Fair Isle Sweaters Simplified: Philosopher's Wool

by Eugene Bourgeois, Ann Bourgeois

These vibrantly patterned sweaters come from Canada's acclaimed Philosopher's Wool Company, known best for their distinctive color palettes and two-handed Fair Isle method. Sixteen sophisticated sweater patterns feature stunning stars, stained glass, garden patches, and fractured diamonds, plus the popular "Color Your Own" pattern. Discover a remarkably simple Fair Isle technique that uses circular needles and four simple stitches Read about the history of The Philosopher's Wool Company, from building their traditional-style farmhouse to dyeing their own wool and designing their Fair Isle patterns Learn Philosopher's Wool's trademark technique for transforming pullovers into cardigans with a pair of scissors and a few simple snips

Genres: Knitting, Crafts, Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2000

Reviews

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I keep recommending this book to knitters and non-knitters alike. The introduction is a great treatise on living the simple life, and learning to generate an income from your land.

[Priscilla King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Philosopher's Wool is a very nice, minimally processed, wearable wool. It can be used to knit anything made with medium to bulky yarn. It comes undyed, or dyed in extraordinarily rich, heathery colors that will make interesting sweaters, shawls, blankets, etc. A one-color Philosopher's Wool sweater is likely to attract comments like "What an interesting shade of blue--it's almost purple in this light, almost teal in this other light..."

However, Real Canadian Sweaters are traditionally knitted in at least two and usually more distinct colors, traditionally of thick wool knitted tight, like mittens, for snowproofing. Since Philosopher's Wool is Canadian it needed a book showing how to mix those colors. This book also explains how to add your own colors to the mix, and how to knit two-color fairisle stitch fast by holding one color in each hand. There are only sixteen patterns, but endless variations are encouraged.

The wool company is a family business, and the patterns are designed for the whole family, not only for women.

The sweaters shown are super-warm, most likely to be appreciated when temperatures are below freezing. Need it be mentioned that people who live in a warm climate, but like these color mixes, can knit these patterns into blankets, cushions, or laptop covers?

[Bernie4444 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fancy swatter patterns

I bought this in speculation and it turned out to be exactly what the title says. Excellent patterns and even beginning knitting instructions.

Well-rounded with history and color combinations. Kept on the shelf with other Fair Isle books.

[Sue · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is dated. Some good info but the designs are bulky and unrefined, some more intarsia than fair isle.

[Shannon Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up a copy of this book from the mill that weaves my family's wool into blankets back in 2005, just after I'd learned to knit. I knew I was in over my head, but I put it on my fiber shelf, with hopes that someday, I'd be able to learn the techniques illustrated in the book. This year, I decided to tackle it. I didn't realize that knitting books could be life-changing, but this one has been for me.
My family's flock generates 400 pounds of wool every year, and since we are meat producers, no one ever saw much value in the fleeces beyond the wholesale prices at the wool pool, or occassional blankets that we could retail at our market. We hoped to recover enough wool money only to pay for the shearer. Hairless sheep seemed tempting. But I read through the introduction this spring, which chronicles the Bourgeois family's path toward creative self-reliance and agricultural independence. It motivated me to begin a business plan for our fleeces. We expanded our line of value-added fibers on the farm as a result, which has helped draw our artsy-creative daughters into our family business even more deeply, and makes our retail displays a lot more fun to work with for us, and enticing for our customers. And then this fall, I began experimenting with the actual knitting lessons provided in the book. The techniques are easy-to-understand, I learned them quickly, and within two days, I was immersed in my first fair isle project.

[Anastaciaknits · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from paperbackbookswap. I've often gotten it from the library, and actually learned how to knit fair isle from this book years ago. The sweaters are gorgeous & most of them are easy enough for beginner fair isle knitters. My favorite is a sweater that actually uses slipped stitches and fair isle knitting.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

two-handed technique, excellent instructions for knitting a sweater in the round & cutting it open, some good patterns

[Mckinley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very helpful; didn't see anything I want to knit.

[Apryl Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This really is a lovely book. It'd be a 5-star for anyone who wants to learn the Fair Isle technique but is afraid to try. It's not a new technique, as I'd hoped, but the authentic one, including steeking (that's cutting your knitting with scissors!), and explained (with illustrations) by a patient teacher. Gorgeous colorways, too!