Designer: Valerie McPherson

Color motivates Valerie. Because of that, she says she is drawn to color before reason, which explains the variety of yarns used for the leaves in this shawl. Colors run from the first peek of chartreuse on bare, early spring branches to the autumn brown of fallen leaves turning to mulch. Using yarns that are the same weight as the shawl is certainly easier, but because the leaves simply had to be those colors, she used a variety of weights and brands (all in natural fibers). Hold the contrasting yarn more loosely and sometimes more tightly as necessary to achieve a consistent gauge.