Finding Colors that Sing
Finding colors that sing.
Many color combinations work well together.
They’re beautiful, and full, and play off of each other.
Coexisting to make the world a more beautiful place.
Some color combinations sing.
They hum, and vibrate, and resonate.
They wibble, and warble, and trill.
They make your eyes light up and dance.
These are the combinations that are kinda-weird, but totally amazing.
Unexpected.
In the best possible way.
The combinations that transcend “that works.”
The combinations that wander into “that’s amazing” territory.
And set up camp.
What if, we take two steps past “it works?”
Two steps towards finding colors that sing.
The Self-Made Wardrobe Week 17
The Self-Made Wardrobe is a project where I only wear garments I’ve made.
It’s sort of a year long experiment in getting dressed without clothing labels.
DAY 113 – NOVEMBER 21th
Moonstruck Cardigan
Woven Scarf
Black Maxi Skirt with a Slit
Grey Tights
Brown Boots
Various Rings
It was one of those crazy bright, freezing cold sort of days. Note to self: your really really need to get the rest of your winter boots resoled. Like yesterday…
DAY 114 – NOVEMBER 22nd
Deconstructed Black Sweater
Basic Black Tank Top
Cascading Flowers Skirt
Brown Boots
when u was making this sweater I didn’t think I would absolutely love it quite as much as I do. But then again what’s not to love about a huge cozy black sweater? And the fact that it works with absolutely every skirt I own, just makes it that much better.
DAY 115 – NOVEMBER 23rd
Versio Sweater
Basic Black Tank Top
Khaki Scarf
Gingham Skirt
Sneakers
Various Rings
All of the colors! Because why the heck not.
DAY 116 – NOVEMBER 24th
Blue Kimono
Basic Black Tank Top
Khaki Scarf
Black Maxi Skirt with a Slit
Black Flats
Various Rings
But seriously, what else can you wear under a 100% alpaca coat when it’s 60 degrees at the end of November. (In fact I ended up taking off the kimono, and was still too warm.)
DAY 117 – NOVEMBER 25th
Blue Kimono
Basic Black Tank Top
Pirate Skirt
Bicycle Clock Necklace
Various Rings
It wasn’t 60 degrees, like it was on day 117, but it was still warm enough not to need a sweater.
DAY 118 – NOVEMBER 26th
Boring Black Sweater
Basic Black Tank Top
Cascading Flowers Skirt
Victorian Lady Necklace
Various Rings
Some days require more multi-tasking than others.
DAY 119 – NOVEMBER 27th
Boring Black Sweater
Basic Black Tank Top
Woven Scarf
Black Maxi Skirt with a Slit
Black Tights
Black Flats
And it’s proper November weather again! Hope you had a fantastic thanksgiving, if your in the US, and an all around great Thursday, if you’re not!
Knitting my “Boring Black Sweater”
I have a love-hate relationship with basics.
I love wearing them.
I hate making them.
This creates a little bit of tension in my self-made wardrobe.
I’ve talked a little bit before about the disconnect between what I love wearing, and what I love making. I love making really complicated & technically challenging, colorful & intricate & interesting things, while I love wearing basics – tank tops, jeans (they’re coming! – eventually…) and straight forward stockinette sweaters.
Sewing basics is pretty boring.
Knitting basics is a nightmare of boredom.
But a nightmare that’s kind of worth it.
I’ve dubbed this sweater the “Boring Black Sweater.”
It’s a solid black, basic pullover, knit in stockinette stitch, in lace weight yarn on a US size 4 (3.5mm) needle. Which, if you don’t knit, is tiny yarn on a not-so-tiny-but-certainly-not-large needles, in a very basic knitting stitch.
The yarn is “Forest Hills” from Cascade in color #3 “Anthracite” (black). I love this yarn for shawls. But I wouldn’t really recommend it for garments because of how much this sweater is pilling.
The pattern is a basic, yoked pullover, worked from the top-down, with a wide neckline, and turned hems on the sleeves and body.
Knitting it was really boring.
It was so boring, in fact, that I knit the sleeves too way short. And once the sweater was all done I cut off the cuff, picked up the stitches on the sleeve, knit a couple more inches, and graphed the cuff back on.
Even so the sleeves ended up being bracelet length, which isn’t what I had in mind, but works fine.
Even though it was kind of a nightmare to knit, I love this sweater. It works with just about everything in my wardrobe, and is the perfect thin layer to wear under or over something.
From now on though, I think I’ll stick to sewing, instead of knitting, my basics.
