Spectra

Spectra by Stephen West is a rather popular and well-known pattern in knittingverse. The thing I looked forward to most in Spectra is using my Noro yarn that is a nice gradient. Noro is known for their amazing gradient yarns that change from color to color beautifully, and is one of the few dyers out there who can combine so many colors in their yarn and have it look actually good instead of crazy.

I started this project by combining the gradient yarn with a dark gray yarn, but a few wedges in I realized I really hated it. The colors just didn't pop. I then restarted it with the black yarn for contrast, and I knew I made the right choice. It really made the color pop, and watching the color wheel develop is really fun.

I've done quite a few Stephen West patterns by now, all shawls, and while I found the patterns to always be well written and interesting to knit, I've never found them particularly easy to wear. Like all the others, I had to bunch and shift this one just right. That's fine for a photograph, but for real life, I can't constantly adjust it to make sure it looks good. So I might not be wearing this much.