Fearless Fibers Yarn

A Passion for Purple

It seems that I've developed a passion for purple. I just realized that both of my current smaller projects on the sticks are in purple.

Actually, I have a passion for all color. I'm a firm believer that early childhood experiences have a strong impression on who we become. Back when I was a toddler some 40 years ago, you didn't see children that young wearing glasses the way you do today. I didn't get my first pair of glasses until I was six years old, but a quick glance at the family photo album shows that I most definitely needed them. In just about every photo, I'm squinting.

Unfortunately, the combination of my chubby face, short dark hair, and squinting made me look an awful like Jonathan Winters in those early photos. Here's a picture of me when I was three:





Oops, wait a minute! I guess that is Jonathan Winters. But you get the idea.

The thing about being so nearsighted at such a young age (I was legally blind already when I got my first pair of glasses) is that the world at a distance is just a mishmash of blurry shapes and colors that mix and mingle together. I think that I learned to relate to the world that way in those early, formative years. Even after I got my first pair of glasses, I used to like to take them off when I rode in the car so that I could stare out the window and watch the world go by in a glorious flash of color. In fact, I still do that on long car trips. I pluck my disposable contacts out of my eyes and flick them out the window, recline my seat back and just relax and watch the colors flow by.

When I was in the first grade our teacher organized a little science fair just for our class. My project was about how to mix primary colors to create other colors. I had water with food coloring in little plastic cups so that the other class members could mix and experiment. My mother drew an outline of a color wheel for me that I colored in with my crayons. I even had translucent plastic sheets in different colors that could be placed on top of each other to create different colors.

My passion for color extended to clothing as well. My mother tells me that when I was very little, every time we entered a clothing store I ran straight toward the most garish, wildly colored clothing in the store. She had serious concerns about my future fashion sense!

I used to scoff at the phoo-phoo career guidance books and classes that suggested that we should look to our childhood dreams and hobbies to find the best career path as an adult. I imagined this would lead to a world full of artists and athletes, ballerinas and firemen. Now I guess I must admit that perhaps there's some truth to the idea.

The color of the moment for me right now seems to be purple. Here's the latest progress on the broken rib socks in FF Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn in the Royalty colorway:




I haven't made a ton of progress on these socks yet (this is still sock number one), because I'm only working on them during my husband's softball games. A few have been rained out already so my sock progress has stagnated a bit.

Here's a closer view so you can see the twisting detail a little better. The color is also much more accurate in this photo.



The other purple project on my sticks right now is a new lace scarf. As I mentioned in my last post, I'm planning on cranking out several lace scarves for this summer season. I thought it would be fun to design my own this time and so I've been swatching and planning a bit. I've settled on my design and have begun knitting the scarf, but I'll hold off on a photo until I have a bit more progress to share. I'm knitting this scarf in FF Laceweight Merino in the Hendrix colorway.

That's all from me for today. Everyone have a wonderful long weekend and enjoy all of the beautiful colors of spring!