The magic of a variegated contrast colour

Variegated yarn, whether it's a striking ~flash~ shade, or subtle ~fluid~ palette, is so appealing but it can be tricky to know how to use it to show off its beauty without veering into colour chaos! Fading between variegated skeins is one way and there are lots of 'fade' patterns designed specifically to show off a gradual transition between shades, A quick search of the Ravelry pattern database for 'fade' produces lots of very tempting options, and I've knit both large shawls and simple garments using this technique very successfully. I particularly love my twenty four birds shawl by Curious Handmade...

and my Westknits Eyelet Burst...

The Curious Handmade pattern is a huge circular 'pi' shawl that incorporates lots of delicate lace patterns and works with the gradual fade from semi-solid to variegated shades and back again because the overall palette is subtle with a 'pop' of contrast colour.

The Westknits shawl on the other hand, is a classic garter stitch  pattern with simple eyelet detail so more contrast worked really well, with a semi-solid border to finish the fade.

I've also used a 'fade' set in a simple garment with very pleasing results! Wool & Pine are perhaps best known for their 'scrappy' designs (great for leftovers!) but they also have lots of patterns that utilise fades or gradients to great effect. I knit the Extra Lite Bright Tee (ravelry link) with four variegated skeins plus a semi-solid for the final shade and the simple fit and classic shape show off the shades perfectly...

Which leads me to possibly my favourite way to use variegated yarn, as the contrast shades in colourwork designs.When I post tempting shade combinations on Instagram, it's often a semi-solid shade with a contrasting, or complimentary vaariegated shade that catches my eye and it's with exactly this sort of project in mind.

My first time using this technique was my Boyland Knitworks Alpine Bloom tee...

which used a pale grey semi-solid main colour with a fairly subtly variegated three-skein contrast set and rather than 'fade' between the contrast skeins I just switched at slightly 'odd' points in the pattern repeat to avoid a uniform 'stripe' happening.

Taking this technique a step further, I used the leftovers from my Extra Lite bright Tee as the fading contrast colours in my beloved Sleeping Beauty Sweater...

This was my first Elenor Mortensen knit but it definitely won't be my last! Her design aesthetic is perfectly in tune with my love of simple/interesting/classic/quirky sweaters and her regular test knitters and fans always post amazing interpretations of her designs on Instagram when she releases them. My 'knit inspo' saved posts on Instagram is rapidly filling up with her designs!

Another designer whose patterns lend themselves to this kind of contrast is Rachel Illsley of Unwind Knitwear and her Run sweater might be next on my list! I'm off to rummage in the stock crates...