Colourwork is a topic that worries people. I get amazingly experienced knitters in my Intro to Colourwork classes. I always start the class by asking if anyone has tried working with multiple colours in any way, and usually at least half the class has. Indeed, there's usually a couple of people who've made entire Fair Isle sweaters....
"But I'm not sure I'm doing it right."Even knitters who've done colourwork in the past feel like they need help, because they want to do it better.
I get it – bad colourwork is an awful experience. It’s not the easiest type of knitting to do, and the results can be either terrible, or just plain disappointing.
The problem is that it’s not just about being able to read a pattern and successfully work the stitches... and that it itself is challenging, when you're trying not to tangle (or to tangle appropriately)...
... but it’s also about TASTE. In that, it's about appropriate colour choices. It always makes me worry: are those good colours? Are they the right colours for me? Does it look good?
And for me, that's where I start to worry. When I gave my talk at the KW Guild, I focused on building confidence. Confidence with the techniques, sure, but perhaps more importantly for me, confidence about choosing colours.
The lovely Annie Bee, member of the KW Guild, (and fellow rescue hound owner), had written about colour theory on the Rock + Purl blog a couple of weeks ago. I thought her post was great, but I know that even using the words "colour theory" still frightened some people.
Annie, thrilled with the great response to her post to the Rock + Purl blog (well deserved, it's terrific) was inspired to start a series of posts about colour on her own blog. And she asked for guest contributors. Always seeking listeners for my myriad opinions, I leapt at the opportunity.
And so: The Sandwich Theory of Colour Selection. Make sure you're not hungry before you read it.
2 comments:
Aww, thank you, Kate! I saw a huge influx in my blog traffic on the weekend and wondered why – but now that I've seen your sweet post, I know who to thank!
Also, your talk for the Guild? One of the best we've had. I came home and had to scribble notes to myself for a good half hour, just to remember all the bits I'd learned. Bravo!
This is cool!
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