Dear Ann:
Here’s the downside of asking for opinions on what color I should use for the last, outside stripe of my Fort Tryon Wrap: I have to decide whose advice to follow. People have strong opinions about color. Color makes us feel; it makes us react. And it’s hard to communicate color sense in words. I say, “I want it to have that Missoni clash of the unexpected, yet perfect.” Someone else says, “That yellowy green may be unexpected, but it’s perfectly awful.” That’s how color works.
I sat with the conflicting advice (most of it skewing anti-Green Tea), and two things tipped the balance for me. The first was Jill Draper’s matter-of-fact assurance that I should stick with the fifth color we’d originally picked, together, at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival last May. I said, “Missoni,” she got what I meant, and these are the five colors we ended up with (admittedly from a reduced range of Jill Draper Makes Stuff Esopus colors–the Maryland swarm can pick a yarn stall clean in a matter of hours). I have long admired Jill’s color sense, the way her joyful attitude toward color intersects with bold, pattern-forward clothing. It’s infectious and inspiring. I wanted to dance with the girl who brought me to this party.
The second factor was that I was there, at the last stripe, and I had in my hand that skein of Esopus in Green Tea. In my knitting life, many projects have been put aside temporarily while I searched for the right buttons, or the perfect edging color, or even for a few yards of a yarn that had run short. Sometimes those projects get buried for years. They languish, unfinished and unworn, and sometimes are not resurrected until my taste has moved on to something else entirely. I didn’t want that to happen to my Fort Tryon Wrap. I want it, and I want to wear it this fall, and I’m not going to stand for any self-sabotaging crap about this from myself.
Green Tea it is, and I like it. So there.
Love,
Kay
You tell ’em, Kay! I like that Green Tea, and it certainly is unexpected, which is what you want, so there you go. No self-sabotaging from you–wear that Fort Tryon Wrap with pride this fall!
Yes Kay, the green is perfect in its very greenness! It will be a lovely wrap.
It’s perfection Kay and green tea plays very well in the sandbox with it’s other wrapmates. Love the Missoni-ness of this project.
Love it!
I like it too. Sometimes you have to trust an artist’s sense of color.
“And I’m not going to stand for any self-sabotaging c*** from myself.” Oh I know this one!! Thank you for summing up what happens sometimes and putting it into words so I can understand it, and thereby begin to dismantle it.
Lime-y , acid-y green is always the right answers. That Jill has got it going on… She knows how to make stuff. 🙂
It definitely works. Congrats!
I like how it looks knitted up the colors play well together.Great job making the decision and going for it!
seeing it knit up next to that smokey grey
i like the green tea too.
lovely — love the hues in that jill draper yarn. must be fun to work with.
I’m with you! (Well, actually, I’m with Her 🙂 The yellowy green looks great! The Missoni-ness speaks to me, too.
I have a sad confession – I was in London for over a week in late June, and didn’t get to the Missoni show. We were taking grandson number three on the mini- grand tour, already wearing him out and it was just too far off our carefully planned travels. ( Though he is design sensitive, and would have enjoyed it, I think: he and I were both drawn to a beautiful tapestry at the Tate Modern.)
I’m actually thinking about doing a fast run-out to London, if I can find a reasonable last minute fare.
Crazy, yes, but my Missoni obsession runs deep.
The big flower jacket is blossoming beautifully, too!
Oops, my arrow emoji after “I’m with Her,” and my closing parenthesis disappeared! But you get the idea.
It’s almost always best to go with your first instinct.
Best part of getting it done now is that it will be available to snuggle in with memories of all those fine folks who showed their love and respect for your dad while you worked on it. They’re all knit right in there. And even if Green Tea might not be Omaha approved, you’re in NYC where you’ll be one more stylish gal makin’ it work. Knit on.
I like it, too.
I love it. So glad you stuck with that gorgeous green. It’s especially beautiful next to the gray. Can’t wait for the full reveal/beauty shot.
I didn’t like the green before it was knitted; now I see what you mean. Nice!
I will admit. That Green tea isn’t a color that I would pick. But I like how it looks in the photo. Ultimately, if you like it, then all is good.
If I’ve learned anything in my half century, it’s “trust your gut.” I keep re-learning that one.
You’ll wear it well.
I think the Green Tea is really lovely.
Thanks for the photo!
Me likey.
It looks amazing! And wouldn’t it be nice if there was a vaccine to protect us all from self-sabotaging crap? Or at least an early warning klaxon.
It’s a winner Kay. And…look at that beautifully wound ball of yarn!
Way to go Kay! I frequently second guess myself near the end of a project. I’m glad you stuck with the original colors.
Good for you for going with your first instincts. Now that I see it knit, I do like it. And you will be warm this fall. Today, here in southern Ontario, it is going up to the 100s. No shawls here – even the a/c won’t be able to keep up with this. Carry On!
I admire your moxie! I too have unfinished projects mired in self doubt, go on! It’s beautiful!
Love the green tea!
You’ll look smashing this fall!
I wasn’t so he about it when you last talked about it, but it’s perfect! I really love it. It’s sometimes so hard to tell until something is near finished, thus so much frigging in my house, but not this time. That will for sure be a staple in your wardrobe.
perfect! it is gorgeous! want me to email my address? lol
At the risk of sounding like the woman in the old Irish Spring soap commercials: “I like it too.”
What I love about this is that you had a chance to work through your choices with fellow knitters who shared every opinion there is to share. It was your decision to make and feel good about. Now you are confident in your choice. How often do we get a chance to feel that? Enjoy ~
Oh! That’s going to be perfect. And it’s doing really nice things for the center stripe.
Excellent choice! Good to trust your instincts.
