Tag Archive | fade knitting

Ready to Fade!

My new yarn arrived yesterday, a set of four skeins from Bumblebee Acres Farm in a Game of Thrones-inspired fade. My colors are Lannister themed but they have plenty of other choices. This is for my commissioned shawl and even though these aren’t my colors at all, I’m excited to make it for her. The yarn is called Butter Sock, with 70% Merino, 20% Silk, 10% Cashmere, so it’ll be a treat to knit with and cozy to wear. (I’m pretty sure she’s never going to see this blog, so hopefully it will be a surprise when it’s done.)

I chose the Find Your Fade pattern so she’ll have a big squishy wrap to keep her warm, and because I’ve been wanting to make one for ages. I cast on at first with the recommended size four needles, but quickly decided I wanted a tighter gauge and started over with size three. Warmth is key, and I think it will still come out plenty big! I haven’t gotten very far, maybe 15 rows in, and I haven’t planned out the color changes for my four-color fade yet. I need another weekend to spend with my Fade!

We’ve had days and days of rain and gray skies, which makes me just want to curl up and knit even more than usual. Hope you’ve got sunshine where you are!

Am I crazy?

Mar30

Yeah, I think I might be a little crazy. After thinking about fade sweaters recently, I was idly going through my stash to think of other yarns that might make good sweaters. And it hit me that I have a large quantity of yarns that all go together beautifully:

Now, maybe you’re thinking, Hm, I think I’ve seen that combination of yarn before! You have! This is the yarn for my Mermaid Shawl, which has been on my needles since September 19.

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And that’s pretty much where I still am. I’m on row 18 of the first color. That’s slow progress for me. I worked on it last weekend and only managed about three rows. I’m not sure I like enormous shawls that start at the outer edge. Each of these rows takes an eternity, and clearly I’m not loving this project or else I’d be itching to work on it.

What if…I frogged it?

Eek! Scary! This mermaid shawl idea has been in my head for ages, but…what if it was a Mermaid Cardigan instead? I think I’d wear it more often, and it would be the same gorgeous fade of colors. I’m thinking something like Gelato, though mine would have to be a little shorter, but I suppose I could find any cardigan pattern I like and make it a fade.

Tell me: Should I frog? And if so, what’s your favorite fingering-weight cardigan pattern?

Planning a sweater

Mar27

I loved wearing my new sweater so much yesterday that I’ve decided I need more handknit sweaters in my life. And since we’re heading into spring, I thought it was time to try a lighter weight sweater. All my others have been worsted weight. I’m a little worried that it will take forever using fingering weight, and that I’ll get bored, but I won’t know until I try. I also figured it was time to make a sweater out of really good yarn, a fine merino instead of a rougher wool or an acrylic. Unfortunately, I don’t have the budget to buy a sweater’s quantity of yarn at the moment, and I haven’t bought with sweaters in mind. It looked like I was stuck and wouldn’t be able to plan a new sweater for a while…but then, I had a brilliant idea: a fade!!

This set of four yarns came home from Colorado with me last year, and it’s been in the queue for a fade shawl. But what if it became a sweater instead?? I could find a solid purple, which I wanted to do anyway, if I need more yardage. Plus, when I knit stripes or fades, wanting to get to the next color keeps me motivated, so this might help with the boredom issue too. I’m leaning toward Drea Renee’s So Faded, but if you have another fade sweater pattern you love, let me know!