If my word for the day yesterday was, "irresistible", today's word is "imperceptible". That's my word for the growth of my "bushfire blanket". I'm averaging a row a day. At 2 1/2 metres per row, that's still a fair bit of crochet, given that this is my armchair project. Some days, like today, I sit for a bit longer and get several rows done. Other days I just spare it a glance and get on with something else.
Here's how it looks today. It is growing slowly:
My approach to the colours combinations is what I call, "regularly irregular". I have five colours to work with. Of those five colours, three are limited quantities and two are more than adequate. Of course, I don't have the same quantities of the three limited colours. That would make it too easy! I guess some people would calculate out a quantity of yarn per row and calculate a pattern to be sure it was all going to work out right in the end. That's not my approach to this sort of project. Instead I just keep varying the colour combinations. I keep an eye on the approximate proportions of colours, according to what I have available and I keep an overall rough pattern of colours to give a sense of unity. That way I can adjust the colour combinations as the project develops and keep my options open. At the moment I'm gradually working in more of the grey and caramel alpaca colours, because these are the ones I have most of. That will allow me to space out the chocolate alpaca and blue wool mohair in the centre of the blanket. The fifth colour is a variation on the caramel--just slightly lighter and not quite as creamy--so I'm just using enough of it to make sure it looks as if it's not an afterthought.
What had me intrigued--apart from the sheer beauty--was the variations in yellows. The Landscape range of dyes, which I like to use for wool, call their cool yellow wattle. It's a yellow that leans towards the green. You could also call it a citrus yellow. And looking at this picture now I would agree, but in the sunshine, against the black trunks and incredibly green grass of the Yarra Valley, the wattles looked golden and warm. Now, my other trouble with yellow is that it's rather hard to use. I don't know a lot of people who look good in yellow, which is a pity because it's such a bright and warm colour, with so much energy. I guess I'll have to be contented with the pics and just a touch for contrast here and there.
The challenge in dyeing ribbons is to get just enough variation in the colour. It looks as though whoever designed these beautiful tulips was having fun experimenting too.
My approach to the colours combinations is what I call, "regularly irregular". I have five colours to work with. Of those five colours, three are limited quantities and two are more than adequate. Of course, I don't have the same quantities of the three limited colours. That would make it too easy! I guess some people would calculate out a quantity of yarn per row and calculate a pattern to be sure it was all going to work out right in the end. That's not my approach to this sort of project. Instead I just keep varying the colour combinations. I keep an eye on the approximate proportions of colours, according to what I have available and I keep an overall rough pattern of colours to give a sense of unity. That way I can adjust the colour combinations as the project develops and keep my options open. At the moment I'm gradually working in more of the grey and caramel alpaca colours, because these are the ones I have most of. That will allow me to space out the chocolate alpaca and blue wool mohair in the centre of the blanket. The fifth colour is a variation on the caramel--just slightly lighter and not quite as creamy--so I'm just using enough of it to make sure it looks as if it's not an afterthought.
