Yarn Talk (again)

Helloooo!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm back with some more Yarn Talk folks, it's all hotting up rather beautifully here in the Attic as I'm teetering on the very brink of beginning my new blanket. As you know, I went Jaunting off last week to purchase the blanket yarn. I thought I had it all sussed then. I thought to myself, well now, the Yarn is In The Bag, I'm all set! Just need to spend a few days familiarising myself with the colours (fondling, smooching, arranging, stacking etc etc) then I can get going. Hooky hooky here I come.

But selecting colours for a blanket is quite a Big Deal and even when one has experience in these matters  (and I do think I qualify as reasonably Experienced here) it is still possible to make mistakes. Maybe not big, huge, whopping blunders, but more along the lines of Second Thoughts. Yes I had second thoughts about my colour selection and the more I stacked, arranged, re-arranged and familiarised myself with the colours I'd chosen the more certain I was that I needed to tweak it a little. At least one colour had to go. Possibly two.

And this my friends is where shopping at a Local Yarn Shop is sooooo good. Cos I was able to contact the lovely ladies in the yarn shop and tell them I made a teensy mistake. I was able to ask about a couple of different colours that hadn't been on the shelf at the time of selection. I was able to ask (very nicely) if I could return and have a second go at choosing my colours, make a few swapsies. And they were more than happy to help me out. Which of course meant I needed to make a second Jaunt With Intent, how dreadful. NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Haahaa!!! Returning to the shop yesterday was even better than the first time. And it enabled me to take a few more pics to share with you too.

This is their entire stock of Baby Cashmerino. The colour range is spectacular. Shall we take a closer look?

Top left corner. Not a huge number of colours here that float my boat, but a few balls came down. The baby pink, the golden yellow, the maroony red.

Top right corner. Ooooo hotting up here, I adore this end of the colour spectrum. Hot reds and oranges, vibrant pinks, pretty purples. They zing and sing and shout out to be included.

Bottom right corner. Blues and greens, this is my familiar territory. Turquoise, teal, aqua, leaf and grass. These are my "soul colours", the colours of the land and sea. Every single thing I make contains a mix of these colours.

Bottom left corner. This section is a bit stormy for me, I don't really tend to do greys or dark school uniform colours. I do like the vivid blue though, and yes that pale minty green is pretty.

So this was the yarn selection that ended up In The Bag.

Fifteen colours in total.

A fair balance between the hot red/orange/pink/purple colours and the cooler greens/blues I'd say.

I'm sure you remember me showing you these balls don't you?

Remember me telling you that one was being changed?

Remember me asking if you thought you could pick out the colour?

Of course you remember.

Here's the answer then.....................................................

Do you see which one is now gone?

I took out the pale baby pink and replaced it with a luscious, rich red.

Scroll up and down, check it out. Pale Pink out. Rich Red in.

Not many of you picked out the pink :: the most popular colours for the chop were the bright orange (too in yer face), the maroony red (too dark) and the mid blue (too similar to the turquoise). But to me, these are all vital colours. The dark adds drama and the bright adds zing. Drama and Zing are both essential elements in my opinion. And the blues, wellll, they are my soul colours after all, so I do tend to go heavy on this colour range. That's just my personal quirk.

I ended up having a big tussle over that unusual rather acidic green (bottom centre), but decided at the last minute to keep it in. Ditto the pale minty green. I also had a really, really good look at the other colours on the shelf and decided to add in a few more...three to be precise.

I added in a beautiful pale aqua, a vibrant leafy green and an interesting slate blue. So now there are eighteen colours in total.

This morning I took lots of yarn infested photos and I'm in the process of writing about it for you. Writing about the colours and my own personal way of selecting and playing with them. Don't be expecting theoretical stuff involving colour wheels though. It's more heart and soul stuff with me.

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Comments

[Heather]

It was a Good Re-Jaunt :)

[Merry Glennie]

I want your LYS to open right next to me! Lovely colourful pictures, really looking forward to seeing how the new blanket starts out. :)

[Antonela]

Ciao mi piace un sacco il tuo blog sei molto brava!! Anto

[One-oh-four]

They all look lovely! Can't wait to see what you are going to make.....

[Maria]

Beautiful colours. I wish I have a yarn shop like that near. I can`t wait to see the result. Sure it will be as awesome as usual.

[Karin]

Ahhhhh love the colours! You're an expert!

[Donna]

Luscious, scrummy yarns! I love 'em :o)

[Annie]

Lovely mix of colours - and taking out that pink has completely changed the look. Not that I guessed that, you understand :) Can't wait to see it once you get started.

