Fair Isle Knitting for Beginners | Easy Method to Knit with 2 Colours | A Slow Step-by-Step Tutorial
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ก.พ. 2017
- This video is a slow walk-through of a simplified version of knitting Fair Isle, which is perfect for beginners who really want to make Fair Isle patterns as soon as possible!
To knit Fair Isle this way, you don't need to learn both the Continental and English knitting styles, and you also don't need circular needles; only straight needles.
I have seen this method referred to as the 'one hand method' before, and it's called that because only one knitting style is being used (English), rather than each hand using a different knitting style.
I will demonstrate a very simple repeating pattern in red and white yarn, and it will be knit flat rather than 'in the round'.
I start with 60 stitches and first give an introduction to the Fair Isle technique, before going slowly through 2 rows (1 knit row and 1 purl row) of the design.
I'll explain how to change yarn colour, how to keep the 'floats' from getting too long, as well as give a few tips along the way.
You can view the accompanying article on my website here:
www.rokolee.com/how-to-knit-fa...
Thanks for watching!
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Very helpful! Seeing the yarn work without the confusing bit of 2 styles of knitting added to that makes all the difference! Especially when learning by watching a video. You were very clear as well. Thank you!
Thanks! Glad you found it helpful :)
Leaves Ongrassh
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Great video. Thank you so much. I've been knitting for nearly 50 years, but I was never confident about Fair Isle. I've tried it from time to time, but was never satisfied with my results. My problem was the tension and length of the floats. Now that I have seen you do it, I understand. I must add that I was very happy to see you hold your yarn the same way I do. I taught myself to knit in the 1960s, when I was just a girl. By the time I learned about continental and English styles of knitting, and learned them, I wasn't satisfied with the control they gave me over the yarn tension. (I didn't feel like starting again from scratch after some 20 years.) I tend to do a lot of work with different stitches -- including Aran patterns and lace work. If I do say so myself, I'm quite good at them after all this time, with the way I hold the yarn. Thank you again so much! You have a new subscriber. I look forward to watching your other videos.
Aw thanks very much for your comment! I find it difficult trying to knit any other way now, as the English style is how I learned as a child so it's very firmly embedded in my brain now :) I learned from my Nana so maybe knitting changes over time like other things. Happy knitting!
Best video for a beginner who knits English. Thank you!!!!
Thanks :D
This is really helpful, I’ve knitted most of my life but never got into fair isle but I really want to try it, we have the same knitting style and your video has given me the confidence to finally give it a go. Thank you x
Excellent! I'm very glad it helped you :D
Ah .... I'm pretty much a complete beginner but having watched this I'm glad I bothered to learn continental and english style knitting.
Thank you - I could understand this method easily. I am going to try as I have recently fallen in love with Nordic patterns and want to try. Thank you for posting this!
Thank you! I was actually gonna break and reattach my yarn each time before I saw this 🤦♀️ lifesaver!!!
I'm glad you found it helpful :D
Wonder what kind of teacher you had that would have taught you such a thing! Sheesh!
Thank you. This was just what i needed to get me started.🐝
Thanks for the tip about twisting to avoid long floats. Good bit of advice!
Just come across this video, excellent explanation and demonstration
Loved Fair Isle and you make it easy
Aw thank you, I'm glad you found it helpful :)
@RokoleeDIY I've tried finding your website but it's not responding
Are you still doing this?
Where were you all myknitting life? The best teacher ever! Thanks you so much.
Aww thanks :D Glad it helped!
This is exactly what I needed- to see how to add your second colour !! Great and simple info !!! Thank
You!
Glad you found it useful :)
I wouldn't be a knitting drop out if I had you for a teacher . Thank you 👍🤔🇨🇦🌹👑🌺🌞
Aww thanks :)
You are quite right. Awful.
Exactly!! Glad there are better teachers around!
