Starting the hip scarf

I have started to sew the shading on the bellydancer's hip scarf. Since I want it to be much darker than the skin and the skirt to provide contrast I am using a slightly darker pattern and shading using thicker threads and additional stitches rather than removing stitches. I also chose a more elaborate stitch pattern to add interest. Here is what I have so far:

I hope it is going to be dark enough, I can always add extra stitches though so it is better to start out too light. As you can see the quick shading transitions mean that I have been using multiple threaded needles again.