Tuesday, January 17, 2012

fo: selbu modern


Yay, Fair Isle hat! I'd been afraid of Fair Isle for so long - I tried doing it once, when we were living in Tokyo, and it just kept unraveling in my hands, and the whole thing just put me off the technique for ages. I'd been wanting to learn it properly for some time, though, since there are so many gorgeous patterns using Fair Isle out there. This time, it came much easier, possibly because I bothered to read the online tutorial carefully for once (something I am extremely bad about), even if it took awhile to get the hang of holding yarn in both my right and left hands (usually I just hold my yarn in my right hand). It's not perfect, but I'm still pretty happy with it - the excitement I felt while knitting this was almost akin to the excitement I felt the first time I knit anything: I couldn't believe I was actually doing it. 


The pattern is the deservedly popular Selbu Modern, which is free and easy to follow. I'd definitely recommend it as a first Fair Isle pattern - having just two colors to negotiate made my life easier, and it was easy to fall into the rhythm of the pattern and not have to look at the chart too much once I got into it. I used the recommend yarns, the Fibre Company's Fingering Canopy, which I also liked a lot - the finished hat feels just fuzzy enough. I blocked over a dinner plate, and am very happy with the resulting fit.


 Raveled here. 



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25 comments:

  1. JessJanuary 17, 2012 at 8:01 AM

    So pretty! I need to learn fair isle too, it's the one thing I can't do. Tried, but failed miserably. doh!

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    1. mikkaJanuary 17, 2012 at 11:40 AM

      Ooh, good luck! I was so afraid of it for so long, but it turned out to be much simpler than I thought - it helped going reallllly slow at first :)

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  2. AllisonJanuary 17, 2012 at 9:12 AM

    Beautiful! Love the colors you chose. I really love fair isle, although I've only done two colors at a time, nothing more. I made two Christmas stockings last year and they turned out great!

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    1. mikkaJanuary 17, 2012 at 11:41 AM

      Thank you so much!! Christmas stockings sound so pretty :)

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  3. Erin KateJanuary 17, 2012 at 9:15 AM

    It's gorgeous! You must be so proud!

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  4. erinJanuary 17, 2012 at 1:38 PM

    it looks gorgeous! it definitely doesn't look like your first time with colorwork =)

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  5. Carmela BiscuitJanuary 17, 2012 at 2:32 PM

    Wow, you made this so quickly and it looks perfect! Never would have guessed that it's your first fair isle project. I love this pattern so much and I also have it on my to do list at Ravelry. Great color and yarn choice too, beautiful hat!

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    1. mikkaJanuary 18, 2012 at 5:25 PM

      Thanks so much! I definitely recommend this project, it's a gorgeous pattern :)

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  6. grandmastatusJanuary 17, 2012 at 2:39 PM

    It looks wonderful! ♥

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  7. NessJanuary 17, 2012 at 3:03 PM

    Cute! I was considering doing this pattern in Loft, but with three (gasp!) colors, if I can figure out a pleasing pattern. Yours has made me fall in love with the pattern all over again. :) Gorgeous color choices!

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    1. mikkaJanuary 18, 2012 at 5:26 PM

      3 colors! I bet that'll look gorgeous, I'd love to see what you come up with!

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  8. SyknitsJanuary 18, 2012 at 9:59 AM

    I feel exactly the same way. It looks intimidating. I am not sure if I should do a class or look at a book

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    1. mikkaJanuary 18, 2012 at 5:27 PM

      It's not as bad as it seems it will be, if that makes any sense. I figured it out from tutorials that came up when I googled Fair Isle tutorial - it was just the first written (rather than video) tutorial that I used.

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  9. JulieJanuary 18, 2012 at 10:23 AM

    Your Selbu is so, so beautiful!! isn't colourwork addictive?! What a gorgeous job you did.

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    1. mikkaJanuary 18, 2012 at 5:28 PM

      Thanks so much! Someday I'll have to get up the nerve to knit your gorgeous cardigan from the latest knitty :)

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  10. EvelynJanuary 18, 2012 at 3:40 PM

    On my list of knitting to try this year is Fair Isle and you've completely inspired me!

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    1. mikkaJanuary 18, 2012 at 5:28 PM

      Ooh, I definitely recommend going for it! It's so much fun :)

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  11. TaloferiaJanuary 18, 2012 at 4:33 PM

    This is so beautiful! It's comforting somehow that someone else was also afraid of fair isle :)

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    1. mikkaJanuary 18, 2012 at 5:29 PM

      Thank you so much - I was SO afraid to try, but it's so fun now :) At least, for simple patterns using 2 colors! I need to branch out now...

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  12. AnonymousJanuary 19, 2012 at 7:57 AM

    It looks beautiful!
    I think I'm going to make it for my own as well - I have a skein each of purple and lilac alpaca that might look good for this.

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  13. buttons and beeswaxJanuary 20, 2012 at 6:07 AM

    Wow, this is properly gorgeous! I recently got the hang of two handed fair isle too - it's really fun isn't it! I found my tension worked much better that way than trying to do it with one hand. This is a really pretty pattern :)

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  14. GinaJanuary 31, 2012 at 9:45 AM

    SO beautiful! I am about to cast-on one of these for myself! What are the names of the colors that you used for yours?

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  15. RachelFebruary 7, 2012 at 8:18 PM

    I've just started this hat - I'm curious: from your picture did you add an extra repeat to allow for a little more flop? Or did you get that from blocking? THANKS! Yours is beautiful!

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