Thank You! I throw stitches because the other methods cause me more hand & wrist pain. So I didn't want lessons on how to knit....I wanted a simple Fair Isle technique lesson. Brilliant! I also use circular needles for everything now.
So glad it helped you :)
buzzwaffle î
Rokolee DIY ø
Thank you for the wonderful video and pointing out the twist. I have knitted for decades but had never done a fair isle style. I had done Irish knit patterns. I am in process of making a sweater for my granddaughter. Now I feel I will be able to do it with success. Thank You for this wonderful and simiplified method. I do understand the English and Continental styles with both left and right.
Excellent:) Glad you found it helpful, happy knitting!
Thanks for this clear and helpful lesson 😊
You're welcome :)
Thank you for explaining this method clearly and slow enough for me to understand. I’ve always wanted to do Fair Isle and never was brave enough to try. Fantastic work. Gina from Australia
Thank-you :) I'm glad it was useful, and good luck in your knitting endeavours.
You're a really good teacher. I enjoyed this video
Aww thank you!
Thank you for this video! I’ve been knitting for about 6 years but not great and never learnt how to do fair isle knitting! So I’m not a total beginner but this was perfect to show me how to change colours and carry the yarn. Perfect pace and nice clear instructions.
Thanks for your comment! I'm glad the video helped you :)
Thank you,the most easy to understand I have ever seen.
Thank-you :)
Thank you SO much! Yours was the only video I could find that, as a beginner, I can do. 😊
Excellent! I'm glad it helped you, thanks for watching :)
I have never knitted fair isle. You explained slowly and clearly. I’m happy to have found your TH-cam channel!
Aw thanks :) I'm glad it was helpful!
I can't wait to have time to practice this. Thank you for your help!
Glad you liked the video! :)
Thanks for this - really good.
Thank you :D
I have been knitting for many years and have never tried fair isle. With your video, I think I can give it a go. You made the fair isle stitching very understandable and it doesn't seem to hard. Looking forward to trying it. Thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you :) Happy knitting!
Thank you for this video, it is so clear and easy to follow. It was also reassuring to see you knitting the same way I do. I definitely want to try this technique once I finish my current project.
Thanks very much :D
This is an excellent video! You are a natural teacher 💖 Thank you so much x
Aww thanks very much :D
You must have lived a very sheltered life!
Very clear - thank you :)
Your voice is very easy to follow. I watched the whole video and now I am ready to watch and knit. I have been looking for a video like this, because I am very intimidated by Fair Isle Knitting. Thank you for making this video.
Thanks very much for your comment... I'm glad it was helpful :)
Great tutorial! Thank you
Thanks I’m like you I wanted to jump right into the Norwegian patterns and not do something boring ❤️🇳🇴🇺🇸❤️
Ha yes, who likes the boring basics?! :D
What an awesome tutorial. Thank you so much.
Thanks for watching :)
You are a lifesaver! Thank you for this video!
:D No problem!
I was worried about so much 'floating' on the back side but this tutorial really gave great insight. Very clear and helpful!
I'm glad you found it useful!
Thank you for this wonderful video!
Thanks for watching 😁
I’m so delighted to find this video for getting started with beginning Fair Isle knitting! I’ve been taught on 2 separate occasions the two-handed version and just can’t get it to be stretchy enough to pull it over whatever you want to get it onto or tight enough to keep the floats from showing through to the front (does that even make any sense?).
My local yarn shop people don’t accept any other way to knit than “throwing the yarn” - whatever that’s called and gave me such a hard time about the way I’ve been knitting since I was taught when I was 8 years old by my mother, who learned from “the German woman who lived upstairs” when our family escaped from Russia. So that would have been 50+ years at the time. They really hounded me saying I “knit backwards and my stitches were all twisted!” I nearly stopped knitting since it was mentioned so often that I knitted “wrong “! I knit through the back loop carrying my yarn continental your in my left hand. And either turn and Purl back (see “Alternative Knitting” Style directions by (?? Well known designer/teacher/writer woman from the Midwest) , or just knit back right to left)
It went as far as being humiliated by a shop person saying loudly that I knit backwards and twisted my stitches during a class with Lucy Neatby when I was having a problem with the instructions as given in the pattern. I must say I LOVE LUCY NEATBY!!! she watched me knit and said “oh yes... Mary knits using the “Alternative Knitting”Style! After the room went quiet from the finger pointers stopped in their tracks, Lucy and I figured out what to do to get the same effect knitting my way! 😜😄 ... which is much faster than regular continental. Look at “Russian Knitting” for reference!
