I recently read two very good books on Fair Isle knitting. They each have a different focus, but both are interesting and worth a read.

Jamieson & Smith: A Shetland Story is pretty much exactly what the title implies. It starts with a history of J&S, lavishly illustrated and told in a reasonably entertaining way. After that – patterns! There are a few sweater patterns and a lot of smaller accessory patterns. They are more traditional patterns in either vintage bright colors or natural sheep shades. Most of the items have pretty intricate fair isle patterning, but there are a few easier ones for knitters who want to try it out without getting too in-depth.

Fair Isle Knitting by Carina Olson also features traditional fair isle, but takes a different approach to build color palettes. For most of the designs, she shows her color inspirations, and goes through how she turns the inspiration source into a color scheme. This is somewhat similar to Felix Ford’s (Knitsonik) methodology, though this books does not elaborate on the process as much.

If you are interested in fair isle knitting, either of these books is a good resource – lots of patterns for different items and for different skill levels!