Fair Isle Knitting for the First Time with Joan Sheridan
About Fair Isle Knitting for the First Time with Joan Sheridan
Join in the fun of stranded color knitting the Fair Isle way! In this hands-on class, you’ll be introduced to the yarn of Shetland as well as a bit of the history and the unique story behind this colorful, time-honored technique. We’ll work with traditional jumper-weight, woolen-spun Shetland yarn, equivalent to fingering weight. After some practice knitting with two colors, you’ll begin your own Fair Isle headband using a pattern Joan developed specifically for learning the technique. Topics to be covered include: three ways to knit with two strands of yarn at the same time, yarn dominance, yarn management, maintaining even tension, floats and tails, reading and using color charts. You’ll leave with the skills and confidence to continue exploring the wonderful world of Fair Isle knitting, one colorful stitch at a time!
Supplies, Equipment & Materials Needed for Class
• US 1 (2.25 mm) and US 3 (3.25 mm) 16 inch (40 cm) circular needles for knitting in the round
• Scissors
• Note taking materials
• Spare set of US 3 (3.25 mm) needles for practicing
If not purchasing the class kit from the instructor, you will also need
• Two contrasting colors of Jamieson & Smith or Spindrift Shetland jumper weight yarn
• A ruler
• Two T-pins
• Locking stitch markers
Materials Kit
$25 - (plus shipping and applicable taxes)
Optional kit may be ordered at heritagespinning.com (see the kits section of the webstore). It includes two contrasting skeins of jumper weight yarn (note the colors in the comment section at check out), stitch markers, pattern, two T-pins and a ruler.
Materials kits to be purchased directly with instructor.
Pre-class Homework
• Print out the pattern PDF that will be provided after registration
• Decide which color will be your background color—it can be either the light or dark color
• Using smaller circular needles, Cast On 144 stitches with the background color
• Join in the round and place marker to indicate beginning of round
• Work six rounds of 2x2 (knit two, purl two) ribbing
• Switch to larger needles and increase as follows in round 7 as follows:
◦ Knit 9, make 1, (knit 14, make 1) 9 times then knit 9 (total 154 stitches).
◦ Leave on needles.
Skill Level
Advanced beginner; can knit and purl and knows how to knit in the round.
Contact the Teacher
Send a direct message from the teacher's profile page with any questions you might have about the class.
When
3-hour live online session.
Enrolled students receive 30-day access to the video recording of the class.
How It Works
Register and enroll above. Enrollment is not complete until payment is made on the next page, by credit card or Paypal via our secure platform. Enrolled students will receive an immediate email confirmation of enrollment, and on the day before the seminar, a reminder with Zoom link to join the class via email. Students will also be able to join the Zoom sessions from their Lessonface dashboard. Students can connect to Zoom using a tablet or computer with reliable internet. To actively participate online students also need a webcam with microphone.
Joan Sheridan
Joan Sheridan is a weaver, knitter, spinner, fiber explorer, and owner of Heritage Spinning and Weaving in Lake Orion, Michigan since 2000. She confesses that every room in her house holds fiber tools and projects, and “bored” is absolutely not in her vocabulary. Joan has taught and presented at conferences, festivals, for guilds and shops, and on tour in Norway.
View all Maryland Sheep and Wool Winterfest Fiber Arts Seminars
About Lessonface, PBC & the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival
Lessonface's mission is to help students achieve their goals while treating teachers equitably. Since 2012, we've hosted more than 30,000 students and 2,000 teachers for over 500,000 music, language, and arts lessons and classes online. We've hosted the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival's virtual fiber arts seminars since 2021, and are very happy to be hosting these seminars for the sixth annual Winterfest January 30-31, 2027.