Shooting these photos in the graffiti’d underbelly of one of Pittsburgh’s many bridges, a middle-aged guy in dirty shoes and three-day old stubble walks past us.

He takes one look at our model, overdressed amongst the broken bottles and remnants of late-night meetups, and we brace ourselves as he opens his mouth and yells…

(wait for it…)

“THAT’S A REALLY NICE WRAP!”

Well. That’s not what we were expecting him to say…

But honestly, he’s right. Because this pattern is so eye-catching that, despite all our cynical expectations, it completely deflected his attention -- so that the shawl received his unsolicited comments instead of our model.

And so we yelled back, “Thanks!” as we continued on with the photoshoot, and the sun shone through the old bridge’s ironwork, and a gentle breeze blew all the tension away.

Inspired by Jen Peck’s Free For All Cowl, this beautiful wrap expands on the original design in every direction, using a chevron structure and textured stitches to show off the incredible ombre & gradient colour flow of a full year of bundles from the SpaceCadet’s Mini-Skein Club.

At SpaceCadet, we dye yarns for knitters who approach colour with confidence, aren’t afraid to break the “rules”, and join us to explore their creativity! Subscribers to the SpaceCadet Mini-Skein Club’s Ombre & Gradient Mix receive bundles of gradient mini-skeins that transition from one month’s colours into the next month’s colours (and into the next’s…) to create an amazing Never Ending Gradient. Designed to take full advantage of the club’s gorgeous colour flow, the Deflection Wrap demonstrates that SpaceCadet’s different fingering yarns can be used together in a single project for maximum impact.

This pattern is perfect for you if:

• You have a wonderful collection of SpaceCadet Mini-Skeins that you’ve been dying to cast on!
• Or you have a collection of coordinating yarns or project scraps and you are confident about making colour-substitution choices.
• You love the special magic created by the chevron structure and can’t wait to watch the colours flow from one month to the next!

This pattern is not for you if:

• You don’t already have the basic knitting skills listed below.
• You are using substitute yarns but struggle to put together a colour flow on your own.
• You prefer to avoid long-term commitments and the idea of a year-long project (even in monthly installments) is overwhelming or unpleasant.

Pattern Details:

Size: approx 72”/183cm long and 18”/46cm wide
Gauge: 26.5 sts/33.5 rows = 4” in garter
Suggested Yarns: SpaceCadet Ombre&Gradient Mix Mini-Skeins. Sample knit with a full year of Mini-Skeins (12 bundles or 60 Mini-Skeins in total) containing:
• Celeste (100% Superwash Merino; 490 yards/100g)
• Ester (80% Superwash Merino, 20% Nylon; 365 yards/100g)
• Oriana (90% Superwash Merino, 10% Nylon; 420 yards/100g)
• Maia (80% Bamboo, 20% Superwash Merino; 400 yards/100g)
Needle: US 3/3.25mm or size to obtain gauge
Skills you’ll need to have in order to make the Deflection Wrap:
• casting on and binding off
• knitting and purling
• changing colours
• increasing and decreasing with stitches like YO, Kf&b, SSK, and K2tog.

Are there kits?

The Deflection Wrap is designed especially for the SpaceCadet’s Mini-Skein Club minis (and the adventurous club members who are on this colour journey with us!) so joining the club will build you a gorgeous gradient “kit” as you receive each monthly parcel, timed perfectly to create this epic project without feeling rushed or pressured. The sample shown here was knit in 2021’s colours and the Mini-Skein Club’s colours going forward are different, but equally beautiful.