The story of a Faded Gola por moi!

Do you know what? Sometimes I get obsessed...

This time it was another Gola (this is my 3rd)... but FADED! This fall when Knit Stars came out I decided to find out just what this whole FADE craze I keep hearing about was. So I watched Andrea Mowry, and learned all about it!

Then I went to Indie Untangled at Rhinebeck and fell down in the Magpie Fibers booth... Dami's Swanky DK literally FELL INTO MY ARMS. It took me like 3.2 seconds to find the fade for me!

 Clockwise from Top: Eager Beaver, Hell's Bells, Rust in Peace, Woodsmoke

I got gauge and just started knitting.... I started the first sleeve with Woodsmoke. 20 rows before the short row shaping I did my first fade (Andrea's formula is a 20-row fade) into Rust in Peace. 

I then continued across with that until I thought I had about enough yardage for 10 rows and faded  into Hell's Bells.

I then decided I was going to run out of Hell's Bells, so I did a vertical stripe with Eager Beaver for 12 rows... I love being able to add vertical stripes with this side to side construction, I think they elongate my torso!

I switched back to Hell's Bells and knit through the right sleeve... all that was left was the side panels. I swear this sweater almost knit itself!

I used Eager Beaver for the left side panel and Woodsmoke for the right side panel.

It is crazy easy to adjust colors for what ever size or number of colors you want to fade for, I think the only trick is to stay away from a short-row shoulder when doing the fade. Other than that the sky is the limit!

I can't wait to see if more people try a faded Gola!

Here's a hint: do you have a fingering weight Fade kit you aren't sure what to do with? Two strands of Fingering equals one strand of DK, so you can probably get gauge with two strands! Tricksy, right?

Note: You probably notice that I don't have a head in any of these photos... that is because they were taken in Colorado and I had a horrible cold, my nose was in no shape to be captured for posterity. I think they show the sweater pretty well, though, and that is what this post is about! Next time I have a professional shoot, and my nose looks prettier I'll get some full shots!