There's something about Fair Isle knitting that really speaks to us.

Maybe it's the infinite color combinations, or the graphic nature of the patterns. Maybe it's the fact that stranded colorwork projects tend to be especially cozy. Who knows—we just know that we love it.

Which is not to say that it's easy. Knitting Fair Isle patterns often requires a lot of practice and patience, but the end result is so worth it. If you, too, are inspired by colorwork knitting patterns but are nervous about trying it, here are some tips. (If you're already familiar with colorwork knitting, be sure to watch Emily's video below for some more advanced stranded knitting tricks.)

Start Big
Look for big pattern repeats—these allow you to more easily see what's happening. The Evie Scarf, designed by Martha Wissing for Portfolio Vol 2, features large repeating snowflakes knit in one shade of Berroco Ultra® Alpaca and one shade of Berroco Ultra® Alpaca Tonal. A large pattern repeat helps you get in the swing of reading a colorwork chart. A worsted-weight yarn allows you to easily practice different techniques for holding the yarn (you can hold both yarns in your dominant hand, or try holding on in each hand, as demonstrated in this video.

Contrasting Colors are Key
Perhaps the most daunting part of colorwork knitting is choosing colors. Starting with a project that only uses two colors, such as Beatrice Perron Dahlen's Marguerite Hat from Portfolio Vol 2, allows you practice determining contrasting colors that appeal to you. Berroco Ultra® Alpaca comes in plenty of colors for you to practice with, and Amy Christoffers wrote a blog post on how to choose colors for Fair Isle projects.

Emily's video below demonstrates additional colorwork knitting techniques, such as how to read colorwork charts, the ideal method for twisting the yarns, the best way to carry the floats along the back, and more!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for even more great technique videos!

The pattern Emily is demonstrating in the video is Ramond, a free colorwork knitting cowl inspired by Icelandic pattern motifs.

Practice your stranded colorwork knitting with this week's free pattern, the Fox Grape mittens. These mittens are knit using two colors of Berroco Tuscan Tweed™ in an easy-to-knit colorwork pattern.

Download Fox Grape Mittens Pattern

Let me know what colorwork projects you've knit! You can email me your Fair Isle stories, or share photos of your color work projects on social media and tag us using @BerrocoYarn.

Also, tomorrow (November 30) is the LAST DAY for our Shop LYS promotion! You can submit receipts until December 9, but be sure to make your purchases by the end of the day tomorrow to earn free Berroco patterns!

Happy knitting,

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