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Author Topic: Fair Isle Fruit Cake, anyone?  (Read 4082 times)

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Fair Isle Fruit Cake, anyone?
« on: October 24, 2014, 10:59:05 pm »
In Shetland, amongst many other wonderful experiences, I met the inspirational, brilliant and quite probably barking mad Felix, aka Felicity Ford.  She'd been the guest patron of Shetland Wool Week 2013, and this year was there giving courses on her 'Quotidian Colourwork' system.

Whilst there, her book, the Knitsonik Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook, was launched.  In it she finds inspiration in the world around her for stranded colourwork knitting, and shows you how to take a palette from your inspiring article or view, to derive shapes and to evolve these into beautiful knitwear.

Amongst the worked examples in her book are the brickwork of Reading, a Huntley and Palmers biscuit tin, her front garden, a pub sign - and a rich fruitcake.

One of her swatches looks literally good enough to eat  :D   

I'd missed the boat for crowd-funding this project, but have now bought and received my copy.

It is a most beautiful production and utterly inspiring.  I've a few projects to finish and then I can't wait to start knitting the farm  :excited: :knit: :love:
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Fair Isle Fruit Cake, anyone?
« Reply #1 on: October 25, 2014, 12:28:54 am »

Sally - you're really bad for me.....  :yippee: :yippee: I just bought my copy, and I hate the knitting of stranded work, even though I love what it looks like when done.  ::)   It will get me back into dyeing and I can go through my enormous photo library for inspiration.  :knit:  I think my first projects will be very small  :D
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

Bionic

  • Joined Dec 2010
  • Talley, Carmarthenshire
Re: Fair Isle Fruit Cake, anyone?
« Reply #2 on: October 25, 2014, 08:19:39 am »
The pictures look lovely but I too don't really like stranded work. Still umming and ahhing over whether to buy a copy.
Life is like a bowl of cherries, mostly yummy but some dodgy bits

Louise Gaunt

  • Joined May 2011
Re: Fair Isle Fruit Cake, anyone?
« Reply #3 on: October 25, 2014, 09:13:47 am »
That looks really cool. Every so often I stray intro colour work, then remember why I don't do it very often! I am currently knitting Norwegian style mittens for Christmas presents.

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Fair Isle Fruit Cake, anyone?
« Reply #4 on: October 25, 2014, 11:24:50 am »
I love knitting stranded colourwork.  Don't know why, just do.  Well, the results are fantastic, of course, but I just love knitting it too.

My Mum was always very good at Fairisle; it got her 'into trouble' at school when one of the mistresses was jealous of Mum's ability to knit fairisle with no pattern and without looking!  That mistress always gave Mum very poor marks and grotty comments on her report.  ::)

So I guess it's in the genes.  (The stranded colourwork and the p**ing off of teachers, come to think of it.  Though in my case, not the two together. lol)

Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Fair Isle Fruit Cake, anyone?
« Reply #5 on: October 25, 2014, 11:46:29 am »
The pictures look lovely but I too don't really like stranded work. Still umming and ahhing over whether to buy a copy.


As much as anything I'm interested in using what I see around me for colour schemes for dyeing.   I did that a lot a few years ago, things like summer skies, sky and land just before a big summer storm, volcano (well, I live on one, hopefully extinct  :roflanim:), autumn colours and so on.  To have it formalised should be a help - I hope  :fc:
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

Lesley Silvester

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • Telford
Re: Fair Isle Fruit Cake, anyone?
« Reply #6 on: October 26, 2014, 12:37:45 am »
I do enjoy Fair Isle and once made my daughter a beautiful Peruvian inspired poncho, but I don't think my fingers would cope with the intricacy of it now.  :(


The book does look lovely though and I'm intrigued to know what a knitted fruit cake is like.  :knit:

mojocafa

  • Joined Sep 2012
  • Angus
Re: Fair Isle Fruit Cake, anyone?
« Reply #7 on: October 26, 2014, 07:58:40 am »
Awwwwwww am disappointed

No disrespect to our  :knit:

But got myself a wee bit excited before clicking on title as I thought this was going to be a recipe :thinking:
pygmy goats, gsd, border collie, scots dumpys, cochins, araucanas, shetland ducks and geese,  marrans, and pea fowl in a pear tree.

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Fair Isle Fruit Cake, anyone?
« Reply #8 on: October 26, 2014, 11:12:01 am »
Awwwwwww am disappointed

No disrespect to our  :knit:

But got myself a wee bit excited before clicking on title as I thought this was going to be a recipe :thinking:

Actually, Felix does give the recipe for the cake she used to inspire the knitting in the book!  lol
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

Buttermilk

  • Joined Jul 2014
Re: Fair Isle Fruit Cake, anyone?
« Reply #9 on: October 29, 2014, 07:11:17 am »
I had to google this type of knitting to discover that I have been doing it for years ::)

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Fair Isle Fruit Cake, anyone?
« Reply #10 on: October 29, 2014, 10:28:30 am »
There's a super review of this book here - and a chance to win a copy of the book (if you can work out how to leave a comment.)
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

Bramblecot

  • Joined Jul 2008
Re: Fair Isle Fruit Cake, anyone?
« Reply #11 on: October 29, 2014, 11:10:09 am »
Well I managed to leave a comment ;D .  I love the way she is inspired to make the patterns but, apart from gloves, would I wear any of them?  Probably not :-\ .  Beautiful photography.  Thanks for the link.

 

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