I cast on this project in January, although planned and prepared for it way back in early November 2017. I was fortunate enough to attend the first Nottingham Yarn Expo and purchase yarn that just so happened to fade perfectly together - it was magical. One of this knits, desired by God.

…I finished this project about 2 months ago, but only just got around to photographing the finished article.

Warning, rambling alert:: lots of happenings have prevented me from posting my FO pics. But generally, the need to post images of my FO, almost immediately after completing, just isn’t there anymore. Ravelry, as much as I adore it, can feel like a bit of a conveyor belt for knits. I sometimes wonder how much I really love my hobby when I am pressing to complete just so that I can post my images and be seen to be ‘actively knitting’. Other knitters have expressed a similar feeling about ‘knitting for Ravelry’ and have opted to take a short break to try and rediscover why they knit and who for - and I understand this. It’s also hard to focus when you’re inundated with a stream of new pattern releases and FOs - wanting to knit absolutely everything you see. Churning out knit after knit and not stopping for a second to just enjoy the process or just sit with your finished FO without ‘publically sharing’. I’ve sat with this pullover for a couple of months now and it has been nice to keep it all to myself. It has also been nice to capture photos when the occasion has naturally occurred i.e. when I’ve not thought too much about it and the day has just seemed right.

So faded: well I’ve faded a lot. I’ve ’found my fade’ and ’freed my fade’ and so it only seemed right that I ‘so faded’ too.

Pattern specifics: Two things I want to mention.

1) the garter stitch shoulder detail. I was really unsure about this design feature. Personally, I felt it should either just be stockinette, to match the stockinette body ad sleeves. OR, the sleeves should match the shoulders and be garter stitch. Anyhow, I decided to just follow the pattern and see how it looked. It’s absolutely fine, although I may consider omitting this detail, if I am to knit again.

2) the fading. I’ve worked with three colours and faded from dark to light and then added another ‘fade’ section working with the darker shade again. The sleeves have followed. I’ve faded as follows:

Colour 1: 6” + 1.5” (fade)

Colour 2: 7” + 1.5” (fade)
Colour 3: 6” + 1.5” (fade)
Colour 1 (hem): 2”

(Body measurement from armpit of 18”). side note: I’ve knitted 19” sleeves.

Yarn: beautiful, beautiful handdyed yarn from Dusty Dimples and Beehive Yarns, that I had the pleasure to meet at Nottingham Yarn Expo. It is always nice to actually meet the talented folk behind the yarn you see online and also squish/smell the yarn in person.

The colour pallete for this knit is perfectly feminine and dusky with splattering of vibrant contrast hues throughout (which gives real interest - and yes, I am a speckled fan!!). I adore the deep pinky-brown tones of the Beehive Yarn (top band) particularly and I’m just chuffed with how all three shades blend together - a perfect transition from dark to light, all wrapped up with a rose-kiss.

I’ve used partial 100g skeins of each colour with plenty leftover to incorporate into a faded hat perhaps?!

Not much to add about his particular knit. it’s simply ace!

Photos: a blustery day in Filey, East Yorkshire Coast. Sporting some very windswept hair! What I call, ‘coastal
back combing’ fixed with seasalt air! Ha! Anyhow, despite the cold, wind and drizzle-laden air, we had a brilliant day - mostly admiring the ferocious sea. It was the perfect day to capture photos.