UPDATE: As it turns out, other than this post, I did not blog for Knitting & Crochet Blog Week. I was on vacation that week and hoped to get back into blogging with K&B Blog Week. Unfortunately, there were connectivity issues w/our vacation spot. One, internet connectivity was spotty (occasionally dropping) and very slow. And two, I couldn't upload anything, e.g., photos, which are big part of craft blogging, at least for me. Oh well. I look forward to next year's week.
Well, folks, it's that time of year again, for Knitting & Crochet Blog Week, when many knitters and crocheters from around the world blog in time for a week. This year it's April 23 - 29. The week is run by Eskimimi and based at her blog, Eskimimi Makes. There are seven topics and participants can blog about the topics in pretty much any fashion they want. There's also a wildcard topic to substitute for any topic that doesn't suit your fancy. I don't know if I'll do all seven days. I had been thinking of picking up blogging again with other topics, but these topics would do just as well. Plus, sometimes it's kind of fun to blog about a provided topic.
So today is Day 1 (or 3KCBWDAY1, in Blog Week code) and the topic is color:
Colour is one of our greatest expressions of ourselves when we choose to knit or crochet, so how do you choose what colours you buy and crochet or knit with. Have a look through your stash and see if there is a predominance of one colour. Do the same with your finished projects - do they match? Do you love a rainbow of bright hues, or more subdued tones. How much attention do you pay to the original colour that a garment is knit in when you see a pattern? Tell readers about your love or confusion over colour.
I do like color. Unfortunately, I don't know how to use color very well. Most often, I end up throwing too many colors together and ending up with too much going on, color-wise and visually. E.g., click here (scroll down the post a bit for the picture) to see a Baby Surprise Jacket I made a couple of years ago. You'll recognize it when your eyes struggle to focus on the mass of multicolored yarn and buttons I saw fit to put together. Oofah.
(Sadly for a post on color, I'm unable to include images here. I'm on vacation and the wifi here doesn't allow for certain activities, such as moving images around. Rest assured, that link will reliably take you to a picture of the ill-conceived baby sweater.)
Since then, I'm a little more circumspect when selecting multicolored yarns or different colored yarns that will be used together. If at all possible, I hoodwink someone else into helping me decide on a color scheme. Of course, if I see a beautiful sample and want to make it myself, I'm likely to use the exact same color. Failing these approaches, I'll take a good long time to decide upon a colorway/scheme. I usually end up selecting something, thinking it over and then kicking it down a notch.
In fact, I did that this very afternoon when I visited a local yarn shop, Close Knit Sisters, near where we're staying. Like many knitters, crocheters, spinners, etc., I like to visit local yarn shops whenever I travel. I also like to see any yarn made by local spinners and dyers. I felt completely comfortable selecting a gorgeous red angora/merino blend from Hidden Brook Fibers. When selecting one of their multicolored sock yarns, I eyed a few of the more vibrant colors, pulled back, thought about it and then finally settled on a superwash merino/silk blend in their Earth color, which, as you can probably guess, a combination of earthy, natural tones. (And so soft!)
(As an aside, I now have the good fortune of living next to Sandy, who has a very good eye for color as well all things decorative. I defer the vast majority of decorative decisions to her, including the recent selection of new colors to paint the house. Basically, I don't make a decorating move without her input.)
I do hope to improve my relationship with color. I do a lot of inspired copying, that is, where I identify what it is that I like about a color scheme, then try and recreate it with a different color scheme. E.g., I might find that I like the way the solids in a project pick up the smallest colored bits in a multicolor used in the same project (as opposed to picking up the more obvious colors in the multicolor). Maybe picking up the smaller colored bits give the entire piece more punch.
I don't know that I'll ever have an "eye" for color such that I don't even have to think about it, but that's okay. I hope to improve just enough to avoid making too many disastrous choices in future.
To see other bloggers writing about today's topic, Google search "3KCBWDAY1".
Recent Comments