Full Fade Wave Blanket - The Theory

Let me share with you the plan I have for my Full Fade Wave Blanket for my mummy. When she saw my wave blanket she wanted one. I didn't have the time or money to make it at the time but vowed I would make it this year, and if possible before it got cold.

I though and though and came up with this plan, be warned I think in maths so its a bit algebraic at times.

The basic idea is to take a few colors of yarn and fade through the colors from one end to the other by changing the combinations of yarns and by patterning the rows. So we fade in two ways, both in the color of the yarn (produced by combining multiple strands) and the pattern by staggering the colors into each other. Hopefully you will understand what I mean later if my description is not very good here.

For 2 strands the number to colors you can make from Y yarns is 2Y-1. 

For 3 strands Y yarns makes 3Y-2. 

So we can expand and add more strands and/or yarns using the formula :

            C = S x Y - (S-1)

where C=colours, S= strands, Y= yarns.

# As you use more strands adjust your hook size to match.

You can also adjust the size of each fade. You can go: 121, 12321, 1234321. Below are representations of the 3 fades.

121

12321

1234321

To calculate the length of the finished blanket we need to take the number of colours and multiply by the stitches in the fade and then subtract the tail ends of the fades and finally multiply by the height of your double crochet. Let me explain:

A tail is the stitches either before or after (as its symmetrical) the centre of the fade that we want to remove to leave the first/last fade starting/ending on its largest number.

A 121 fade is 4 stitches long (1+2+1), its tail in 1.

A 12321 fade is 9 stitches long (1+2+3+2+1) and its tail is 3 (1+2)

A 1234321 fade is 16 stitches long (1+2+3+4+3+2+1) and its tail is 6 (1+2+3)

So for our equation we have:

            Rows = C x F - 2T

Where C=colours, F=stitches in fade, T=stitches in tail.

Here is an example:

5 yarns using 2 strands at a time and a 12321 fade:

            C = S x Y - (S-1)

            C = 2 x 5 - (2-1)

            C = 10 - 1

            C = 9

            Rows = C x F - 2T

            Rows = 9 x 9 - 2 x 3

            Rows = 81 - 6

            Rows = 75

I know my double crochet is 15mm high when I use a 8mm hook and 2 strands so my blanket will be 15x75 = 1125mm, or 1.125 meters long approximately, there is likely to be rounding errors but it gives us a rough idea. 

OK lets try another.

3 yarns using 3 strands at a time and a 1234321 fade:

            C = S x N - (S-1)

            C = 3 x 3 - (3-1)

            C = 9 - 2

            C = 7

            Rows = C x F - 2T

            Rows = 7 x 16 - 2 x 6

            Rows = 112 - 12

            Rows = 100

Measure the test piece to find the height of the stitches and then multiply by 100.

And another.

4 yarns, 3 strands and 12321 fade:

            C = S x N - (S-1)

            C = 3 x 4 - (3-1)

            C = 12 - 2

            C = 10

            Rows = C x F - 2T

            Rows = 10 x 9 - 2 x 3

            Rows = 90 - 6

            Rows = 84

Last one:
3 yarns, 3 strands, and 12321 fade.
             C = S x N - (S-1)
             C = 3 x 3 - (3-1)
             C = 9 - 2
             C = 7
             Rows = C x F - 2T
             Rows = 7 x 9 - 2 x 3
             Rows = 63 - 6
             Rows = 57
This is the one I will use, a test piece measures about 25mm a stitch so hopefully my blanket will be about 1.4m long.