Fair Isle (Stranded Colorwork)

Advanced Colorwork

A stranded colorwork technique using two yarns per row to knit small, repeating motifs, with the unused color carried loosely across the back.

Read your colorwork chart from bottom to top, right to left on right-side rows (left to right on wrong-side rows if working flat).
Knit each stitch in the color shown on the chart, picking up the correct yarn for each stitch.
Carry the color not in use loosely across the back of the work — this is called "stranding" or "floating."
When a float would stretch across more than 4-5 stitches, catch it by weaving it under and over the working yarn partway across, to keep it from snagging.
Keep your tension relaxed on the floats; fabric pulled too tight will pucker and lose its stretch.
Repeat the chart's motif across the round or row as directed.

Fair Isle is traditionally worked in the round, since stranding is easier when you're always looking at the right side of the fabric.
Stranded fabric uses two layers of yarn and is naturally warmer and less stretchy than single-color knitting — go up a needle size if your gauge swatch comes out tight.
Keep both yarns from tangling by always picking the same color from the same side (e.g. main color from the left, contrast from the right) as you work across a round.