Saturday, March 15, 2008

WHEN SUBDUED COLORS POP

Riverstone Vest (pattern not yet available)

Here's the question: how do you make muted, neutral, colors 'pop'? How about letting your eyes forage through a wintry or early spring landscape, either before or after the flowery divas start putting on their display? It's just this time of year when nature exposes its bones in subtle hues made no less beautiful by a lack of finery. Dried grass and stone, lichen and moss, the rough texture of bark and tree—here's where to find a subtle beauty.

Texture is always key. Inspired by a clutch of yarns from Habu textiles, I decided to make a vest concocted from weightless carry along yarns usually knit with more substantial friends. I asked the rocks outside my door to pose for the occasion and, never being ones to roll off in times of need, they complied. Using biggish needles and Habu's caterpillar, mossy, grassy, stoney, pussywillow yarns, I proceded to um, knit a rock.

Here's a closer up so you can see the loose texture going on, all in garter and seed:

I didn't even finish trimming this when I photographed it. Can you tell? There's just something so easy and organic about the results that I left it that way as if Hannah Epstein, my model friend, just shrugged it on while passing a crop of spring grasses or allowed the vest to enveloped her shape like new growth as she rested beside the stone.

And still in the muted theme, here's a glorious interpretation of wintery landscapes from the emerging Culture Fusion knitalong on Ravelry: Gelsomina's interpretation of Misery Bay. First the photo and then the inspired cyber sketch she put together to map her emerging wrap:

You can read more about Gil on her blog here:  http://gelsominalucchesi.blogspot.com