Fair Isle Virgin Still paddling offshore.

I've been mustering up my courage to get the Fair Isle February factor in motion by the last week of the month (hey - it doesn't pay to rush these things). To that end I have spent a vast number of hours scouring the internet and books to find patterns that I like enough to make me want to follow through with this new skill acquisition. In that process I have discovered one thing to be inalienably true: I am extremely finicky about multi-coloured motifs. I have no trouble finding cables and laces and Aran stitches that appeal to me. But the quest for pleasing patterns with a plethora of colour has become rather like rummaging for a loose Chibi in a haystack (although how I came to lose my Chibi in a barn to begin with leads to interesting Harlequin-esque tangents, I will not use this as an excuse to digress further).

I will probably crank out a Fake Isle Hat just to dip my toes into the stranded pool before month's end. A pile of beautiful Noro Kureyon showed up at my door recently, some of which was to be purposed for the aforementioned Imposter Atoll, but then my roving eyes got busy at SnB on Wednesday and I was seduced by another sexy self-striper with a long colourway and a sumptuous caress. I’ve been wanting an excuse to try Lang’s Mille Colori, and I think it will make a beautiful super soft FIH.

Of course, never one to shy away from a goal that's a bit beyond reasonable for a beginner, what I REALLY want to do in my first stranded colourwork is a pair of Priscilla Gibson-Roberts' fabulous Caspian Sea Socks. (If you sign up for the Knitting Daily newsletter, you can download the pattern for free.)

Okay, I'll be sensible (for a change) and start with a Fake Isle Hat. But I don't promise to do exactly the pattern design as given (see "finicky", above).