A Color Story
08/31/2011
Once upon a time, there was a bright pink skein of yarn.
Or, at least, it LOOKED like a bright pink skein of yarn. It looked so bright that a Certain Knitter thought that it was probably TOO bright and TOO pink for her (very particular) tastes. So it languished in The Stash for several years.
In that same Stash, there lived a prized skein of yarn from the Kingdom of Sundara.
It was a skein that just looked like a party waiting to happen -- black. . . with pink/purple confetti. The Certain Knitter was waiting. . . waiting . . . waiting for the perfect opportunity to release the power of the prized skein from The Stash.
And then, in the summer of 2011. . . there came to pass the Through the Loops Summer Shawl KAL. Cladonia was calling. Loudly. And the Certain Knitter heeded the call.
What if. . .
What if. . .
What if. . . the Certain Knitter married the brightness that was the Too-Pink Skein. . . with the beauty that was the Confetti-Black Skein. . . in stripes! Cladonia stripes! The Confetti-Black would surely tame the brightness of the Too-Pink skein.
And. . .
What if. . .
They were joined in fun by
Mr. Neon Green. Leftovers still lurking in The Stash. Already appearing in Tempest. And minions. Wouldn't he make a fine addition to the party?
Absolutely. Send the invitation.
Let the wild rumpus begin!
But.
Something happened along the way.
The Confetti-Black. . . was a lot more . . . black. . . than expected.
And, when paired with black in a two-stripe pattern, the Too-Bright Pink. . . appeared. . . not-so-bright. In fact. . . it appeared. . . sort of purple!
The Certain Knitter was slightly flummoxed. She was planning on a Wild Rumpus. She was planning on a Party. This was Not Quite What She Expected.
Never fear, though. Mr. Neon Green would pull her through! He would Save the Day and become The Life of the Party.
But no.
That was not the case.
Mr. Neon Green did not Save the Day. Mr. Neon Green gave the Entire Project a witch-y look. . . somewhat reminiscent of the Certain Knitter's favorite musical. And, while the Certain Knitter does not actually mind a Wicked-themed shawl, it was not the Look She Was Going For.
Serendipitously, a Certain Knitter sat on her needles and pulled out several rows. Luckily, she discovered a more grievous error in her lace knitting. Fortunately, a Certain Knitter had to re-think the project. Just-in-the-nick-of-time, a Certain Knitter faced the facts.
This Color Story did NOT have a happy ending.
So she ripped. And she pondered. And she placed every darn stitch back on the needles.
And resigned herself to a slightly more-boring color scheme than she had imagined. She knit the 16-row lace pattern in one of the main colors (the Not-Too-Bright-But-More-Like-Raspberry-Pink). She settled on a two-color Cladonia.
But, then. . .
But, then. . .
But, then. . . she listened to the little nagging voice that kept whispering. . . Mr. Neon Green was invited to this party. Mr. Neon Green Has Potential. Mr. Neon Green Demands To Be Heard.
And the Certain Knitter decided to Go For It.
She decided to let Mr. Neon Green be In Charge of the Border. She let him drip from the edge of the shawl.
And THAT. . .
made ALL the difference!
The End.
(Ravelry details here.)
The green edging makes the perfect addition! I love the color combo, excellent job!
Posted by: Carole | 08/31/2011 at 07:50 AM
I knit very simple things,I have no idea of color combinations but I love what you did with your shawl! The lace border made everything come together!!!
Posted by: Ziniania | 08/31/2011 at 08:13 AM
Excellent! It came out just perfect. Love it! :D
Posted by: Marilyn | 08/31/2011 at 09:37 AM
Oh, how fun! It's amazing what one color can (or cannot) do for another -- sometimes a happy surprise (been there!), and sometimes not (done that!). This is just fabulous! Congratulations.
Posted by: Vicki | 08/31/2011 at 09:47 AM
I love a story with a perfect ending! AND it was a happy ending to boot!
Posted by: margene | 08/31/2011 at 09:54 AM
That is a beautiful shawl. The green makes the other colours sing. Lovely.
Posted by: Emma | 08/31/2011 at 10:55 AM
Absofreakinglutely beautiful. Great post Kym!
Posted by: Patty | 08/31/2011 at 11:01 AM
Love it! I am so glad a Certain Knitter stuck with it.
(We gotta talk about pink yarn because that stuff isn't all that PINK! if you ask me. :p )
Posted by: Cookie | 08/31/2011 at 03:19 PM
That looks amazing and the green just sets it off like a spritz of lemon on pasta.
Wicked is our favourite too - when I was at Knit Nation in July, with an evening to spare I went to see it for my third time. Don't like the current Elphaba as much as the previous but the Glinda is the best.
Posted by: Sue | 08/31/2011 at 04:05 PM
Love the story and the final result too, excellent knitting job as usual.
Posted by: Rachel | 09/01/2011 at 03:00 AM
What a beauty!
Posted by: Sharon | 09/01/2011 at 09:47 AM
Beautiful!
Posted by: Judi M. | 09/01/2011 at 11:43 AM
Perfect!
Posted by: kmkat | 09/05/2011 at 06:20 PM
LOVE the final product. Did you use your confetti yarn in the lace at all? Or did you stick to your 'I think I'm pink'?
Posted by: Chantelle | 09/14/2011 at 01:18 PM