Do you crave a changing of color? Do you delight in a gorgeous gradient? Then you will love the Ballroom Blitz – a ravishing accessory designed for yarns with a long color gradient, because colors are the smiles of yarn.

The first long color gradients I saw were from Schoppel Admiral Sockyarn with only a mild change of hues and then came Kauni and Jojoland’s Melody and Harmony – wool with wonderfully long gradients. It took a while until Schoppel intruduced Zauberball, Lana Grossa offered Meilenweit Magico, Lang Yarns joined in with Mille Colori, Crystal Palace with Mini Mochi, Wisdom Yarns with Poems Sock, Knitpicks with Chroma, and many many more, but none of them had REALLLLLLLY LOOOOONG gradients. One trick I used with the “Lights of Polaris” pattern was to knit two strands of Laceballs by Schoppel and thus create a Zauberball with an extra long color repeat.

Thankfully there are now a lot of independent dyers who cater to my whims. Some yarns are just dyed this way and some are made of several plys with one ply changing color at a time. These yarns – along with those above mentioned - are all perfect for the Ballroom Blitz. I used Wollbonbon Merino 4ply for one version and Maschenwerk Farbenzauber for another. At the end of this introduction you will find a list of what I managed to find on Ravelry, just in case you need some inspiration. And if you want to stick to the shorter gradients, take a look at my Schoppel version with Zauberball and Wool FINEST.

Ballroom Blitz comes in three different sizes (small, medium, and large) so you can turn it into every kind of accessory from a thick winter scarf to thin summer adornment. Thus suitable for every yarn weight, you don’t need to match the swatch. Just make sure to use either two distinguishable color gradients with 400 to 800 yards of each yarn. The yarns should be of the same yarn weight. If you go for two different color gradients you can use yarns with a shorter color repeat like Schoppel Zauberball etc. or even two solids. If you want to use two identical color gradients, make sure they are very long. Then you can simply start at opposite ends like I did with the Maschenwerk version. I find the effect of the blurring pattern lines quite charming. Alternatively you can use two very long but very different color gradients like I did with the Wollbonbon version.

Ballroom Blitz is a seamles modular knit. It is completely reversible and it can be draped like a scarf or a stole if you have knitted a bigger version. All instructions are written and charted, enriched with ample photo tutorials on the techniques of shaping and joining the modules. This makes Ballroom Blitz a feasible project for most knitters.

Happy Knitting!

List of possible yarns with very long color gradients:
Wollbonbon, Maschenwerk, Wooltopia, JazzHandz Fusion Fiber, KnitCircus, Great Gradients, Knitwhits Freia Handpaints, Knitting Fever, Elann.com, Kitting Fever, Natali Stewart, Bre-Aly Threads, Apple Tree Knits, Fresh From The Cauldron, Marianated Yarns, The Fibre Studio at Yarns To Dye For, Done Roving Yarns, Gradient, Seven Sisters Arts, Purple Fleece, Wendy’s Wonders, Wolle’s Yarn Creations, Wollelfe, Aade Long, Lady DeeÄs, Wollium, Vivid Fibre Arts, The Wool Kitchen, Hilory’s Magical Yarnorium, Happy-Go-Lucky, Happy-Go-Knitty, Schlosspartie Wolldesign, and many many more.