So thank you for an “Alternative “ approach to Fair Isle! Blessings
Aw that sounds horrible! I think as long as you get the result you want, it doesn't matter how you go about it...just do whatever is comfortable to you :) Glad you llike the video, and thanks for your interesting comment.
Rokolee DIY are your stitches twisted though? If they are twisted it can make your knitting look very messy. If not, or they all look the same, then why do they care? Lol
Thank you so much for this video, it helped me out so much 😊
Thanks for watching :D
AT LAST! I've found your video for beginners and you explained very well! Thanks so much for this. 🧶💜🥀🧶
Aw thanks, glad you found it helpful!
Very helpful video. Thank you for uploading! Will try this method.
Yay! Happy knitting :)
Fantastic video-you did a great job of explaining exactly how I can do Fair Isle in a step by step manner. Thank you so very much for posting this and for your wonderful expertise in teaching.
Aw thanks very much for your nice comment :) Glad it is helpful to you!
Marilyn Smith
Marilyn Smith 111th
Excellent video. I have a hankering to do a fair isle hat now that the Olympics are here so thought I'd learn the basics, so will give it a try. Thanks so much!
Thanks :) Good luck in your Fair Isle adventures!
This was so helpful and easy to follow! Thank you!
Thanks!
What a lovely Visio congratulations.
Nice , clear video. You explained everything very well, thank you:)
Thanks for your nice comment 🙂
S S 6
Very informative, thankyou for doing it slowly enough for us oldies.
Ha! My pleasure :)
Wow. I think I can actually do this now. Thank You!!!
Great! Thanks for watching :D
What a brilliant introduction to Fair Isle, thank you! I am a beginner knitter and Fair Isle has always seemed way too complicated for me. Your tutorial makes it seem much more do-able and has given me the confidence to try! :)
Great! That's what I wanted to do; give confidence to people so they'll feel able to give it a go :) Thanks for your comment
Nice teaching, thanks.
This is very helpful. Thanks.
Oh, you poor soul! Wonder what you think now....
So helpful and clear. Well done!
Thank you!
Thank you so much for this video. Helped me to try fairisle ❤❤❤
Excellent! Happy knitting :)
Fantastic tutorial. Thanks so much.
Thanks!...glad you found it useful :)
Thank you for sharing this, I always just carry the yarn across the back of the project. Have a beautiful day! =;)
You are so welcome! :)
Excellent tutoring, thank u so much for your time.
Thank-you :)
I had known .how to knit ..but after seeing this .I learn a lot of thing. That I should to know ..thank you very much ..learned us very cozily.
Thanks for watching :)
Excellent tutorial, thank you!
You're very welcome! :D
Great introduction, has encouraged me to start this daunting technique.
Wonderful! Good luck :)
My problem is your voice is so pretty and soothing i fall asleep before i finish a row lol. Tyfs! Youre a great Teacher
Aww thanks so much :)
Fab Work
Very helpful and informative. Thank you
Thank you :)
Very helpful! Thanks!
You're welcome!
Great! Thank you for this.
Thank you for watching!
Ive wanted to learn this but 2 handed knitting was to difficult. Thank you for this video its very helpful
I'm glad it helped you :) Thanks for watching!
Just too bad it isn't Fair Isle! She deliberately mis-led you!
I love it!
Thanks!
