Knitting... in Two Colors!

When I saw this pattern, I knew that I had to try it. It was just so cute. Which meant that I had to learn fair-isle knitting... something that has really intimidated me. It just looks so hard.

I'm not usually afraid of trying a new technique--I tend to jump right in with nary a swatch (not always so smart). The thought of working with more than one color was different though. It looks so complex.

I was determined to at least try, because there are so many patterns I would like to knit. This seemed like the perfect starter project with its chunky yarn and only two colors. First I taught myself to knit the English way, which really wasn't so bad, just slow, slow, slow. I'm sure I would speed up with practice, but I've always knit Continental style, so it was a little awkward.

I decided to jump right in after that, and start the hat. You know what? It really wasn't that hard at all. My main issues were joining in the new color of yarn (what is the best way? tie it on?) and keeping my tension even. It probably would have been even easier if I hadn't been juggling the DPNs, but I don't really like short circular needles either. For all the awkwardness of knitting with two hands it went pretty quickly--the photo shows just a few hours work.

I spent the rest of the night admiring my work while watching Tsotsi (I highly recommend it--but it has subtitles, so no knitting) with my husband. Afterward, he said that he thought I kept looking at him during the movie, but whenever he turned to look at me I was looking at my hat sitting between us on the couch. Guilty! I'm so glad I finally tried this--there really wasn't anything to be afraid of after all.