October 2024 – tracey doxey

This week, I finished my 2nd Fair Isle Pullover worksheet to make a vest for my sister. The finished vest, has been made for and about my sister, in that she chose the colours and she did not want arms. These decisions, as well as others, set the vest apart from my jumper, which uses 100 colours. I am now interested in exhibiting the two knits, side by side, as a piece called – I cannot Reach You.

Below are some of the instructions in the worksheet, which is easy to adapt into your own signature story in knitting.

Included in this worksheet, are 2, A4 sized complete, full colour charts used in my pullover / vest. Chart 1, is my full body chart and the sleeve is chart 2. All of the, (more than) 90 colours that I used in this jumper are listed. I am giving you the tools to make your own road map for your own vest or pullover, or scarf, or hat.

You can incorporate any of these 11 large Fair Isle OXO motifs and 12 peerie motifs into any of your own projects and use any colours that you have or even just use 2 colours.

The 190 row pattern charts, knitted in multiples of 24 stitch repeats, included in this work sheet, is not a jumper pattern, nor a vest pattern. What I have produced is a worksheet including the entire range of Fair Isle OXO
motif bands that I have knitted. I have built them into 2 large full charts with a clear centre stitch line marked so that you too, can either replicate my jumper entirely, or move the patterns and colours around to your own taste. One sleeve of my project is knitted in traditional OXO Fair Isle patterns – the other is
knitted using Aran twisting, following how I sometimes braid in my hair in French plaits. I have been asked many times, why I knitted an aran sleeve – why not? and people often have their opions on this sleeve, which is fine, but it is my knit and anyone can knit however they choose to – You don’t have to stick to EVERY rule. I have not included the Aran sleeve charts in this worksheet but the neck aran pattern is included.

The motifs and colours within this worksheet, are a treasure trove of endless possibilities for you to be creative and make your own vest or pullover by incorporating them into your own favourite vest or jumper pattern. Use any colours that you have, use any wool that you have, use 2 colours, or like me, use over 90 colours in your jumper. In the vest I used 9 colours. I am giving you a recipe for you to enjoy and work with in whatever way you want. I am giving you the tools and the freedom to make your own design. This is more than a pattern bank, I lay out how the patterns are aligned. I also explain the importance of a centre alignment.

Recently, I have been reminded of how Kaffe Fassett, in the 80’s made beautiful patterns in books and wrote, ‘ choose 9 balls of varied light colours and 9 balls of dark colours’ and people ran with that, me included. Sometimes, he would write – use double knitting yarn, sometimes he listed the yarn and the
exact colours. This worksheet is similar. It gives you all of the tools to knit your own beautiful projects and to be free with your own decisions. It gives you the chance to grow in your own understanding of your knitted projects.

I would love to see them on Instagram.
My jumper is knitted in Jamieson’s of Shetland spindrift using – some small lengths, some longer. These colours I have had left over from previous projects or workshops or designs. I just worked them together and alongside each other. I did swatch some colours to check how they worked, and I do recommend that
you do that too. As my colour choices are not often repeated in this project, not great lengths of yarn for each motif are required. But you can knit your own project differently.

Use your stash or buy just 4 colours or even 2. The choices and permutations are endless but this relies on you. It relies on being excited to try this idea and to develop your ideas. The project requires you to use your own favourite
jumper or vest pattern and figure out the centre front (which in my case, mirrored my centre back) and I knitted multiples of 24 stitch pattern to fit my size. Make sure that your motif bands align with the centre front. I have
made this easy for you by outlining the centre front line. Developing your sense of colour is achieved by enjoying colour, swatching to experiment for colour combinations.

It took me nearly one year to design and make this jumper – it took me 3 full days to map out all of pattern repeats in the motif bands and to chart every stitch used in the body and in the sleeve of my own knitting project that so many people wanted a pattern for. It has taken 2 more days to pull it together here. It took me a lot less time to knit the vest.

I knitted my jumper and the vest, in the round up until the arm holes, then I split it and worked on the front and back separately but at the same time so that I used the same colours. Make sure that the centre front stitch is the right one so that the motifs bands align above each other. In the chart, stitch 12 (out of the 24) is the centre stitch of the first large OXO motif. The charts are in multiples of 24 stitches.

The worksheet is a roadmap for you to experiment and live freely within your own colour / motif / pattern choices. I would love to see any projects that have been knitted using the worksheet which is here

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fair-isle-chart-2

lots more photos on instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/traceydoxey/

This morning, a couple of my favourite things collided to make me being in the right place at the right time on a beautiful sun sparkling morning. I walked to a favourite spot to knit at sunrise.

About 5 miles and 10 minutes from home, lies Burbage car park and bridge. From there, you can walk across the moor to Stanage Edge, which overlooks the back of Hathersage and North Lees wood and far into the distance, Hope Valley.

I’ve been coming here for years and years, to walk, sit, eat breakfast on Stanage Edge, chase fog, climb, or to knit during the golden hour of sunrise. Today, was the first frost of the year and in my tiny flat in Sheffield, I knew that the moor would sparkle. It is so close that I can walk it, cycle it but today, took the car to Burbage and walked the short distance to a trig point high above old millstones, which date back to the 18^th and 19^th century, used to grind grain into flour, left discarded in some once used quarry area. I love it in this place. Everyone who lives within a 50 mile radius knows of these stones, though many lie buried under grass and moss.

These few that lie just below Stanage, beside an old water trough are my favourites and I often visit, sitting on the same rock with my same thermos, to knit and take in the splendour of this small valley next to a city.

Anyway, last night, I grafted the shoulders of my latest Fair Isle Pullover and took it to the millstones to start knitting the neck. It was such a beautiful morning at golden hour where every rock was casting its own shadow from the rising sun. The short grass glistened with crystalised frost. I knitted for some time then went to Hathersage for a cheeky breakfast at Outside Hathersage café, which was full of climbers talking of their chosen climbing routes.