This is a good tutorial & ok if you want to stay with just English or continental, but I would find it less time consuming to just learn the one you don’t know and work with both yarns at the same time. So much easier! I can’t imagine working an entire garmet like this.
Hi! Yes you're right, it'll be much easier to knit a larger project with 2 hands, but this video is just really for people who want to give it a go without first learning another knitting style first :) Just because I know people are often as impatient as me!
😃 interesting. Just the video I needed.
Glad to hear it!
This tutorial is so helpful. I have always wondered how to add colour and how to twist the yarns as you go. I was wondering how the float would be if the stitches were further apart. Thank you for the demo. I'm going to refer back to this video when I get started.
Excellent :) Glad it was helpful to you!
That's great, thank you!! 😄
Glad you like it!
Thank you!!
Good job thanks
Excellent!
Thanks!
Thank you very much.
Thank you. I keep having issues with my float, so I gave up. I think I will give it another try
Go for it!
Thank you! I only knit English style.
Thanks for watching!
Thankyou so much!
Thanks for watching!
I'm Brazilian, i dont speak English, but you teach very well. Really enjoyed ❤
Thanks very much :)
Excellent explanation, and well delivered (showing things slowly and deliberately). Using the ENGLISH KNITTING method where you move the thread with your fingers instead with the needle might help me manage the yarn, I never thought of that.
I never became good with knitting with 2 colours in the continental method (which I use for lace knitting or elaborate braids). My problem was 1) managing the 2 threads 2) it was slow - see 1) and I was too impatient given I was doing fine with the other knitting tasks and 3) the result was not even - tension problems.
Even though there are sort of "thimbles" that you can stick on your index finger that are supposed to help you. That "thimble" is like an open little metal tube (it is a spiral made out of a thick metal "thread" with a "hook" on the beginning and the end of the spiral).
In those open hooks one can thread in the two different yarns so they will be kept apart while still being managed by the index finger on which the threaded thimble is stuck.
In the continental method the index finger does a lot to "manage" the yarn. The real wizards have both colours slung around their working index finger (usually the left hand if they are a right handed person), no device whatsoever - and they just knit along, and not much slower than when they do plain knitting with one colour.
Never worked for me - not with the naked finger and not with the help of the thimble - lol. But then I never gave it a patient try.
Thanks - I have been eying those beautful Fair Isle patterns for some time.
Thanks very much for your comment :) I'm glad the video helped you. I have tried the thimble thing before but I found it made things way harder for me!
excellent, thank you
Thanks!
Good work you are very genius .
Aw thanks :)
Thank you xx❤
You’re welcome 😊
Your knitting looks beautiful! I am jealous of your good tension. I need to tell you though I am a Continental knitter. When I do fair isle I do not change back and forth between Continental and English methods. It would be disastrous if I did. I also never carry floats longer than 4 stitches. Thank you for a great video.
Thanks so much for your comment :)
Thank u so much
I think it's much easier for beginners to learn correctly from the beginning.
At the end of the video, you proved that, by showing the problems caused by these shortcuts, and then explaining how to unlearn them!
Your fabric is a bit puckered, because you are not spreading your stitches evenly along the right needle as you knit. That means your floats are tighter than they ought to be.
The way you are crossing your yarns behind, always in the same direction, is what is causing your yarns to tangle. Then you have to keep unwinding them. But if you hold the floating yarn above the worked stitch first, then next time hold it below, you will have a much more even finish, and untangled balls of yarn.
To be honest, I kind of agree with you; it would be 'better' to learn the full and correct way of doing Fair Isle first. However, I honestly found that as a beginner I really wanted to do Fair Isle but it was the hurdle of learning the Continental style of knitting and knitting with two hands that I just found overwhelmingly complicated and enought to put me off.
This video is just to kind of get beginners to break through the barriers to actually getting started with Fair Isle, and I think it gets across the concept without appearing too difficult to try. It lets beginners get a nice knitting pattern created (although not perfect in technique). A lot of knitters, after all, do it only occasionally and as a fun hobby and don't necessarily need or want it to be totally perfect.
