Knitting Fair Isle Mittens & Gloves: 40 Great-Looking Designs (Paperback)

~ (Author), Carol Noble (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

As knit by hand in the Shetland Islands, Fair Isle mittens and gloves are made with tightly spun wool from the fleece of Shetland-bred sheep and feature rich color patterns and motifs that give the piece a look of intricate patterning. Only the knitter knows that despite the appearance of complexity, no more than two colors are used per row. Noble has based these patterns on mittens and gloves acquired in her travels to the Shetlands. She includes patterns for women's mittens and fingerless gloves, children's mittens, and women's gloves with 40 eye-catching design variations. Of particular interest are the brief history of knitting in the Shetlands and the illustrated description of the Shetland knitters' custom of knitting on long, double-point needles with the aid of a knitting belt or sheath. Included are full-color charts for each design, along with photos showing the front and back of each article. An excellent choice for large public libraries and ethnic needlework collections.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

Some of the 45 distinctive designs stay close to tradition; others go modern and feature a contemporary color palette. You’ll find a style for everyone. Every project has fantastic full-color graphs of both sides—so knitting is easier then ever. “An excellent choice for large public libraries and ethnic needlework collections.”—Library Journal.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Lark Books (October 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579902537
• ISBN-13: 978-1579902537
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #294,430 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars beautiful but beware, November 12, 2003

By	Sharon M. Evans (hellertown, pa USA) - See all my reviews

This book is full of beautiful gloves and mittens but beware of mistakes. There are errors in materials needed-amount of yarn. Errors in number of stitches to cast on and mistakes in the knitting charts. If you are an experienced knitter you will be able to find the problems, beginners will have a problem.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book - lots of fun and lots of variety, December 1, 2003

By	Donna (Colorado, United States) - See all my reviews

I disagree with the previous reviewers of this book. I am a compulsive mitten knitter and I totally love this book.

The colors and yarns used in the projects are traditional - in fact the mittens and gloves featured in the book were collected by the author in the Shetland Islands. The beginning of the book includes a brief history of Fair Isle kitting, along with some instruction on special techniques that are used by Shetland Island knitters. If you are the least bit interested in traditional knitting techniques, you'll be very happy with Knitting Fair Isle Mittens & Gloves.

The photographs show the palm and the back of the hand for each pair, so you can easily compare them to adjacent charts.

I would definitely recommend this book. It includes basic patterns for gloves and mittens for women and children, with charts in many styles and colors. And there's a bonus lace glove pattern in the back.

My favorite projects are the fingerless gloves, which provide an easy way for mitten knitters to ease into glove knitting. Not to mention that fingerless gloves are incredibly popular right now, so there are a slew of ideas for gifts to knit.

(The only thing missing is a pattern for men's gloves, but you can easily convert any of the women's patterns to a man's size by using a slightly heavier yarn and going up a needle size.)

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pink Poodles jump through flaming hoops --exciting!, February 16, 2003

By	Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

Amazon Verified Purchase

The good points about "Knitting Fair Isle Mittens and Gloves:

1. There are patterns of all sizes, including kids' sizes.
2. The gloves have the Fair Isle motifs placed in various ways, giving you ideas for designs of your own.
3. There are fingerless gloves patterns, fun to do and they have some utility as well as being funky-stylish.
4. The introduction has some interesting reading and historical pictures.

The not-so-good points about this book:

1. The colorways are not exciting--rather mundane, in my opinion.
2. The photography is not top-notch.
3. The color and printing are also second-rate.

If you love doing gloves, you may enjoy the color patterns in this book. I like them--they make great gifts and are fun to knit. If you only knit gloves occasionally, a basic glove pattern would do you fine, and you can figure out how to put Fair Isle style patterns on them yourself from knitting charts. You probably can also figure out how to adjust the size and how to do a fingerless glove. It's not rocket science, after all.

Recommendation: Only if you really like knitting gloves and like colorwork, or want to use the ideas as a springboard for your own creativity. And of course, it's good for those who love small projects. Not the prettiest book, but useful with those reservations.