200 Fair Isle Motifs: A Knitter's Directory

I love to knit Fair Isle patterns and often have the urge to incorporate some Fair Isle motifs into mostly solid projects that I am making. These include hats, sweaters, afghans and the like. This book is perfect for incorporating Fair Isle into your knitting patterns or developing a pattern of your own using one of the 200 motifs from this knitting directory. It is a wellstone of pattern possibilities. The author describes the book as "a knitter's directory of 200 Fair Isle motifs". Is is, in essence, an encyclopedic dictionary of most of the motifs you can imagine in the Fair Isle tradition. "The directory is organized by row and stitch count. It includes a stunning, actual-size photograph, a black and white chart, a color chart, a color variation chart, and a suggested all-over repeat chart for each of the 200 motifs." There is a section on Essential Skills for Fair Isle knitting. For the purist, there is no substitute for Shetland wool. However, the author concedes that baby and sock yarns, Norwegian yarn, Icelandic wool, mohair, cotton, variegated and novelty yarns can all be used to create Fair Isle. The section on gauge stresses the importance of knowing gauge before starting the project. We all know this to be true but even I have knitted sweaters big enough to fit the whole state of Iowa into because I was lazy about gauge. There is a nice section about casting on and another about circular knitting. The author has a page on how to hold the yarn and another page on stranding. There is a section on weaving and one on increasing and decreasing. Steeking, a process that has always scared me, is covered as well. Color theory is addressed which is very helpful because the multi-colored basis of Fair Isle depends on color harmonies and choice. The author addresses design principles and ways to plan a project. Excitedly, I turned to the section on Motif Selector and was gaga. There are so many motifs and so many beautiful ones. Each motif is shown in multi-colored possibilities. The photographs are close-up and beautiful. Interweave Press and Mary Jane Mucklestone have outdone themselves with this book, a resource any Fair Isle knitter (or knitter-to-be) can not do without. It is superb.

If Alice Stareemore is the Queen of Fair Isle than this author is clearly in the Royal Family. I was hesitant to order this book b/c I have books that have many motifs, and I have all the " real" fair isle books that have been published thru the years. BUT this book, is pure EYE CANDY,,,,nothing less. Others before me have gone more in depth in their reviews so I will not go over what has been reviewed already. Some knitters are really into cables and stitch patterns and then there are knitters who have a deep love of color, and I love color in my knitting All my knitting not just in sweaters. All I know is that this book has all the motifs in COLOR which puts this in a completely different category~ There are motifs that I can use on a hat,,,,on mittens, and ultimately, on a sweater. I will find ways to use this book in ALL my areas of knitting! ( and yes I will be keeping this book in my knitting bag AT ALL TIMES) This book has lots of information on a " how to" w/ Fair Isle, which I did not think it would have so there is a lot of information in this book for anyone wanting to give colorwork a go, it is very informative, I am really inspired by this book ! I had wanted to design my own sweater (or vest for DH) and yes I could have used one of my other books but this one will be use a whole lot more b/c the COLOR pictures will help me design a lot better. It is ALWAYS easier to get inspired when you see a motif in living color vs black and white' This book is clearly one of THE BEST Fair Isle books I own! Total EYE CANDY!!!!!!!! AND, while this book could be left out on the coffee table b/c it has very pretty designs in it, it WILL live in my knitting bag so I can use this book in a good majority of the knitting I do. This gives saving wool scraps a whole new meaning.

Beautifully illustrated items that are easy to follow as you complete your project. Highly recommend for a novice knitter like me.

Exactly what it says it is: a book of charts. I like the color photographs that go with each one, so you can see it "live".

Already using it. Have had my eye on this book for a while since I was introduced to it from Planet Purl. It's VERY well organized and very well done motifs directory! Especially the extra pics of each motif: overall pattern image, enlarged example and charts in two different color patts. Also really appreciate that you organized the motifs by row and stitch count! That's been really helpful! I'm knitting a vest and using the your book and designing as I go! It's looking good and turning out great so far! Thanks for all the instruction and helpful info in the beginning, like recommendations on holding two yarns. I'm just starting out and building my fair isle skills, and I'm really enjoying it. It's really cool to start working with more than one color and watch the patterns come to life! And also mainly because I want to use my stash of one ball here, one ball there, two balls here to make sweaters or vests. Winter is coming! This has been a great book!

El libro es hermoso. Aunque esta en ingles no es dificil entender los graficos. Tiene fotos grandes a todo color. Es un libro para inspirarse a tejer.

全207ページ、オールカラー。最初に「この本の見方」のようなページから始まり、糸の説明、針、道具〜基本的な編み方、ブロッキングまで写真付きの説明があり、英語が苦手な私でもなんとなーく理解できました。 その後、色相環、フェアアイル作品のざっくりとした説明後にMotif Directoryへ。初めインデックスのような小窓写真でパターンNO.1〜200を掲載。その後、詳細チャートと写真が掲載されてます。 編み物をされる方で上手な方になればなるほど楽しめる本だと思います。特にオリジナル作品を作られる方には重宝する模様集だと感じました。

Ein tolles Buch, auch hier hat sich die Autorin sehr viel Mühe gegeben, die Muster zu zeigen und Grundlagen zu erklären. Mit etwas Übung und Selbstvertrauen kann jede/r hiermit wunderschöne Pullover, Mützen, Jacken, Handschuhe und Gebrauchsgegenstände wie z.B. ein Nadelkissen oder einen Tassenwärmer stricken. Wie bei 150 scandinavian knitting designs ist die Sortierung der Muster perfekt, nach Anzahl der Reihen und Maschen je Muster, so findet man schnell etwas passendes für ein Projekt.

Fotos e imprenta de gran calidad. Gran surtido de diseños . Muy bien definidos. Fácil de entender.

Gives lots of ideas for designs