The reason I cross the yarns in the same direction each time (thus causing the yarns to wind around each other) is just to make it easier to remember what to do, therefore taking away another detail that could get people in a muddle.
I hope this explains my view of it...I did think at the time of doing the video that more experienced knitters would frown on the method, but I decided to put this up anyway because it really would have helped me as a beginner myself.
Thanks for your comment :)
One of the ways I do it is I use the english style to hold both yarns, one over the index finger, one over the middle finger, never letting go of the needle. Hard to explain in words, but very efficient, and simple for right-handers.
Ah right...I'll have a look into that. Thanks :)
+Rokolee DIY I totally agree with you! I've been struggling to even learn simple knitting techniques because of intimidating tutorials from really experienced knitters who go very fast. with what you showed in the video I'll finally be able to knit a pair of checkered slippers!
Thank you
I’m making one and I twist the yarn at back so it looks beautiful in the back as the front I think if you do nt weave your fingers will get caught in the yarn
Yes, there are far better ways to do stranded colour knitting -- altho THIS is definitely NOT Fair Isle! She clearly stated that she doesn't know how to do it properly.
Thanks!!
No problem!
I am intrigued that on the knit side you bring the color you're picking up OVER the color you've been working. I was taught that to eliminate creating a hole, you always bring your new color UNDER and to twist everg 3 to 4 stitches so that there aren't long floats between colors and you maintain a uniformity in your work. But I like your method of changing color as well, it sjiws that yhere can be different ways of arriving at the same place in knitting.
BRegalBReal there do seem to be a few ways of doing the same thing in knitting!
I think as long as you are consistent with whatever method you're using you should be fine. I didn't get holes in my work but if there is no twist at all made when you pick up the new yarn the. I guess there would be. Thanks for your comment 🙂
I appreciate your helpful videos I recently saw this comment "I use regular sewing thread in a matching color and simply lay the little tail parallel to a color matched stitch, sew and knot about three times, then cut yarn, thread flush." I have not been able to find any videos or pictures of how to do this, do you have any to share me?
I don't think I've ever seen that, sorry!
Hi there - loving your very informative DIY Fair Isle tips!
I am using your technique to try doing letters in the round, so I'm only using my second colour for a short amount of stitches - how do I anchor the floats so I don't end up with those big loops on the back? (PS the project is a hat)
You would need to twist the yarns together in a full twist (rather than half a twist) at least every 4/5 stitches or so. If you do a full twist, the same colour as before stays at the front so you can continue to knit with it. I've seen a lot of people recommend knitting with the back of the knitting on the outside when knitting Fair Isle in the round, to help with tension, just in case you wanted another tip :)
Thanks for your comment!
Thank you for your video! I've never tried Fair Isle but it is so pretty with those colors! Also, thank you soon much for showing a video about changing colors without cutting the feeding yarns! Very helpful! What is that color changing technique called?
So glad you like it :) This kind of colourwork is 'stranding'
This is sooooo helpful! Thanks so much. Is a round the same as a row?
Thank-you :) Yes, a round in circular knitting is the same as a row in flat knitting. Thanks for your comment!
I am French and I live in France, this is so easy to follow, thank you very much ! But if your float is very long at the pearlside, you can twist the two colours moren often, or not ?? Sorry for my bad English ! Kind greetigs from Brittany : france !
Hi Marie! You can twist the yarns together however many times you like - it's personal preference really. Some people don't like having floats more than a couple of stitches long, so twist the yarns often. I hope that answers your question, and thanks very much for your comment :)
welcome !!!!!!!!
Great tutorial! I would have found it more helpful if you showed the chart you were using. All the charts I've seen are for using circular needles in which you're always knitting (always right side) and I would rather use 2 needles but am confused on what to do on the purl side (wrong side). For example, would the purl side be line 2 of a chart but reading it left to right instead of right to left as is done on the knit side? Is it possible to clarify this?
