Fair Isle Wristers by Laurie Sundstrom

Fair Isle Wristers

Knitting
September 2014
Fingering (14 wpi) ?
28 stitches and 43 rows = 4 inches
in Charts patts
US 1 - 2.25 mm
460 yards (421 m)
Adult medium (wristlets are stretchy and will  t most adult hands); 5½ inches (14.0 cm) long and 8 inches (20.3 cm) around, after blocking.
English

I adapted my Fair Isle chart from a men’s pullover pattern published in a 1920s edition of Weldon’s Needlework Encyclopedia. The sweater used ten classic Fair Isle motifs: Xs, checkerboard, crosses, triangles, snowflakes, hearts, and several lozenge shapes. I chose the snowflake as the main motif, and crosses, Xs, triangles, and a wee checkerboard to surround the central band. The colors echo those in the Prince of Wales’s sweater—browns and ochers, an interesting color scheme for the period that complemented the prince’s coloring. The wristlets are knitted in the round, with classic Fair Isle colorwork (no more than two colors per round) and a garter-stitch border at top and bottom. If you want to match your wristlets to the Prince of Wales’s sweater, use a corrugated ribbing to begin and end the design rather than the garter-stitch borders.