Dueling Gradients by Frank H. Jernigan

Dueling Gradients

Knitting
November 2020
yarn held together
Fingering
+ Fingering
= Light Fingering ?
21 stitches and 29 rows = 4 inches
in Stockinette Stitch
US 4 - 3.5 mm
US 6 - 4.0 mm
3.5 mm (E)
3360 - 4480 yards (3072 - 4097 m)
S (M, L, 1X, 2X)
English

The pattern is available here after you join TKGA.org for $35 per year, possibly the best deal in the knitting world.

Having a long interest in gradient yarns, I’ve collected a whole drawer full in my stash. Most of us use them for scarves, shawls, or blankets. But I have wanted to find a way to use a true gradient for a sweater. The problem of course is that the gradually changing colors would create sleeves that did not match each other and also would not match the body if you just started working at one end and went straight through as you knit first the body, then one sleeve, and then the second sleeve. That could make an interesting multicolor garment, but I wanted to find a way to create one that appeared more cohesive and planned. The solution was to start a fresh colorway from the same ends of brand-new skeins at the underarms, one for the body and one for each sleeve. This creates a dramatic break in color across the chest and at the corresponding location on each sleeve. It makes the sleeves match each other and match the body, which begins with the same colors although the color gradient proceeds further through the gradient than the sleeves as it requires more yarn to reach the waist. By pairing two different gradients to work together, each changing color very gradually and at different rates, the combined gradients down the sweater occur extremely smoothly.