate everyone’s suggestions!
Unfortunately I was not able to find that pattern, but I am on yet another knitting email list…
This link doesn’t work for me, do you know the name of the pattern you saw? It sounds really good.
That is a gorgeous blanket and a master class in stranded knitting. Working individual squares makes it nicely portable. Even if you worked strips of squares it would still be reasonable to carry along wherever. If you decided to stop with individual squares it would still be fun to pick and choose.
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Thanks for the pattern.
That’s a great blanket and the squares can be use in so many projects, table mats or runners, tote bags, drinks coasters, cushion covers… endless projects for Xmas/winter.