[Stocki]

I would NEVER have guessed at the pink...but once you took it out...oh yes I see it! I especially love the new leafy green - my favourite colour of ALL time...)x

[Alison]

Ooh! What a gorgeous shop! I have to buy online unfortunately, so don't get to see and feel yarns before I choose. I'm very jealous! I was right too- I picked the pale pink!!!! I love the new red - gosh you have such an eye for colour! Can't wait to see what you have in mind for this beautiful yarn!!! Xx

[Pattygloria]

You're so lucky to have a wool shop close to you, Amiga Lucy! I love the crocheted garland. I really like your three new colours, and the ones you chose before they're so vivid. I'm wondering what blanket do you have in mind? I'm looking forward to know some more about it.
Cuidate! Hasta luego,
Gloria x

[Frida]

Lovely yarn! Can't wait to see what the blanket will look like! Just wanted to say that your blog is a huge inspiration for me. It's always exiting to see what you write and to look at your faboulos photos.:) Thank you for sharing! Frida from Gothenburg

[Melissa Davin-Smith]

I too didn't guess the pink. But my husband did!! Must be a man thing with your little man picking it out too!! But it completely changes the look and it gets a big thumbs up from me! Can't wait to see what blanket you are going to make. I'm in the middle of a bright hexagon using cream, turquoise, fuchsia and purple. And a granny square using grey as MC and 7 other beautiful colours. Some of which are in your selection!! I'd also like to take this opportunity to say how much I love your blog. I started to crochet after I saw your blankets and cushions. And I went back to the beginning and read your blog from the start. And enjoyed every minute of it's colourful wonder. Thank you for being such an inspiration to us all to get hooky!! :)

[Mummyhen]

Lovely pure heaven- looking forward to your next intalment, can't wait to see what type of blanket you decide; ripple stripe granny squares circle in a square - the choice is endless

[Jude]

Love the replacement rich red. ;-) And the three new colours are gorgeous, especially the slate blue. I love blues. Can't wait to see the new blanket. love Jude.x

[Denise]

I didn't guess the pink. It does look better with it gone. I tend towards the blue shades.

[Sara]

Because of a comment I read, I had narrowed it down to the pale pink or green. I didn't want either of them to go. I think that the other colours had paler versions and now the pink doesn't. However, I love the red added in. I feel about purples and pinks as you do about blue, which I am less fond of as I find it cold - I like it in a mix though very much. I also love orange. I don't personally feel there are wrong colours, just those we are in tune with. I have seen people go loopy over colours that do nothing much for me. I have also seen very beautiful things made with grey and browns, while I tend to choose colour if given a choice. There is beauty in most crafts when artfully done.

Your yarn shop looks amazing, the knitted things are just beautiful, I would want to buy them all!

Am very interested to see your new blanket start to take shape. I bet it will be a beauty like your others.

[rachel]

What a lovely assortment of colours - I just love playing around with colours - you just know when you've got it 'right' don't you!!!
Thanks for sharing xxxx

[Irene]

I so much love reading your posts. Wishing you a happy Autumn and happy knitting-crocheting!

[Jennifer]

Thanks for the yarn/color fix! I wasn't able to guess which color needed to go as they all looked great to me. However, now that I see it this way, I see it! And what a wonderful LYS! Looking forward to more "color lessons" xxx

[anne@andamento]

Interesting...

[Cindy]

I'm just wondering if you are going to share the pattern with us, because if you are, I think I need to pack up some friends and take a jaunt to a yarn store! We'll crochet with you! (even though I have some unfinished projects - sshhhh)

Cindy Bee

[Joxy]

I'm so jealous. We have 2 yarn shops here in Folkestone. And both and teeny and stuffed to the rafters with acrylic. The teeniest shop is also stuffed to the rafters with knitted jumpers for babies... you know those rather inspid horrors..yep those, so i find it hard to make myself go in there.. the only saving grace so far has been the crochet cotton thread she stocks.... and other yarn shop is so jam packed with yarn you can't see half of it.... and again no really nice yarns; just cheap,c heap acrylic.. you know the stuff that makes you wince when you attempt to use it... some limited stylecraft; and lots of fashion and fun yarns whcih I don't like particularly. Sigh. I'd so love a "proper" yarn shop that you can move around in, survey the colours, touch, have a wee daydream ............. ahhh yes that would be yarn heaven. :-)

[tizabell]

You're making me jealous with that yarn shop! German yarn shops tend to be very ~ahem~ practical, with lots of scratchy earth-tones... ho-hum. I have to do most of my yarn shopping online, and one does miss the touchy-feeliness of it all.

And the pink! Who'da thought? But I trust your instincts by now. I know it'll turn out beautifully.

[Melissa P]

Heart and soul is the best way to do it. And you do that part so well. Can't wait to see how it all turns out.