Thanks for watching and thanks for your comment :)
Sorry I didn't clarify this but I am actually working on another video where I will talk about Fair Isle charts and how to convert circular knitting patterns to flat knitting patterns and vice versa. I should get the video up very soon, but yes you are correct in that purl rows of a circular pattern are reversed. Hope that helps
that was so helpful. Thank you. Do you do classes that people can attend? I would like to learn so much more. I have never felt confident with Fair Isle.this was so well explained.
Aw thanks :) Unfortunately I don't teach classes, but I would recommend having a search in your area for any knitting groups if you like in-person help.
Is there any videos on how to sew the garment up and picking up stitches up eg round necks and bands
Hi! I don't know if this is the kind of thing you mean?: th-cam.com/video/1fu5UXLIyCM/w-d-xo.html
I can't find one specifically aimed at Fair Isle though I'm afraid. Try looking up mattress stitch for the sewing part. Sorry I can't be of more help :)
Hello, just watched your video - so simple to understand and like so many other knitters, I have been knitting for many years but never had the confidence to try. I'd love to be able to do it and thank you for making it look so easy. However, I now have a pattern with a chart for the fair isle stitches, the pattern is over 9 stitches on a needle with 17 stitches on it. the chart uses the phrase 'Edge stitch'. Can you tell me what this means, please?
Thank you :D I'm glad you liked my video!
Sorry for the late reply. Difficult to understand the pattern without seeing it, but on a colourwork chart the edge stitches are basically the stitches of the pattern that aren't inside the 'repeating section' of the pattern - they are either at the beginning or end of a row/round (or both). Basically, if the repeating section doesn't perfectly fit into the row/round (i.e. there are 20 stitches and each repeat is 7 stitches across), then the edge stitches will be the remaining stitches.
This may be helpful:
sheepamongwolves.net/2018/11/how-to-read-charts-its-easier-than-you-think/
If you scroll down to the section about edge stitches :)
Hi :) not sure if this is a silly question but when you go to do the purl row do you do the same line of the pattern? For example, you knit the first row of a pattern, do you then knit that same row in purl or do you do line 2 of the pattern in purl instead?
It's not silly! The purl rows are counted as separate lines of the pattern in flat knitting... So line 1 for instance would be the knit row pattern, then line 2 would the purl row pattern, line 3 knit pattern, line 4 purl pattern and so on. Of course, it's possible that the knit row and purl row patterns are the same, so in that case you would do 2 pattern lines in a row that are identical, but usually they are different. Hope that is clear. Thanks for watching :)
Rokolee DIY amazing thank you! I'll give that a go and see if it goes a bit better 😂 I don't suppose you can crochet can you? Would love to see you do a tutorial on that if you can as you have a great way of explaining/showing
Aw thanks :) I've only had a very brief dabble at crocheting beads, but that's it I'm afraid! If I ever do take it up there will no doubt be tutorials on it haha
Merci beaucoup
:D
Question: I’m currently knitting a colourwork/fairisle cowl, and I’ve done all of the fair isle chart rows. I reached the last 2 rows, and these rows ask for me to knit a plain stockinette in the background colour, so I went ahead and chopped off my other pattern colour. But I’m confused about gauge. Stockinette’s gauge is different to stranded colourwork; stockinette rows tends be wider than stranded colourwork rows. So If I use the same size needle, wouldn’t I end up with a project that became wider? Help please! *In a nutshell, how do I switch from fair isle to plain stockinette in the same project?*
Hi! There's 2 ways really. One is to swatch just stockinette stitch to find which needle size gets the same gauge as your Fair Isle, then switch to that needle size as you switch to the plain stockinette. Or (which is what I would choose since it's only 2 rows) I would not cut off the other (pattern) colour, but instead 'carry' it behind when knitting the plain stockinette...that way it remains stranded knitting but you don't see the pattern colour on the front :)
Thankyou - really interesting!
Glad you enjoyed it!