Knitting Fair Isle Mittens & Gloves: 40 Great-Looking Designs [Paperback]

Carol Rasmussen Noble (Author), Carol Noble (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 28, 2002

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.

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 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: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,252,478 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 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 review is from: Knitting Fair Isle Mittens & Gloves: 40 Great-Looking Designs (Paperback)

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.

8 of 8 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

This review is from: Knitting Fair Isle Mittens & Gloves: 40 Great-Looking Designs (Paperback)

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.)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply fantastic!, December 20, 2009

By 

Su-Q "hunbunsmommy" (Casper, Wyoming) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Knitting Fair Isle Mittens & Gloves: 40 Great-Looking Designs (Paperback)

The price of this book here ($72), not thru amazon but by individual sellers, is outrageous for this book! If nothing else, we can always count on someone taking advantage of lack of competition...

I found this book at my library and it's simply fantastic! I've been working on a pair of fingerless gloves and haven't had a problem with inaccuracy in any of the patterns. At most, it's time consuming and takes a lot of patience if you use all the recommended colors. However, I'm looking forward to a one-of-a-kind pair of gloves that will also be a conversation starter. There are a lot of less expensive yarns out there that can be substituted (DO YOUR SWATCH!!) for the first practice pair, and I'd recommend instructions by Elizabeth Zimmermann (available on DVD) in knitting in the round; since watching her vid, I've found circular knitting on double-pointed needles to be at least as easy & twice as fun as straight needle knitting - it doesn't have to be as hard as it looks!

Overall, this is one of my favorite knitting books & I'd highly recommend it to beginners and pros alike.