Fair Isle (technique)

Fair Isle (/fɛəraɪ̯l/) is a traditional knitting technique used to create patterns with multiple colours.

[1] The simplest Fair Isle pattern uses circular or double pointed needles, cast on any number of stitches.

A more modern variation is woven Fair Isle, where the unused strand is held in slightly different positions relative to the needles and thereby woven into the fabric, still invisible from the front but trapped closely against the back of the piece.

Steeks (from the Scottish word meaning 'stitch', 'to close shut', and comprising several stitches) are worked across the armhole openings allowing the body to be completed in the round without interruption.

Many people use the term Fair Isle when they mean stranded knitting, and this is inaccurate.

In Fair Isle knitting, only 2 colors are used per round and yarn is carried for a limited number of stitches across the back of the work.