Tips & Tricks
Probably the hardest thing about working with gradient mini-sets is determining the order of the skeins. (WHY don’t dyers number them?!) The first thing to do is to swap the yarns in and out until you think the order is right. It feels a bit like you’re playing the cup game—you know, the one where you move the cups around and have to guess which one has the ball under it. Sometimes, it works to take a photo and convert it to black and white so you are forced to see just the tone. (Unfortunately, that trick doesn’t work all the time.)
Sometimes it’s best to swatch
If you’re not sure that you’ve determined the correct order, you can try knitting a mini swatch. Cast on 10 stitches and knit 2 or 3 inches in each color. If the color varies quite a bit within your skeins, you may need to knit each shade for a longer stretch. Step back and view your swatch to see if the order looks right.
Take a step back
But sometimes, even when you think you have it figured out, it isn’t until you’ve knit it up that you realize the skeins are still out of order. Ugh! Every time you change to a new color, it’s a good idea to step back and assess the order—is this 1, 2, 3; or is it really 1, 3, 2? If you catch the mix-up soon enough, you won’t cry even harder later on!
Keeping them in order
Once you’ve settled on your order, you certainly don’t want to mess it up, right? Well, when I knit my version of Cupid in the Underworld, I used two tricks. First, as I wound up each mini-skein, I tagged it. I numbered seven small pieces of paper and punched a hole in each one. I tied each tag to the end of its corresponding ball of yarn. When the design changed and I needed to rip back, I tied knots in the end of each color—the number of knots matched its order in the gradient. These tricks made it far less stressful as I was rifling through my project bag (on vacation, no less).
But wait!
One more thing! Just because it’s a gradient, you don’t have to use the skeins in that order. For Cupid in the Underworld, I actually cast on with skein #2. I saved the darkest color to use for the bind-off edge, embroidery (Did you even notice that? It’s sneaky.), and the tassels (Tassels! Eep!).
Do you have other tips for working with gradients? I’d love to hear them!
Cupid in the Underworld will be released next week! Put your gradient in the proper order now so you can cast on right away!
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