"Fair Isle" technique in crochet?

[DogCatMom]

The Fair Isle method of producing stunning geometric designs in knitting is very well developed. Given the leaps and bounds by which crochet has developed in the past several years, I wonder whether anyone has run across hints / guidelines / suggestions for producing Fair Isle designs using crochet?

 

Tapestry crochet (Carol Ventura), Aran crochet (Jane Snedden Peever), entrelac crochet (Joyce Wyatt), and Tunisian crochet (the specific project presented by Jane Bryant) all cover ground that knitting had staked out as its own long past. (For more discussion/photos, see Crochet Master Class by Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss.) Mosaic crochet (Lily Chin) is also moving in the direction of Fair Isle techniques, to my eye at least.

 

But an Internet search on the phrase "Fair Isle" + crochet yields perhaps two project books in all.

 

Is this a "sink or swim" proposition? I.e., buy a project book and go for it?

 

Does anyone know whether there are technique books/pamphlets/websites available on "Fair Isle" crochet? (The CGOA website seems not to know of any.) Thank you!

 

DCM

[craftyone]

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/leisure-arts-4820-fair-isle-to-crochet

I looked on Ravelry and found 1 leisure arts book #4820 (afghans)

http://www.ravelry.com/groups/crochet-fair-isle

a Ravelry group on fair isle crochet

[magiccrochetfan]

Have you seen the Korsnas sweaters that are made up of colorwork crochet and sections of knitting? to me this seems like a type of Fair isle (as far as my understanding of what "fair isle" means, but i could be wrong about that). Korsnas article on Carol Ventura's blog http://www.tapestrycrochet.com/blog/?p=23

 

ravelry lists a few Korsnas-type crochet patterns http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search#sort=best&craft=crochet&query=korsnas

 

Danielle Krassner has several colorwork designs, her page on Ravelry http://www.ravelry.com/designers/danielle-kassner and a tutorial on her blog http://crochetcodex.blogspot.com/2008/02/choreography-of-crochet-jacquard.html

[DogCatMom]

@craftyone: Thank you for the book; yes, that's one of the two I had found. But I had *not* found the Ravelry discussion group. Terrific! It doesn't show a lot of recent activity, but just reading previous discussions will no doubt produce a lot of information. Woo hoo!

 

@magiccrochetfan: Korsnäs! If it's not *exactly* Fair Isle, it will most definitely do. Also, through following links from Carol Ventura's blog entry on her visit to the heart of Korsnäs country, I found the Spanish-language Tejemanejes website, with a tutorial on the Korsnäs technique added to the instrux for a pair of socks called "Bernart de Ventadorn." This is stunning: For many years, I directed a vocal quartet specializing in medieval and Renaissance music. Ventadorn was a troubadour, a musician from medieval Aquitaine and northern Spain. To find such a like mind is amazing....here *and* there!

 

And it's only been an hour or so....maybe more C'villers will have additional amazing information. *swoon*

 

DCM

[Becky Morgan]

And the really neat thing about Fair Isle crochet is that if you want to, you can make it reversible. If you carry the colors, some of the hidden color shows through, but you can turn that into part of the design. If you use bobbins, all you have to do is twist the yarns to get a good solid connection.

We're not limited to Fair Isle, either. When it comes to colorwork, you can knit or crochet cross stitch charts (if you knit them, be prepared to double one row out of every five to get height). For that matter, if you want a petit point purse or the like, you can crochet with the specified colors of embroidery floss, although you'd usually need to use more strands than the chart calls for.

[craftylady1956]

Wow--Just when I thought I was alone in the world of hoping for more Fair Isle crochet.......LOL.

 

I have 4 kids one of whom listens very very carefully when his Mama talks....I had mentioned to him before last Christmas about Fair Isle...(Like a 30 year old Navy man would know what I meant--LOL) BUT I was very surprised when at Christmas I received this book he ordered for me....on Fair Isle. I have yet to try any of the patterns...

Fair Isle to Crochet (Leisure Arts #4820) by Karen Whooley

 

It is on Amazon....

 

PS Last week was my birthday and we celebrated it yesterday----same son gave me a gift I mentioned to him 3 weeks ago.....guess I taught him how to be a good listener.Ha ha

[Heather414]

A lot of Anne Halliday's patterns have a Fair Isle look to them although I'm not sure her technique would be technically considered Fair Isle.

 

In this pamphlet are several that have that look http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/leisure-arts-2577-winter-patterns. And also in this book http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/leisure-arts-100318-afghans-for-all-seasons-book-1 is a beautiful pattern called Fireside Cheer.

 

I've made three of these types of patterns and you can see them on my project page (if you are interested) http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Heather414.

 

I'm in the Fair Isle group on Ravelry, but I've never really noticed a lot of activity going on there (I wish there were more).

[TheKnottyMale]

I've been doing tapestry crochet since 2005. It was a little bit confusing at first, but it didn't take long at all to grasp the entire concept. I joined Carol Venturas Yahoo Tapestry Crochet group when I first began doing this. Her group is FULL of helpful advice. In my opinion, the hardest part is keeping multiple strands untwisted while they are being worked.

 

You can find out more information and also find some small sized beginner patterns at www.tapestrycrochet.com

I am espcially fond of the free Kitty Bag pattern

[PWhitlee]

Tapestry crochet and fair isle look so gorgeous, but I'm still getting used to the idea of even garment crocheting, so colorwork seems especially complicated.

 

I've done a few things here and there involving colorwork, of course, but nothing so intricate as tapestry or fair isle, and I'm a bit terrified of it. I have noticed a lack of patterns in that area, though, so when I do finally decide to make the attempt, i don't think I'll have an easy time of it.

[DogCatMom]

Tapestry crochet and fair isle look so gorgeous, but I'm still getting used to the idea of even garment crocheting, so colorwork seems especially complicated.

 

I've done a few things here and there involving colorwork, of course, but nothing so intricate as tapestry or fair isle, and I'm a bit terrified of it. I have noticed a lack of patterns in that area, though, so when I do finally decide to make the attempt, i don't think I'll have an easy time of it.

 

Tapestry crochet need not be "intricate." Take a look at Carol Ventura's beginning free patterns here; they have only two colors, and they also include (for free!) tutorials on the needed techniques.

 

DCM

[PWhitlee]

Tapestry crochet need not be "intricate." Take a look at Carol Ventura's beginning free patterns here; they have only two colors, and they also include (for free!) tutorials on the needed techniques.

 

DCM

 

That's fantastic! I had only ever seen those patterns that are featured in magazines and they look so darn intricate; I've never actually done it yet, so looking at a few different things just freaks me out about it. Many of those look simple enough, though, so that's really awesome.

 

Thank you so much for that.