Tutorial: Knitting with a fade set | Qing Fibre
How to knit a fade: Step by Step Colour Gradient Tutorial
Read on to learn how to knit a fading transition from one colour to another. This technique can be used when knitting all kinds of garments to make the colour story even more exciting.
A/W26 Quiet Collision exclusive Fade Sets available for pre-order until 16th October!
Step 0: Choosing the yarn
To make sure the fade works the best, your choices of yarn colour should have something in common. Good starting points are:
- a similar base tone (pink into red)
- similar 'temperature' (dark green into dark blue) or
- similar elements in either variegated or speckled sections (blue/white/yellow speckle into a yellow yarn).
For our A/W26 collection, we have put together 3 fade sets: Mercurial Fade, Undertow Fade and Bittersweet Fade. These fade sets are available for pre-order on our website now!
Step 1: Set up your yarn
The fade sequence can be knit flat, circlular and in pattern (as long as there are enough rows available). When knitting flat, we recommend having at least two balls of each colour wound up to prevent cutting the yarn or having panel-long floats.
Step 2: Planning the fade
To plan your fade to work with a specific pattern, you'll need to remember the following:
- How many colours are you using?
- How many rows is in your total project?
- If you are knitting something with various parts (for example a sweater with a body and two sleeves) you'll need to plan the fade for each of the sections separately, but to match the overall look.
- Each fade sequence takes 8 rows.
Step 3: The fade sequence
Once you have reached your first fade section, you will work the 8 row fade sequence to reach the next colour. A - current colour, B - next colour.
Row 0: A
Row 1: B
Row 2: A
Row 3: A
Row 4: B
Row 5: A
Row 6: B
Row 7: B
Row 8: A
Row 9: B (start of the next colour section)
After this sequence, carry on working with your colour B until you reach the next colour change point. Work the same sequence, but now colour B = A and C = B when reading the sequence.
Alternative Fades
The above tutorial is best for single stranded knitting, but there are more ways to ensure your fade will be as smooth as possible.
Holding two strands of yarn
To create a super smooth fade, you can start by using two strands of yarn in your project. This can either be two of the same weight strands, or one main and other holding yarn. For example, this blogpost will explain how to knit a fade with one strand of fingering weight yarn held with a mohair strand.
We used two strands of Dashing Fingering when making the Romanesco Bag by Ranti Studio. Take a look at the fade tutorial video on our Instagram to see how!
Kits to make the Romanesco Bag in a fade set are available on our website for pre-order now.
Tips and Tricks
Remember:
- Choose your yarn colours wisely as this will most impact the smoothness of your fade knit.
- Plan the fade sequences according to the pattern you are working with.
- Find the fade sequence best suitable for your project.
Take a look at all our available hand-dyed fade sets in our Fade Set Collection.