I’ve been storing these mini skeins from Allison Barnes Yarn for months now, and I decided that I needed to try making something with them instead of just appreciating them for their beauty! When I started looking at different patterns on Ravelry, this one jumped out at me.

• 6 skeins of Allison Barnes Yarn Basic Sock Minis – a fingering (1) weight yarn (above: Coral, Whisper, Hot Toddy, Glacier Berry, Faded Denim, Alpine Pansies)
• Size E (3.50 mm) hook

Pattern by Johanna at Mijo Crochet

This project was an excellent lesson in colourwork for me, as I learned that stripes and gradual fades are more complicated than they seem. Lately, I’ve fallen in love with all of the “Find Your Fade” sweaters and shawls by Andrea Mowry on Drea Renee Knits. She does an amazing job of designing patterns that blend different colourways effortlessly, and people on Instagram have come up with absolutely gorgeous yarn combinations! Since Allison did such a great job putting colours into this mini skein set, I thought that I could use these colours to dip my toes into the colourwork world. However, after a few colour changes, I started to see why most “fade” patterns alternate between two colourways before switching completely. With the abrupt stripes, this shawl didn’t fade the way I wanted it to, sooo unfortunately this will be a “frog and learn” kind of project for me. (If you’ve never heard the term, “frog” just means the process of ripping out the stitches to re-do something in knitting or crochet!)

On the flip side though, I love this pattern by Johanna! I’ve made one of her shawls previously (see my Triangle Eyelet Shawl post) and I have so much respect for her and her creativity in designing these beautiful patterns. I think I just need to think about how I can better integrate colour changes into it, and then it’ll be perfect.

This week was a good reminder for me though! Sometimes, projects don’t work out quite like you want them to, but there’s always lessons to be learned. I feel like even though this wasn’t the finished object I wanted, I’m still happy with the experience, and I know that the final thing will be even better because of this little setback.

Until next time, happy crafting!