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Knitspiration
⚖️ Fair Isle or Intarsia? Which is better?
In December of 2000, Stamford Hospital's surgeon-in-chief James Barone published a study in the British Medical Journal.
It's goal was to put to rest the old adage that apples and oranges are impossible to compare.
Using a set of rigorous testing methodologies which covered everything from size to sweetness, he found some striking similarities.
Apples and Oranges have many common characteristics, including being grown in orchards from flowering trees, are edible fruits, the ability to be juiced, and a vulnerability to disease and insects.
They also have similar weight, shapes, and circumference.
In fact the only glaring difference was the involvement of Johnny Appleseed in spreading the fruit across America.
There's a reason he's not called Johnny Orangeseed...
Of course, this study was meant as a joke.
We all know that Apples and Oranges are nothing alike.
But there are often similar questions about Fair Isle and Intarsia.
While they are both colorwork knitting techniques, that is basically where the similarities end.
The difference between Fair Isle and Intarsia
Stranded colorwork (left) and intarsia (right) via Nimble Needles
Fair Isle is actually a specific type of stranded colorwork, although the terms have become synonymous over the years.
It's almost always knit in the round, with two colors alternating within the same row.
When one color is not being knit, it *floats* across the back of the stitch, creating a STRAND.
Intarsia, on the other hand, is characterized by switching completely from one color to another within the same row.
The yarn is not carried behind, so small *bobbins* of yarn colors are often used to make color switching easier.
This technique is used to insert blocks of color in the middle of knitted fabric, like monograms or even more detailed imagery.
Oh, and it's usually knit flat.
Strengths and Weaknesses of Fair Isle
Right side of stranded colorwork (left) and wrong side (right) via The Yarn Site
Fair Isle (and other similar stranded colorwork) shines when knit in the round.
Switching back and forth between colors within the same row is relatively easy when only making knit stitches.
This makes it very comfortable to knit once you master holding your yarns.
While traditionally only two colors are used at the same time, this limitation is subverted by switch to completely different colors in other rows.
Doing this gives the appearance of colorwork that is more complicated than it really is.
However, this also means it's harder to create large graphical images within the fabric.
Fair isle usually ends up with stripes of colorwork with frequent color changes to minimize the length of the strand floats.
On top of that, the strands created by this technique create a thicker fabric, which is warmer and less flexible than intarsia.
Pros and Cons of Intarsia
Right side of Intarsia (left) and wrong side (right) via The Woolly Brew
Instarsia is ideal for creating solid blocks of color within a piece of knitted fabric.
The term most likely came from wood inlay techniques, which placed different wood stocks within the same piece.
This allows knitters to make shapes, letters, and pictures in their knitting.
These designs can be placed freely anywhere on the fabric, using as many colors as desired.
However, this also requires that each color has it's own bobbin of yarn, and sometimes even multiple for the same color.
This can be challenging to manage with ending up with a tangled mess.
In addition, the nature of intarsia means you'll *almost* always have to knit flat, back and forth.
The color bobbins have to be swapped at the end of their section, so they have to be brought back across on the wrong side.
Today we compared two colorwork techniques. But what happens when you add a third one to the mix? I found a video that does exactly that...
Deal of the Day
Wooden Yarn Holder (15% Off)
Knitting with two colors? Put each ball on its own spinner so neither one rolls away. I've been using something similar while knitting in front of the TV. They look a little silly, but they're surprisingly useful.
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