When You Can’t Knit Handwarmers—Knit a Fairisle Vest!
Well, after trying (and re-trying) to make handwarmers—why can’t I knit a pair of handwarmers—I decided to embark on a new project. A fair isle vest! I love Scotland, I love knitting, and I love colorwork, so, I decided to go ahead and try to make a fair isle vest (or slipper as one would call it in the Shetlands). Just to note, I have never done any of these things (knit a vest, knit in fair isle “style”, or been to Scotland). I am nothing if not a confident beginner, so, off I went to do my favorite thing, research!
Fair Isle (home of fair isle style knitting) is the southernmost island of a group of islands called the Shetland Islands. Until oil was found off the coast of the Shetlands in the 1970s, the economy of the islands was agriculture-based and fairly poor. Local women (and children) knit sweaters, vests, hats, and shawls for the tourist industry to supplement their family’s income. The Prince of Wales (who was known for being a natty dresser) made fair isle vests popular in the early 20th century.
Fair isle knitting is a form of stranded colorwork where only two colors are used per round and yarn is carried across the back of the work for just a few stitches. Fair Isle sweaters are typically knit bottom up in the round using steeks for the neck and armholes. Kelbourne Woolens has a fabulous blog post regarding the differences amongst the many stranded colorwork styles. Once finished fair isle sweaters are blocked on special racks called “jumper boards”.
Traditional Shetland hand knitters also have an interesting technique of knitting that is very speedy and utilizes a tool called a “knitting belt”. Knitters wear this belt around the waist and can anchor one knitting needle into the belt. This system also allows them to tuck their knitting into the belt (this is a way they control tension) allowing more freedom of movement. Women would walk and knit, basically picking up their knitting on the go whenever they had a free minute. This is a great video that analyzes old film footage. Read the comments. They have wonderful tidbits of oral history.
To keep the island’s knitting and textile tradition alive, Shetland Wool Week was conceived as an international knitting festival that is now in its 11th year (hosted online for COVID). This is definitely a bucket list trip for me. If you love traditional fair isle knitting, check out Shetland Wool Week’s website, and consider supporting this year’s festival online.
Here are a few of the resources I found useful when researching the Shetland Islands and Fair Isle knitting.
Knitting Shops to buy traditional “woolly” wools
Books
The Art of Fair Isle Knitting: The History of Technique, Color & Pattern by Ann Feitelson: This book discusses history and techniques and provides garment patterns.
Alice Starmore’s Book of Fair Isle Knitting by Alice Starmore: This book provides history, techniques, garment patterns, design advice, and a comprehensive library of knitting charts of traditional fair isle patterns.
Alice Starmore’s Charts for Color Knitting by Alice Starmore: This book provides charts for colorwork patterns from a variety of countries.
Knitsonik’s Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook by Felicity Ford: This book provides a practical approach to color selection in color work knitting.
Podcasts / YouTube Channels