Fair Isle Knitting Quick Tip: Use Mini Skein Sets!

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You know what I’m really good at? Knitting! You know what I’m kind of clueless about? Color Theory. But you know who is really good at that sort of thing? A professional yarn dyer!

I can’t get over the amazing color combo by Global Backyard in the Bejeweled mini skein set. I never would have thought of pairing these colors together, but I fell in love with the collection as soon as I saw it. And, honestly, when you are knitting colorwork projects, picking out the colors is half the battle. So today’s knitting quick tip is to let those color experts do the thinking for you every once in a while!

I’m fond of Summer Lee’s colorful sock patterns so I browsed the virtual aisles in her etsy shop and picked out the Midwinter Socks Set, which is great for fair isle beginners and it’s quite the bargain because it is three patterns in one. I loved the striped shortie socks in this collection but I wanted a crew sock so I worked extra rounds before inserting the scrap yarn for the forethought heel. I was a little conservative about the length of the leg, which turned out to be silly because, in the end, I only used about 10g of each of the minis, so I have tons leftover. I’m trying to decide what to make with the rest of it. Maybe a hat? Or I could knit these again as shorties.

The only thing I didn’t love about making these socks was weaving in all the ends, but I stopped every few stripes and did it a chunk at a time instead of saving it all for the end, which helped. The designer suggests that you tie a little knot with the ends before weaving them in. I tried that technique, but I could feel all the little knots so I stopped and just wove the ends in normally. As I look at the finished socks, I think the areas where I knotted have a slightly more visible jog than the rest of the sock. You can see in the photo below, the foot I’m pointing had knots on the leg section but not on the foot. So, my recommendation would be to skip the knots, otherwise, I’m a big fan of this pattern.

As usual, here are my notes:

yarn details

Global Backyard Happy Hour Mini Skeins in Bejeweled
Fingering Weight
85% Superwash Merino, 15% Nylon
Hand wash, dry flat
Set of five 20g / 87 yard mini skins
Stashed in August, 2023

project details

pattern: “Midwinter Socks Set” by Summer Lee (buy on Etsy or via Ravelry)
size knit: Medium (CO 69)
needles: US size 2 (2.75 mm) 9” circular needles for colorwork and 1.5 (2.5 mm) DPNs for plain sections – both wood.
gauge: 18 stitchs & 19 rows over 2” in colorwork pattern
yarn used: 106 yards (23 grams) of the stroll and 232 yards from the mini skeins (53 g)
finished size: top of cuff to bottom of heel: 7.25”; back of heel to tip of toe: 9′
duration: September – November 2023