I went up to Maryland and visited the lovely ladies at Dragonfly Fibers and came home with an armful of yarn as well as one of their beautiful gradient sock yarn kits. Gradient kits hold so much possibility... The gentle ebb and flow of color, the ombre effect the yarn creates when knitted up, the excitement of being done with one color then reaching for the next to continue the bleed into the new. I'm a fan.
When I sat down to figure out just what I wanted to do with the array of blues called "Cheshire Cat," I was stumped. Fair Isle always calls to me like a Siren song, but Fair Isle with colors that are too similar create a muddled or muddy effect (if you missed my post on color theory and how best to choose yarns for color work knitting, read it here.) After casting on and ripping out a few times, I knew I wanted to do Fair Isle and I knew I wanted one of my favorite color combinations, blue and red. The wonderful women at Dragonfly sent me down another gradient box in "Peony" and inspiration was ignited.
I enjoy the show Nashville. It's got good music, great actors and it's good to knit to. One of my favorite songs on that show is Fade Into You, a love song. If you haven't heard it, take a listen below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VhaD6WplfU
Inspired by the line, "If I was the red and you were the blue, I could just fade into you," the Fade Into You cowl was born. Knit from the bottom up in the round in one piece on US 3s, the magic in this cowl really happens when you start switching the colors. The reds and the blues start at opposite ends of their respective spectrums, then flow back out. Ombre Fair Isle? Sign. Me. Up.
Made with 2 Dragonfly Fibers gradient kits, the color possibilities for this cowl are endless. What about just using one kit and pairing it with black or white? What about using 2 kits that together create a stunning array of color for your neck? What about just using bits and bobs of fingering weight yarn from your stash? I talked about this on my color theory post - MAKE IT YOUR OWN!
Download the Fade Into You cowl pattern here.