After 4 months of pussyhats, I decided to treat myself to a Find Your Fade. What a great choice! This was a surprisingly fast and entertaining knit. The pattern is easily memorized, but changes often enough to hold my interest. I kept staying up too late because I just wanted to get to that next color change…

Finished dimensions: 118 inches long, 28 inches deep.

Modifications:

I experimented with the CDD, changing it for a while to sl2, k1, psso for a crisper look, but decided I prefer it the way it’s written. This shawl is not about crisp geometry, it’s about blurred edges, and the softer line of the decrease as written is just right for it.

Color changes: After a bit of experimentation, I decided I like changing color about 5 stitches in from the edge, and carrying the unused color up behind. This works better than either breaking the yarn on every stripe or using Russian joins. The k1, yo edge makes it tough to change color at the beginning of a row, but moving the color change in a handful of stitches makes all the difference.

Not loving the look of the mirrored second half of the mesh row. The mesh is not as clearly defined with ssk as with k2tog, so I continued with k2tog right across the row. As long as the two sts getting knit together are a yo and k1 (in previous pattern row), it works beautifully.

In the third mesh section, I decided to try a single YO instead of the double. It is much better! I’m a loose knitter; don’t know why I was doing a double in the first place. (A couple of my skeins were a bit heavier/loftier, so I did a double YO with those.)

Didn’t like the bound off edge, so picked up stitches all the way down to the point and added a border based on the lace sections. Used an eighth color. Bound off with a 5-stitch-loop crochet bind off. (Note: I picked up too many stitches and ended up with a slightly ruffled edge, which is not the look I wanted. If I do it again, skip approx every 4th stitch when picking up.)

Color A: Creatively Dyed Yarn Calypso: Martha
Color B: Creatively Dyed Yarn Calypso: Berry
Color C: Mitchell’s Creations Lagniappe Sock: Zombie Butterfly
Color D: Peepaloo Fields Standard Sock: Freesia
Color E: Spun Right Round SW Sock: Glowbugs
Color F: Creatively Dyed Yarn Calypso: Rachel
Color G: Creatively Dyed Yarn Calypso: Fleurs
Color H: Peepaloo Fields Standard Sock: Tough Cookie

For future reference:

1. When worn , the middle colors are the ones that really show. My dark, delicious colors are on the ends and the really don’t get seen. If I were to make another, I would make the first 2 sections a lot longer, and make the fourth a fifth colors’ sections shorter to compensate.

2. I would probably also do a more gradual fade, at least when the colors have a significant value difference.

3. I’d like to have a slightly more defined edge. Maybe a k, sl, k/sl, k, sl edge. Maybe a k1, yo, k2tog. I’m not sure, but it needs a little something.