Sometimes I am not very good with colour. I wish I was consistent and had a colour style. I can’t really do that Scandi chic look, all white and grey, because the brights and the pastels creep in. I wish I was a tasteful Farrow and Ball girl, with all those sophisticated chalky whites. But then a cheeky cerise potters in, with a clashing red and bang there goes your sophisticated colour scheme.
In recent years I have been thrilled to watch and appreciate the styles of Selina Lake and Sarah Moore. I think their colour palette, their love of vintage and chintz is really where my style heart lies. It makes me happy not to feel quite so off kilter.
Now where is all this leading to? Well there was a problem with a blanket. For all the be-moaning of my schizophrenic colour choices, I am my friends, a finisher. I do like to see the end of a project. With that in mind I am careful what I start. I also don’t like too much waste. I like to wade through the yarn stash and make something useful from all those remnants.
About a year ago I came across a delightful baby blanket pattern. In it’s original form it would have been all fluffy duck yellow or sugar mice pink. I was keen to try a more modern palette. Using a new trick I have for pinning down my colour indecision I chose the front cover of Homes and Antiques for crochet square colours. Lots of fun was had making square after square.
Image taken from Selvedge magazine – Susanne Biovsky
When it was time to join up the squares disaster struck. I tried colour after colour, blue, yellow white – ewww. They all looked horrible and made me want to run away from my project bag. Then the new issue of Selvedge magazine arrived, July/August. There on the front of the magazine was my answer. There is a wonderful article about the Viennese fashion designer Susanne Bisovsky. Her work inspired by folk costume provided the perfect palette match for my blanket.
The answer was to chose a charcoal grey as the backdrop to all those zingy hues. Perfect. This style also enabled me to go a bit ‘fancy’ with the edging.
So there you go, my magazine addiction continues to save the day and one begins the inspiration and another provides the ending – perfect.
I am being a bit cheeky but I do get a mention in this issue of Selvedge Magazine on page 38 for the Gawthorpe Hall project #ambitiondone
Love it Emma! Thinking outside the box!
Well done on your well deserved Selvedge mention Emma!
Love the blanket! ❤️
V x
Gorgeous blanket!
Looks amazing x