I have always wanted to try Fair Isle knitting. The other evening I was surfing the internet and found a pattern for a Miniature Knit Christmas Stocking. I saved the pattern in my computer, and then showed it to my daughter who is still here for Christmas break. We both kept thinking about the pattern, so the next day we decided to take some Koigu yarn and give it a try even though neither of us needed to start anything new.
Really it wasn't quite that simple. The pattern on the internet was knit as a flat piece and then seamed up the back with the heel knit in two pieces. We decided that since we have both knit socks (regular people sized) that we could change the pattern and knit this miniature stocking in the round. You've heard of a quilt-as-you-go project. Well, this project was a knit-as-you-go. We just started knitting and then stopped and brainstormed along the way.
After this little project, I have quite a healthy respect for Fair Isle knitters. Their end product is always so beautiful and professional looking. I found it to be kind of fiddly because to do Fair Isle the correct way you have to knit one color with your left hand and the other with your right. So you have to be somewhat adept at continental as well as English knitting. Now having said all that, I like the finished product and we have plans to do a second stocking. DD just made notes as we knit last night. She is rewriting the pattern and reworking the chart now. Then we will do a second stocking .My stocking is the green one; DD made the blue one.
Hope you are finding some time to stitch today!