I am always hard-pressed to name a favorite color. Growing up, I went through my pink phase, my blue phase, my purple phase. I even had a peach phase. Green was my favorite color for a long time after that. And then at some point in my early adulthood, I realized I could no longer name a favorite, because I just love color (all of them). I can’t even decide whether I like “warm” colors or “cool” colors better. They are all delicious.
I have to admit, though, that yellow has never been up there with the other ones. It’s not relaxing like blue or green. It doesn’t have quite the energizing power of red or the earthy comfort of brown. I’ve never liked the way it looked on me. I don’t think I’m alone in my opinion of yellow – I’ve never known anyone who called yellow his or her favorite color, except one. That was my dad, when I was a kid, and I thought he was strange for it!
Well, all that has changed, my friend. I don’t know what has happened, but I find myself drawn to yellow like never before. It started earlier this year, when I found a skein of Malabrigo in “Pollen” had ended up in my shopping basket, inexplicably.
It was such a cheery little burst of color in the midst of a long grey winter. I made some happy mittens out of it.
Or maybe my new affection for yellow really started two years ago, with this golden knit:
At the time, I viewed my love for that yarn as an aberration, but perhaps it was a foreshadowing.
Regardless, it wasn’t long after the mittens above that I found a use for the leftover Malabrigo, and I made a fistful of stars.
These are little Christmas ornaments that I gave to a bride-to-be who loves all things Christmas.
Then in June, I pulled out a gorgeous skein of laceweight naturally-dyed yarn I had won from Mel the previous fall, and I ended up with this:
(Whisper Cardigan)
Along the way, I also banged out some jellyfish and some granny squares that featured yellow prominently (along with a delightful combination of purple, fuschia, brown, orange, and white).
It was around the time that I cast off for the Whisper Cardi, that I began receiving fall clothing catalogs and noticed something interesting. YELLOW. There is a lot of yellow out there all of a sudden. Did I anticipate a trend? Or did I somehow respond to subtle advertising along the way? Who knows? I’m just glad I’ve finally seen the charms of this humble color.
Actually, I suppose by this point I should call it what it is – a full-fledged obsession. When Kirsten announced that she would be doing another Mystery Sock Knit-along, I knew immediately that I had to knit along – and in yellow. I spend a ridiculous amount of time trying to figure out which yarn, in which shade, would fit the bill. I could see the shade so clearly in my head, but I struggled to find exactly what I was looking for online. I consulted with Heather, whose knowledge of all available yarns and colors rivals the Ravelry database. She was amazing. And then she amazed me more, by offering up the perfect skein of yarn from her own stash. That’s it up there at the top of this post – Socks that Rock, Mediumweight, in “Olivenite,” which from what I can tell is a color that doesn’t exist any more. Heather rocks so hard. Also, she understands obsession like few other people I know.
So now I am working on my Socktoberfest socks, in a perfect fall yellow, and I couldn’t be more pleased.
Okay, don’t look any further if you don’t want the Mystery to be spoiled. Here is how mine look after Clue #2:
I love them so much. And they have only made me love yellow all the more.
