Find your Fade Shawl: Drea Renee Knits

Find Your Fade Shawl LRD

 

The Find your Fade shawl by Andrea Mowry has been on my make wish list since its release in late 2016. I remember seeing it on Ravelry's homepage and wondering how colours that were so contrasting could become so blended and seamless. I thought there must have been some witchcraft going on. Was it a stitch I didn't know about? Was it the yarn itself? I had to find out. (Answer: it's all about the yarns you choose). 

I spent the next few years building my knitwear business, finding little time for personal projects and having little desire to knit for pleasure after long days of making things for orders, for markets or for my shop. Still, I saw other maker friends of mine casting-on this magnificent shawl and every new version I saw was more beautiful than the last. It continued to pique my interest despite some of the newer and more trendy designs emerging on the knitwear scene. When I decided to take maternity leave this year it was definitely time for a personal project, and the find your fade was at the top of my list. 

 

Thank goodness a good friend of mine jumped aboard this journey with me in the form of a KAL, because I'm not sure I would have completed the shawl without her help. She brought me food when my fridge was empty, my energy was low and when that new mom life was just too much. We helped each other carve out space to make. Being a new mom meant a lot of changes for me, and losing parts of myself to become a new me has been a big part of my post-partum journey. It seems only fitting that as my mat leave is coming to and end, my fade has found it's way off of my needles too. 

 

This pattern was everything as beautiful as the pictures I saw online made it look. The yarn I used was a combination of indie yarns from talented dyers, and even though it was a little brighter and less neutral than my usual palette it worked up perfectly! I loved being able to work on this project on-the-go due to the large, mindless sections of all knit stitches. That being said, the process was looooonnnnggg and by the time I got to my last colour I seriously considered casting-off early and finishing the shawl a few rows short. I was ready to move on from the project and become re-inspired by something else. To be honest, maybe I should have because the shawl is HUGE, and not the finished size I was expecting. Still, small tiny shawlettes are not my thing so I'm sure I will love the oversized nature of this shawl once winter hits. 

Anyway, I guess this post isn't so much an in-depth review of the pattern, as much as a quick note to highlight a project I am proud that I made and I probably would never make again 🙃.


Pattern: Find Your Fade, Andrea Mowry

Yarns:  Hello Stella (3 first skeins), Annie Paaren (middle skein) & Artfil Belle (last 3 skeins)