It's all about the color

Going through my mom's boxes looking for pictures to use for her service, I found all kinds of treasures she'd saved -- from letters of my misery at summer camp to scrawling drawings I'd done.  Even then it was clear that my talents were verbal rather than artistic.  Despite her encouragement and indulgence with all manner of media, I simply never progressed past stick figures and their landscape equivalent.  That's okay, because drawing was never my interest -- I only drew things so that I could color them in.  Coloring books and crayons could keep me busy for hours because playing with color was my passion. 

It still kinda is.  Maybe that's part of why I like knitting so much - it's about the colors. I think it is for many knitters and crocheters. A pattern is basically a beautiful design that we can fill in with colors of our choosing.  It's fun to play, but it can be a little stressful, even for me, and I'm pretty confident in my color sense.  The stakes are just so much higher with yarn than with crayons.  In the shop, with nearly unlimited color options available, what we usually hear is hear "I want to knit it just like the picture/sample".  Sigh. I understand. I really do.  The sample is a known quantity.  You can see it and say, "Yes!  I like that, and when I knit mine, it will look just like that, and I'll be happy."  I get it.  It's a nice safe way to play things, and no one wants to spend all that time knitting something only to find that they don't like the way the colors worked out.  But just like the picture is only one road to success. 

The truth is that you can choose your own colors and love the outcome if you understand color and how to use it.  And that's just what you'll learn from Carrie Patterson in our upcoming classes on color theory. 

There is a language of color and certain concepts and rules that can make or break a color palette.  In the first class you'll learn the basics and the vocabulary as you use colored paper to play with the different aspects of color and how they work together.  You'll come away with a stronger sense of how to use color in your knitting and crochet, and a greater confidence in using color as a means of creative expression.  You'll also have a palette of colors that you put together that you can use in your next knitting or crochet project. 

I look forward to seeing you in class, or in the shop, and around the table.  You are always welcome here.

~Ellen

p.s. I am absolutely thrilled to have Carrie Patterson teaching these color classes. We are so fortunate to have her here!  Carrie is a professional artist, professor of art at St. Mary's College, and owner of the Yellow Door Studio here in Leonardtown.  Her specialty is color theory, and she is able to make the concepts accessible across a variety of media.   Don't miss these very special classes.  

Back to 27 February 2018 Newsletter