Adventures of a Desi KnitterAn academic juggles knitting, sewing, and other crafts in Kolkata

Drowning in colour

§ March 1st, 2010 § Filed under Uncategorized § 10 Comments

It’s Holi, and do I have some colour for you!

This was possibly the best Holi celebration ever. Well, the one when my roommate and I drank just enough bhang to waft around campus in a gentle breeze and the food tasted a lot better and we sang a lot of songs and found everything very funny was pretty spectacular. But it was a long time ago, and this year I had no bhang. This year I splashed around in some unbelievably rich and deep colours, and I didn’t even have to wash them off myself. What’s more, instead of holding my head and wishing everyone wouldn’t talk so loudly, a day later my hangover from Stitches is still a happy glow.

It was a lovely crisp day, and I saw a lot of dyers, vendors and designers I haven’t seen before. Kauni, Jordana Paige, Cheryl Oberle… and many, many others. One of my favourites was Tess’s Designer Yarns, which was like the perfect Holi colour stall with colours spilling all over, except nothing got on your clothes (photo taken with the booth-owner’s explicit permission for posting on the blog):

Manduka, who just finished her first ever sweater to wear in time for the convention, got an amazing number of compliments for it, which is really the best thing about such gatherings. I spotted at least twenty February Lady Sweaters, including two identical ones worn by two friends. I met Fickle Knitter, which was great – after years of reading each other’s blogs, it’s no surprise we plunged right into chatting. A couple of people recognized me, and more importantly, my Ogee tunic from the blog, which was totally awesome.

The best part, though, was seeing Laura, friend and fibre artist extraordinaire, after many years. She is still making magic in many different colours, and I was happy to take some of her yarn off her hands! I bought “Sydney”, a DK merino in a pale green.

So what else did I get? Sock yarn, sock yarn, sock yarn. Socks that Rock in Vancouver Violet (for the Olympics!) and since I’m going up there next week for a conference, I thought this was most apt for the plane knitting. I also got two gorgeous shades, Denim and Terra Cotta, from Anzula Luxury Fibers who truly had an exceptional palette. The one with just a hint of sage, is Tess Yarns’ Super Sock.

Finally, my coveted Blackwater Abbey yarn! Funnily enough, Marilyn of Abbey yarns had read on my blog that I was looking forward to getting some at Stitches, and so she went out of her way to make sure that I got the yarn and colour I wanted. I got some of their new sport weight instead of the worsted, in a lovely blue-purple called Indigo. I cannot *wait* to get started on it. Thanks, Marilyn!

I stepped outside the box this time, and consciously avoided the warm reds, maroons, pinks and browns I usually reach for. My eye kept catching the cooler greens, blues and purples and I went for some paler shades – partly to try something new, and partly to try a lot of the lovely cabled patterns out there that look better in these shades. My Ravelry queue is bursting with projects, and my fingers are itching.

As we drove back and I headed to a Holi dinner party at a friend’s house, my head swirled with ideas and colour, and the full moon rose gracefully in the sky. Really, as I hummed aayaa holii kaa tyohaar jhuume rangoN kii byochhaar.. to myself at night (trying to put the image of Sandhya’s weird dancing out of my head!), I didn’t miss the bhang at all.