Yarn Regret

Have you ever admired a skein of yarn, not bought it, and then kicked yourself later for making that decision? I don't have yarn regret hardly ever, but I've been sighing wistfully since Wisconsin Sheep & Wool when I saw Fiber Optic's gradient yarns and fibers. Her gradients are beautiful and subtle and have the most amazing color transitions from one color to another, often through a third.

Needless to say, I was thinking about the gradients for several weeks after the festival and finally decided to track Fiber Optic down on the web. After a bit of website stalking, I managed to snare a gradient pack--no mean feat seeing as she posts one colorway at a time every couple weeks in limited quantities (FYI, the release schedule is posted in the Ravelry group).

After all of the effort to get my hands on this yarn, I knew it had to be made into something special. And that something special is this Stripe Study Shawl.

Goodness me do I love this shawl. The "blackbird" gradient is subtly paired with a black Cascade sock yarn and result is simple yet beautiful. I can't get over the smooth transition from one color to the next; these photos cannot do the colors justice. It's pretty amazing and amazingly pretty.

Knitting this shawl seems to have stemmed the yarn regret, but I'm still looking forward to next year's Sheep & Wool festival when I can peruse all of the colorways at once. In the meantime, I'm dreaming up new uses for gradient yarn.

I should end by fessing up to my new obsession with Fiber Optic, seeing as I'm devoting a whole blog post to this yarn and, nominally, this shawl. Consider me firmly in the Fiber Optic fan club.