200 Fair Isle Motifs: A Knitter's Directory

I love to knit Fair Isle patterns and often have the urge to incorporate some Fair Isle motifs into mostly solid projects that I am making. These include hats, sweaters, afghans and the like. This book is perfect for incorporating Fair Isle into your knitting patterns or developing a pattern of your own using one of the 200 motifs from this knitting directory. It is a wellstone of pattern possibilities. The author describes the book as "a knitter's directory of 200 Fair Isle motifs". Is is, in essence, an encyclopedic dictionary of most of the motifs you can imagine in the Fair Isle tradition. "The directory is organized by row and stitch count. It includes a stunning, actual-size photograph, a black and white chart, a color chart, a color variation chart, and a suggested all-over repeat chart for each of the 200 motifs." There is a section on Essential Skills for Fair Isle knitting. For the purist, there is no substitute for Shetland wool. However, the author concedes that baby and sock yarns, Norwegian yarn, Icelandic wool, mohair, cotton, variegated and novelty yarns can all be used to create Fair Isle. The section on gauge stresses the importance of knowing gauge before starting the project. We all know this to be true but even I have knitted sweaters big enough to fit the whole state of Iowa into because I was lazy about gauge. There is a nice section about casting on and another about circular knitting. The author has a page on how to hold the yarn and another page on stranding. There is a section on weaving and one on increasing and decreasing. Steeking, a process that has always scared me, is covered as well. Color theory is addressed which is very helpful because the multi-colored basis of Fair Isle depends on color harmonies and choice. The author addresses design principles and ways to plan a project. Excitedly, I turned to the section on Motif Selector and was gaga. There are so many motifs and so many beautiful ones. Each motif is shown in multi-colored possibilities. The photographs are close-up and beautiful. Interweave Press and Mary Jane Mucklestone have outdone themselves with this book, a resource any Fair Isle knitter (or knitter-to-be) can not do without. It is superb.

If Alice Stareemore is the Queen of Fair Isle than this author is clearly in the Royal Family. I was hesitant to order this book b/c I have books that have many motifs, and I have all the " real" fair isle books that have been published thru the years. BUT this book, is pure EYE CANDY,,,,nothing less. Others before me have gone more in depth in their reviews so I will not go over what has been reviewed already. Some knitters are really into cables and stitch patterns and then there are knitters who have a deep love of color, and I love color in my knitting All my knitting not just in sweaters. All I know is that this book has all the motifs in COLOR which puts this in a completely different category~ There are motifs that I can use on a hat,,,,on mittens, and ultimately, on a sweater. I will find ways to use this book in ALL my areas of knitting! ( and yes I will be keeping this book in my knitting bag AT ALL TIMES) This book has lots of information on a " how to" w/ Fair Isle, which I did not think it would have so there is a lot of information in this book for anyone wanting to give colorwork a go, it is very informative, I am really inspired by this book ! I had wanted to design my own sweater (or vest for DH) and yes I could have used one of my other books but this one will be use a whole lot more b/c the COLOR pictures will help me design a lot better. It is ALWAYS easier to get inspired when you see a motif in living color vs black and white' This book is clearly one of THE BEST Fair Isle books I own! Total EYE CANDY!!!!!!!! AND, while this book could be left out on the coffee table b/c it has very pretty designs in it, it WILL live in my knitting bag so I can use this book in a good majority of the knitting I do. This gives saving wool scraps a whole new meaning.

Already using it. Have had my eye on this book for a while since I was introduced to it from Planet Purl. It's VERY well organized and very well done motifs directory! Especially the extra pics of each motif: overall pattern image, enlarged example and charts in two different color patts. Also really appreciate that you organized the motifs by row and stitch count! That's been really helpful! I'm knitting a vest and using the your book and designing as I go! It's looking good and turning out great so far! Thanks for all the instruction and helpful info in the beginning, like recommendations on holding two yarns. I'm just starting out and building my fair isle skills, and I'm really enjoying it. It's really cool to start working with more than one color and watch the patterns come to life! And also mainly because I want to use my stash of one ball here, one ball there, two balls here to make sweaters or vests. Winter is coming! This has been a great book!

This book has beautiful designs with great color combinations! I love the way the author puts swatches for every design in the beginning of the book with page numbers next to them, huge plus. Not only is that helpful for finding exactly what you're looking for, but looking at all the beautiful colors really gets your creative juices flowing! This book is also very informative! You will learn color theory and how to combine colors, how to combine motifs for a hot design that's anything but boring, how to increase and decrease in fair isle knitting, steeking, planning a project and different ways to place your designs on a garment, and so much more! There are also repeat pattern charts and color variations for each swatch! I love this book, and kinda knew that I would. It's like eye candy!

Beautifully illustrated items that are easy to follow as you complete your project. Highly recommend for a novice knitter like me.

