I think that folks who prefer counted thread geometric designs are much braver about changing color than folks who prefer working hand painted canvases. I rarely change colors on my painted canvases. I buy them because I like the colors, after all. But I know my friends who love charts also love playing with color. Because I am always trying to be a better stitcher, then I need to know more about color so I can play, too!
In pursuit of knowledge of how to tame the wild charted design, I signed up for Gay Ann Roger's classroom on Yahoo Groups, where I discovered a bonus in that she is talking about color. I've been sitting there in the back of the class, listening, while Gay Ann held color exercises, asking folks to pick their favorite photos from magazines and then analyze what they choose and why. This stumped me, I admit. I have no problem finding pictures I like but figuring out what colors they held seemed very hard until I found Kris' blog (she seems to be a graphic designer) where all the work was done for me.
http://color-stripes.blogspot.com/
I choose a photo that appealed to me (March 13), picked up a set of DMC flosses in the colors of the stripes underneath the picture, and went to the ANG Stitch of the Month website to play around with my choices. The photo above is the result.
The top left stitch is SharonG's Brocade Variation.
http://needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/2005/nov.php
This is a gorgeous stitch in the silks, metallics and beads SharonG recommends, but how will it look in plain old DMC? What you see in the photo is how I worked it, with each step done top down. The first row is the grid in chocolate. Step two/row two is the plus sign which I did in teal. I really like this color combo, particularly on the white canvas. (It's a scrap of white 18 count mono, by the way.) It's very 1950s in my mind. I deviated from the instructions in row three, doing step 4 instead of 3. I thought the / lines around the perimeter might be easier to do than doing step 3 and then 4. I used pink here and found it covered up the white background of my canvas.
I did step 3 in the fourth row with my medium green. In that step you put an X on top of the plus sign. This filled in the square almost completely and I found the green and teal were similar enough that they merged into a color between the two. I guess my eyes performed color magic here, making a new shade from these two.
There are only four rows of the design stitched above because step five is to put beads n the corners of each little box. I compromised and did a French knot there in my light green cotton floss. Hope you can see it. Even though it is very light, the touch of green adds to the pattern, hiding the white between each box even though it is just in the corners.
I like how the Brocade Variation turned out a lot.
The round stitch on the right is called Round Bargello and it is from Lois Kershner.
http://needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/2008/jan.php
I didn't have enough shades of green to do all four of the crescent shapes without repeating myself but this turned out just fine. I worked the light green, then the medium, back to light, and finished with dark green. It looks better than I thought it would. These green colors didn't seem very attractive to me but in this stitch they really shine.
For the center I used the variation, using my chocolate, pink and teal to do the corners, sides and center. I am amazed at how good this looks. It resembles a flower to me even though few flowers are green with centers in pink/teal/chocolate. I think this stitch would look great in the corners of an ornate border.
The bottom stitch is Jean Hilton's Chilly Hollow stitch, diagrammed by Carole Lake.
http://needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/2002/Mar.php
This stitch has basically three steps, the foundation (I used my chocolate but it doesn't matter what color since step two hides step one) and the side and the center. With six colors to use, I decided to use my greens and teal on the side and pretend this was an overdye with color changes. I like how they work together, moving from dark to light to teal. I filled in the center with pink French knots. Chocolate seemed too dark for a center which you normally want to come forward (and you use light colors to make something look like it is closer to the viewer). So I just used the pink, although I might have had spotted French knots if I added a few in chocolate. I also like how this stitch turned out. The colors work well together, even if I never would have chosen these colors. But isn't it good to break out of your favorite colors box?
It occurred to me as I stitched my samples that part of the appeal of the photo I choose was the whimsical air of the design. I liked the design itself really more than the colors. I like pinks but chocolate brown? I'd never pick that color to use in a geometric pattern! The greens are unlikely choices for me as well. Perhaps the emotional response I had to the actual design are as important as the colors used in it? We all know that some designs just jump into our pockets when we are in a needlepoint shop. We have to have that Santa, that new Jean Hilton pattern, that Melissa Shirley monkey. Are we responding to a design that touches something in our souls? Is that different than choosing colors we think pretty?
I've got a lot to mull over while I work on Fan the little Japanese girl this weekend....
