Start Here!
- Posted on
- By Cait St. George
- 9
Learn to knit a fair isle hat taught by Cait St. George!
Hi there!
My name is Cait St. George, and I'm the manager at Cream City Yarn! You probably chatted with me on your last visit to CCY. I love to chat about yarn, fiber, sheep, knitting, crochet, you name it! I also have a deep love of color work and fair isle knitting. I was just about to cast on my next fair isle hat when I realized I probably could be teaching this as I go along!
Class Schedule
Monday, April 6- Cast On/Brim
Wednesday, April 8- Body of the Hat
Friday, April 10- Top of the Hat
Details
Even if you're a newer knitter you've probably seen fair isle knitting. Magical knit pieces that have colorful pictures KNIT IN to the fabric. How are they doing it? What the secret? It's probably SUPER hard right? Wrong. You can do it, and I'm going to teach you how. If you can knit and purl with confidence and you have a little patience you'll be just fine.
I'm going to be using the pattern "Katie's Kep" a free pattern provided for the year of 2020 by the lovely people over at Shetland Wool Week who release a new free hat pattern every year to promote their small corner of the world and the amazing knitters and sheep who live there. Check out their website, I'll bet you'll fall in love with them like I have.
If you click on this link --> Katie's Kep (Free Hat Pattern) you'll find the free pattern I will be using in this class. You could use a different hat pattern if you like, the techniques I'm going to teach you can be applied on any fair isle hat, but I'm using this one.
Supplies
You've downloaded your pattern. Now its time for YARN! Yay!
I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to knitting fair isle patterns from Shetland, you can use other yarns I won't get mad I promise, but I'll explain why I use Shetland wool with Shetland Fair Isle Patterns.
First of all what is a "Shetland"?
Shetland is a small group of islands off the north tip of Scotland. While it is located in the North Sea, it is still part of the United Kingdom. It is also home to some fabulous knitters, a breed of sheep that has the same name of the islands they inhabit, and an amazing knitting tradition. It is hard not to fall in love with Shetland as a knitter.
Shetland sheep are a hardy little breed of sheep. Yes! Just like dogs there are many breeds of sheep! You've probably heard of Merino sheep, long hailed as the softest wool- but the world is FULL of different kinds of sheep each with a different quality to their wool. Learning about sheep breeds and their wool is like learning about different wines, you can spend your lifetime learning about them! But back to Shetland Sheep. These little puffballs have been wandering these islands for hundreds of years. Adapting to the harsh conditions of the Shetland Islands for as long as they've lived there. Think about the weather there... these sheep are cozy outside during all of it, which means if you're wearing something made out of their wool you're going to be cozy in all sorts of weather too.
The other cool thing about Shetland wool is that it is practically made to be used in color work knitting. It has a slightly sticky nature to it that helps create a seamless looking garment when knit in a fair isle pattern, almost like it was all one ball of yarn when you knit it. Magic right? It also comes in hundreds of colors, choosing colors for a project made of Shetland wool is like staring at a wall of paint chips before you paint a room... your possibilities are endless.
You probably want to get your hands on some Shetland wool now right? Good news. Cream City Yarn has it. We carry a well known brand called Jamieson & Smith. --> You can purchase yours online from CCY HERE
Cream City Yarn also has made kits if you're nervous about picking your own colors for this project. Katie's Kep Kits
Do you want to learn more about picking yarn for this project? Watch my video about it!
photo credits: Jameison & Smith, Google Maps, & Shetland Wool Week
You can find the Katie's Kep pattern on Ravelry.
Hi! We no longer have kits available but we do have a wide selection of Jameison and Smith and would he happy to help you pick out colors. Schedule an appointment to shop in store OR if you're too far away you can still schedule an appointment but request a virtual one in the notes. Contact us if you have any more questions!
I just came across your "Learn to Knit a Fair Isle Hat" and wondered if you still had kits available as I have never done this color work before and am nervous about picking yarn online without actually seeing it. Thank you!
While I'm sad Shetland Wool isn't for you, you could potentially try alpaca, superwash wool, cotton or a blend of the barnyard in fingering weight as long as the fiber feels right to you. While these other options won't give you an authentic looking hat, you are the artist and you get to say how your hat looks. Sounds like you've got a Cream City Yarn visit in your future :)
Hi there, Was just watching your video and am interested in trying this. I was wondering though if you have any recommendations for a non-wool yarn. I'm allergic to the wool and just get scratchy/red.
Hi Robyn!
You don't have to sign up at all! All you have to do is read our blog post about it, watch my video, and get knitting! I will try to have them up early in the day on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of this week. Please let us know if you have any more questions! - Cait
How do we sign up/log on? What time are these?
Hi! Its super easy! Just follow along by reading the blog posts and watching the videos as they are released! That's it! Nothing special but you will need yarn and needles if you want to knit the hat! Please let us know if you have any other questions! - Cait
What a great idea! ❤️
I’m super interested! How do we get online for the class??