If you enjoy Fair Isle knitting, you will definitely want to add this excellent Fair Isle technical reference and stitch dictionary to your knitting book collection! It's a wonderful "quick reference" guide to colorwork knitting that beautifully complements my two favorite "complete" Fair Isle knitting references, Alice Starmore's Book of Fair Isle Knitting , and The Art of Fair Isle Knitting: History, Technique, Color & Patterns (both of which discuss Fair Isle knitting techniques and design theory in depth, and include some wonderful garment patterns). This book contains no garment patterns. Most of the book is given over to a directory of repeating Fair Isle motifs, which are arranged in order from the simplest (single-row, two-stitch "lice") to the most complicated (19-row, 24-stitch rosettes). The directory starts with a "Motif Selector" that shows each motif knitted in a full-color swatch. The stitch pattern pages that follow for each motif include (1) a chart for the motif by itself, (2) a chart for the motif in a repeating pattern, (3) a full-color chart for the motif as knitted in the sample swatch, and (4) a full-color chart for the motif in the repeating pattern as knitted in the swatch. Each motif page gives the row and stitch counts for the individual motif. Motifs include the traditional OXO, poinsettias, pine trees, rosettes, hearts, Greek keys, and many others. Knitters who are new to Fair Isle knitting will love the beautiful full-color, close-up photos of Fair Isle knitting on the needles that appear in the comprehensive "Essential Skills" chapter. Particularly valuable are the "Holding the Yarn" photos that show three ways of holding yarn for two-color knitting, and the "Weaving" photos that show the back of the work with perfectly-tensioned floats. The "Essential Skills" chapter covers (1) yarn, (2) gauge, (3) casting on, (4) circular knitting, (5) holding the yarn, (6) increasing and decreasing, (7) correcting mistakes (by taking back, unraveling rows, or using duplicate stitch), (8) joining pieces together, (9) steeking, (10) blocking and finishing, (11) color theory, (12) color harmony, (13) color choice, (14) classic design principles, and (15) planning a project. Each topic is clearly explained using text, drawings, and step-by-step photos. Because it is beautiful to look at, this book should make a wonderful gift for any knitter, regardless of the knitter's skill level. However, knitters should be able to read charts to get the most out of the book. (For learning to read knitting charts, I recommend Charts Made Simple: understanding knitting charts visually ). Because the book is an invaluable reference for any knitter who is interested in Fair Isle colorwork knitting or design, I give it an unqualified 5 stars.

The first 30-some odd pages contain advice on using Fair Isle motifs, and some of the tools and skills necessary, including a basic overview of color theory. The rest of the book is the motifs. Every example contains an excellent photograph, along with three charts — one in the colors of the photo, one in a different color scheme, and in simple grid. In addition, some pages show samples of combining various motifs. Only two drawbacks: Occasionally the colors in the photos did not seem (to me) to contain enough contrast to clearly see the design; in addition I disagree with the author's advice that aligning patterns with differing stitch repeats is only necessary at the center of the garment. I prefer to use patterns that will align throughout, but this is, of course, a personal preference. Highly recommended.

This is great, just what I was hoping for, really. If you've ever thought about borrowing motifs from any number of Fair Isle patterns to put your own together, this makes that really easy and convenient because the charts are right where you'd expect them to be. The motifs are also nicely organized, and the variety of colors used are just lovely...never garish. It's a precarious balance, I think, to create a book that uses yarns and colors to communicate ideas without those yarns and colors taking over center stage.Ms. Mucklestone handles that balance splendidly. If the colors on the cover appeal to you, so will the rest of this book. I've noticed with collections of things that one can buy at once like that Columbia Classical Music collection you bought years ago, or one's first giant tool or hardware parts set, or even when we used to buy albums years ago, there was often one thing that received a lot of use, a couple more that were used sometimes, and a whole lot of things that were rarely if ever used. Stitch dictionaries, and if I may be so bold as to include this with those, frequently don't fit that type, and this one certainly doesn't. There's no dregs here, no filler...these are all motifs that seem like they might have a useful place. If you collect stitch dictionaries as I do, this one will have a worthy place. It seems evident to me that this book was constructed with a lot of care, and a lot of attention to detail. It expands my "vocabulary" considerably, and I already have a project in mind with which to use it.

El libro es hermoso. Aunque esta en ingles no es dificil entender los graficos. Tiene fotos grandes a todo color. Es un libro para inspirarse a tejer.

全207ページ、オールカラー。最初に「この本の見方」のようなページから始まり、糸の説明、針、道具〜基本的な編み方、ブロッキングまで写真付きの説明があり、英語が苦手な私でもなんとなーく理解できました。 その後、色相環、フェアアイル作品のざっくりとした説明後にMotif Directoryへ。初めインデックスのような小窓写真でパターンNO.1〜200を掲載。その後、詳細チャートと写真が掲載されてます。 編み物をされる方で上手な方になればなるほど楽しめる本だと思います。特にオリジナル作品を作られる方には重宝する模様集だと感じました。

Ein tolles Buch, auch hier hat sich die Autorin sehr viel Mühe gegeben, die Muster zu zeigen und Grundlagen zu erklären. Mit etwas Übung und Selbstvertrauen kann jede/r hiermit wunderschöne Pullover, Mützen, Jacken, Handschuhe und Gebrauchsgegenstände wie z.B. ein Nadelkissen oder einen Tassenwärmer stricken. Wie bei 150 scandinavian knitting designs ist die Sortierung der Muster perfekt, nach Anzahl der Reihen und Maschen je Muster, so findet man schnell etwas passendes für ein Projekt.

Fotos e imprenta de gran calidad. Gran surtido de diseños . Muy bien definidos. Fácil de entender.

Gives lots of ideas for designs