There’s something magic about that color. I bought a wool gauze wrap that color in the pashmina era and wondered what on earth I was thinking — what would it ever go with? And then proceeded to wear it every day for a few years. It somehow looked exactly right-wrong with everything.
Good for you! Sometimes I go with the color advice from others and sometimes I want to see if there is even 1 more person who agrees with my choice yet will still go with what I want. Since she helped you pick the colors out, and at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival no less, the best Festival I’ve ever been to EVER, it all adds to the beauty of the wrap. It’s lovely, I can already tell the drape will be lovely and what a meaningful project to wear this Fall!
go girl!
That’s the spirit!
Well, I believe I was one who advocated for a dark color as the last stripe, but I stand corrected–because the shawl looks just wonderful and I love that green tea. (My husband would be shocked that I’m actually admitting I was wrong about something in public.) Can’t wait to see it finished!
In nature green ties all colors together. I think it is the perfect choice!
THAT’S THE SPIRIT!
PS I am experimenting with a little sample can of Farrow&Ball Arsenic right now. Color could happen!
I love it!
Agree completely! It was my answer before reading your post: Jill picked it, so use it!
I’m having the same dilemma for the border of my Moderne. Sadly neither you nor Jill picked my colors. But I refuse to use yarn other than stash or bought for this project. I figure if it makes things worse, its ok, because it’s just for me. Working on this I was once again reminded if the depths of my knitting ignorance. If one knits a bunch of lace & striped shawls one can forget the whole wide world of knitting that I used to be so eager to explore.
Can’t wait til I see your completed Fort!
I love it!
Right on sister.
(I was pro- green Tea all along but got too exhausted reading the comments to leave one of my own…)
Also as Valedictorian of the Indecisive on Yarn, Class of Every Damn Year, most often my conclusion is your first choice is best. Just like in multiple bubble tests.
It will be stunning on you!
Of course, it looks perfect. I’ll always advocate for that one color that doesn’t seem to “go”–it will, and it makes the result brilliant. Well done!
Didn’t think I’d like it when I saw it as a skein, but it’s perfect! Good to trust Jill. I do that with my favorite local dyer (Knitted Wit) to get me out of my very ordinary color comfort zone). It works!
I agree. Once knit, it works.
It is hard to not second guess color choices. And we are all seeing it on a wide variety of monitors and have different color preferences.
I’ll tell you what helps me is to know that a particular person’s taste/preference is OPPOSITE mine. For example, I like gin. At the liquor store, there’s a clerk who pretty much just likes Tanqueray. He doesn’t like what I call “flavorful” gin. He calls that kind being hit over the head with a christmas tree. So I ALWAYS ask his opinion of new indie distillery gin that they get in. If he hates it, I buy it. Works great!
That said, I have noticed that you and I have very different tastes and styles. Since I’m not fond of that color choice, I think that you will be very happy at the end when it is done. 🙂 Happy knitting!
I love it! And am so glad you stuck with the plan. Had planned to throw in my two cents worth, but then suffered commenter’s paralysis after reading so many diverse views! You will LOVE this shawl.
I was a nay(green) sayer. But come to think of it, I never ask for advice on creative decisions, so I am not sure why I offered any. As a painter and crafter, I know I have to follow my own heart. Color likes and dislikes, are so personal and subjective. As are most creative decisions. Kudos to you for ignoring the naysayers and following your own heart! Can’t wait to see it on!
Yay! Good on you!
Good job and kudos to you. And; color, wow. Accepted color rules have included never use/wear pink with red. Blue/green combos just not done – so much for bachelor buttons, delphiniums et., eh? My grandest color comeuppance came in a fiber arts class when I noticed a woman working on a little beaded bag. The base fabric was a yellowish beige, her bead colors included emerald green, yellow-y green, a weak red – yeah, the same color Bulgari uses – pink, and both warm and cool yellows. Nastiest thing I had ever seen. Until the scales came off my eyes when it was closer to completion. Fair freaking gorgeous. Kimono colors. I then had to face my Western bias on color. And me a painter forever. Yes, it was a moment of complete moral prostration. Japanese color aesthetics have been at the top of my personal “check this out” list for nearly two decades now. Wonderment.
I like it, too! And I love that you want to ” dance with the girl who brought me to this party.” And hoo-boy, have you called it with “people have strong opinions about color.” I adore color, and personally never ask for color advice from those who are timid about color. To my mind there’s no such thing as a bad color, and “unexpected” is sometimes the way to go. Which is why Noro yarns (for example) are so great. I have to admit people who “cut a color out” when they are using Noro confuse me. Why would you waste yarn that way? Why do you use Noro in the first place then? See…strong opinions!
I argued against the Green Tea originally, and now I think it’s brilliant. Good for you, and good thinking process.
For the love of Pete, pick up that stitch! (I like the green)
I ADORE that pop of gteen to finish off this wrap. It’s very Missoni, which is what you wanted; JD helped pick the colors so it has awesome magical memories; and damn if it doesn’t work JUST RIGHT. I’ll be able to pick you out amongst the crowd of tourists should you ever venture downtown near the WTC. The rebuilding efforts are so powerful. Come on down!
It is always better to finish!! I wish I did that more often.
You can always make a 2nd one…… 🙂
There is a very similar pattern called Dendros by Michelle Wang that you could try.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/dendros-2
I was anti green tea, but I like it now!
I go around and around about color choices and too often I end up with the same safe palette. Thanks for going with the green. You’ve convinced it’s time for a pallette intervention. I love color way too much to risk getting bored with my craft.
I love it because you love it, and it’s your wrap!
Absolutely beautiful! Glad you stayed with the Tea Green.
Does this look familiar?
http://cdn.missonihome.com/wp-content/uploads/Missonihome-2016.pdf