When I started spinning and weaving in the early 70's, colour
was easy. I used the colours the sheep choose for their fleece
and for variety I dyed the wool with whatever was at hand - rhubarb
leaves, mistletoe, dahlia flowers, and even red clay from my
parents' garden. My knitted garments and my woven travel rugs,
garments and wall hangings were, therefore, in a range of greys,
browns and yellows, and the colours toned beautifully.
Some years later Kaffe Fassett's books began to appear and
suddenly colour was everywhere. His knitted garments sang in
a way that was very appealing to fibre craftpeople. I had started
to experiment with chemical dyes and had on hand a mass of small
amounts of coloured fibre. which in time turned into multi-coloured
garments that fortunately my children were generally willing
to wear. Fassett's techniques seemed complex, but they too were
in fact easy. One of his favourite techniques was to create designs
with a repetitive shape on a background - their simplicity was
obvious when one of his designs was knitted in two colours. The
garments came to life because they were knitted not in two colours
but in 20 or more.
To knit one of these "Fassetts" first choose a colour
"theme" - autumn tones, for example. Then gather as
many different yarns as possible that fit into this theme, in
both light and dark shades. The range which can be tolerated
is surprisingly wide - for example, an autumn theme could range
from brown at the warm end to lemon green at the cool end and
small amounts of contrasting colours - purple, emerald green,
crimson will just add more interest. These yarns are then divided
into two groups. One becomes the background, the other the foreground
and the design is knitted using short lengths (say a meter) of
yarns chosen at random. The effect is vibrant and fascinating.
Spinners dyers and weavers use similar techniques - spinners
can choose to highlight the variations in a naturally coloured
fleece or can blend roughly dyed wool so that traces of each
constituent colour can be seen; dyers can paint warps, tie-dye
yarns and "rainbow" dye fibres; weavers can set up
random warps comprising many different yarns and weave with variegated
wefts. All of these techniques rely on variation of colour to
give life and interest to the finished garment.
For me, the greatest challenge has always been in using a
restricted colour range. To choose just two colours, one for
the warp and one for the weft, has over the years caused me more
anguish (and failed projects) than I can bear to remember. It
was, therefore, with great motivation, that I attended a workshop
on colour with Sharon Alderman at convergence in Portland in
July 1996.
The first technique is the artists' use of colour cards. We
were each issued with a set produced by the Colour Aid Corp.
which contained 314 swatches 4.5"x6", comprising 34
hues, 100 tints, 47 shades, 114 pastels, 17 greys, black and
white. Similar sets can be purchased from art supply shops. We
worked with these colours intensively for three days. One particularly
testing exercise was as follows:
Choose a colour and cut two match-stick pieces(A1 and A2).
Place on a sheet of a second colour (B) which changes the hue
(not just the value) of A1. Find a third colour (C) which matches
the altered colour A1 and place A2 against C, which should alter
A2 so that it now is the same as the second colour (B). If colours
B and C are chosen correctly, A1=C and A2=B.
I can assure you that this is possible, but it can take hours
to achieve! The usefulness of such exercises is in sharpening
awareness of the effects of colours on each other, for example
when designing stripes or choosing different colours for warp
and weft.
Inspired by this technique I have at last found a use for
some yellow-green linen tow which I brought some years ago. I
had on a number of occasions sampled this yarn, usually combining
it with a dark blue only to make it appear a washed out yellow.
By working with my colour cards, I was able to establish that
I could cross the tow with pink and violet-blue of the same value
to emphasise the green cast (through simultaneous contrast with
its complement pink) and to tone down its brightness. Subsequent
sampling has proven that this will work, and the yarns will soon
become a set of napkins.
The second technique is to use the world around us as a colour
design source. Sharon carries with her a note book in which she
records any interesting or unusual colour experiences, also making
quick sketches, collects leaves, feathers and other small objects.
She describes the colours precisely with the aid of a set of
embroidery thread sample cards. By noting the shade number together
with a precise description of the scene, she is able to return,
even years later, to her description and recreate the scene.
Each day during her workshop she asked each of us to describe
such a scene, and it was interesting to see how much more accurate
our observations became in such a short period of time. You only
need to carry with you a note book and some colour references
- yarn sample cards, paint chips a set of colour pencils or crayons,
your set of coloured papers. Erica Heftmanns's article (see below)
has an excellent article on colour which includes two sets of
colour chips, one for permanent reference and the other to cut
up - these would be ideal.
Colour surrounds us. We can, of course, choose to work in
understood colours or simple colour combinations, concentrating
on the intricacy of our construction to produce interesting fabrics.
We need to remember, however, that colour is the most important
element in attracting interest in our fabrics, and we should
take advantage of this whenever we can. While some people seem
to be born with an innate sense of colour, just as others have
perfect pitch, we can work at developing our colour sense by
looking closely at the world around us and in becoming more conscious
of colour interaction.
Further reading:
Alderman, Sharon. A Handweavers Notebook. Interweave, 1990
Heftmann, Erica. Spin Off , 1996
P. Lambet, B. Staplelacre, M. Fry. Colour and Fibre. Schiffer,
1986
Margaret Small, as well as being an enthusiastic weaver and
spinner, is also convener of the EIGHT PLUS! sample exchange/study
group for weavers with eight or more shafts. New members are
always welcome. She can be contacted through the Guild or at:
"Yanderwood"
MSF2001
Armidale
New South Wales 2350
Australia
Phone +61 6775 1232