Sample knit for Victoria at ECY: I’m using the most amazing gradient Fade kit in the colourway Thunder - a sort of soft mauvey-grey, grading from dark to light over 5 skeins… stunning dyeing once again from Victoria!

I’m starting with the darkest shade (the wound ball in the photo) and grading to the lightest in the centre (as in Joji’s pattern sample).

Pattern: very simple and straightforward so far, but early on, don’t forget to knit the 16 garter rows after you’ve worked the ‘fade’ from one colour to another… don’t ask me how I know! The garter wrong sides need to start with a Sl1 - except for the ‘fade’ sections (where I guess a first knit st gives a better finish). I closed up the hole left in the centre with waste yarn - it was bigger than the others in the pattern, so looked too obvious.

How I blocked: as this is a sample, I’ve wanted to make sure it’s knitted and blocked exactly as per the pattern. I do have blocking wires but haven’t used them in this case (no holey/lacy edge to thread them through). And so I have lots of pins!

I’ve laid out the blocking boards and measured very carefully a 88” x 26.5” rectangle of pins, marking the centre diameter point. Then I have laid out the damp shawl within the rectangle and pinned it at each corner, then across the centre diameter point and along the centre ‘spine’. I’ve then set to, pinning out each garter edge, measuring from the centre spine all the way down to make sure the diameter is consistent. I find it best to push the pins in at the garter bumps, rather than the loops in between, as this anchors it better. Then I’ve smoothed/eased with my hands the garter/lace sections to get it all as even as poss.

If you made yourself a cuppa beforehand, it will now be cold…

Yardage: the shawl weighs 370gm, so I’ve used 1,613 yards in total; each leftover ball of the 5 shades is about the same size. I got the working gauge fine, and the shawl has blocked out easily to the specified size.

ps: just realised I look rather like Rick Wakeman in photo 7 lolz Photos 1-3 courtesy of Victoria at Eden Cottage Yarns.