tw o-handed
f air isle technique by Ann Kingstone
‘Fairisle’ is a style of ‘stranded’ knitting produced in the Shetland Isles. Yarn used in a row or round is carried behind any stitches that are worked in another colour. This results in the wrong side of the knitting being entirely covered in horizontal strands of yarn. These are often referred to as ‘floats’ because the yarn is ‘floating’ behind the knitting.
Traditionally knitters living in the Shetland Isles work fairisle knits in the round, rarely using more than two colours in one round. Most keep both colours in their left hand throughout, knitting entirely in the ‘Continental’ style. When making a stitch they use the right hand needle point to ‘pick’ the required yarn up from the left hand.
However, the majority of knitters in the UK and US learned to knit in the ‘English’ style, holding yarn in the right hand. When making a stitch they ‘throw’ the yarn around the needle point. To work fairisle in this manner is somewhat laborious. It is difficult to separate out one yarn to throw around the needle point if two yarns are being held at once in the right hand. It is easier to only hold one yarn at a time, dropping it to pick up the other yarn every time the stitch pattern switches between the two colours. This is very slow though, and can lead to many yarn tangles.
If you are an English style knitter, I instead recommend that you hold one yarn in each hand to knit fairisle. Hold the main colour (MC) yarn as for English style knitting, ie in the right hand. Hold the contrast colour (CC) yarn as for Continental style knitting, ie in the left hand. Holding both yarns at once in this manner knit all MC stitches in the English style, and all CC stitches in the Continental style.
Because the majority of stitches in stranded colourwork are MC stitches, you will primarily knit in your accustomed English style.
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The beauty of this method is that it is unnecessary to let go of either yarn when working with the other yarn. It also prevents tangles; with one yarn always to your left and the other yarn always to your right, tangles do not occur.
With little effort most knitters find that two- handed fairisle technique soon feels comfortable and speedy. It is therefore widely practised.
Trapping Floats If a yarn float spans a distance of more than 4cm/1½” it is wise to ‘trap’ it behind a stitch, ie fasten it into the knitting. Overlong yarn floats can cause uneven tension and are prone to catch on fingers or toes. In two-handed fairisle technique it is relatively simple to trap floats without letting go of either yarn.
As the continental held yarn tends to do most of the floating in stranded colourwork, the first trapping method shown is the one you will use most often. Luckily it happens to be the simplest of the two methods!
You will rarely need to trap the English held yarn.
English Stitches 1) Insert the point of the working needle into the stitch.
2) With the right hand wrap/throw the yarn around the point of the working needle, taking it under the needle from behind.
3) Draw the yarn back through the stitch, dropping the stitch from the passive needle as you do so.
Continental Stitches 1) Insert the point of the working needle into the stitch.
2) Use the needle point to hook/pick up the yarn from the left hand, taking the needle behind the yarn from above.
3) Draw the yarn back through the stitch, dropping the stitch from the passive needle as you do so.
Trapping Continental Held Yarn 1) Insert the working needle into the next stitch.
2) Take the working needle point under the continental held yarn from the left side of it.
3) Wrap the English held yarn around the needle point and draw it back under the continental held yarn.
4) Complete the stitch in the normal manner with the English held yarn.
Trapping English Held Yarn 1) Insert the working needle into the next stitch.
2) Wrap the English held yarn around the working needle as though you are going to make the stitch with it.
3) Then pick up the continental held yarn as usual when knitting with it.
4) Now unwrap the English held yarn.
5) Complete the stitch in the normal manner with the continental held yarn.
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