Fair Isle…Check

I picked up Cheesylove yesterday and I just couldn’t put her down. I swear fair isle is like crack for knitters. Once you start you need more and more. I finished the fair isle band and one side of the neckline:

cheesyLoveFIDone

In case you don’t remember, I’m making modifications to the top of the sweater. My version has raglan sleeves, and they’re going to be shorter. I still haven’t decided if I want to do short sleeves or 3/4 length.
cheesyLoveArmholeDecCU

I’m very happy with the way the ribbed raglan decreases came out. I read through many patterns before deciding on how to do them. In the armhole, I kept a K2 P1 K2 edge. So, whenever I decreased I did so under the innermost K2. Meaning, decrease rows went like this: K2 P1 K1, SSK, knit to last 6 sts, K2tog K1 P1 K2. This preserved a K2 P1 K2 edge throughout the armhole. I plan to do the same decreases on the sleeves.
On the body, I made the center 2 sts a K2. So, when it came time to split for the V neck, I had 1 knit stitch on either side of the neck. I did the same basic decreases as for the armholes, but with only one K on the end. Since I do not need to seam the neckline like I do the armhole, I slipped the neckline stitch on every WS side for a nice rolled edge. The neck looks like it will lay nice and flat without any need for finishing.
Oh, I think I made the neck/armhole an inch or two too long. But I’m going to finish up the body (or at least one side) and do a sleeve before I rip out. Even if I have to rip it won’t be much more to reknit – those last 10 rows go so quicklyl
One other thing I don’t think I’ve mentioned before. I slightly modified how the body is set up at the bottom. The instructions say to start with a K2 P1 rib, with markers before the K2 to indicate the sides. Instead, I moved the markers in a single stitch so they were between 2 knit sts – K1 pm K1 P1 K2. This way, the decreases were always symmetrical. See:
cheesyLoveSideDec

11 thoughts on “Fair Isle…Check

  1. awsume entry. I would love to do the tank version of that but pick my own fair isle pattern instead of the hearts. Maybe once I get and finsh vera thats something I can attempt.

  2. Hey, Cheesylove is on my “one day” list too! I love the way yours is looking,and the color of the hearts is great. Can’t wait to see it finished!

  3. Love the way the hearts like in the overdyed yarn! It’s a great looking sweater and thanks for sharing all your expertise on this project. It will be a great sweater!

  4. I agree – love how that pink variegated looks against the grey! Hey, you could even make a Cheesylove tank with those mods… 😉

  5. I like the color of the hearts much more than I expected to. I wouldn’t say that when you first showed me the yarn- I wasn’t sure how I’d like it with that yarn but wow! I love it!

Comments are closed.