My 70's Ugly Duckling Grows Up

I was born in the seventies, so maybe it was my subconscious rebelling 30 years later. I fretted and agonized over the yarn colors for this project. On screen, the colors were beautifully matched - earthy... browns, greens... the essence of nature. When the yarn arrived I didn't flinch too much at first. It was only when I started my 3 tier in the pattern (from the top down), using the 'pumpkin' color, that my doubts rose substantially. Pumpkin = orange. Yeah, duh - but people tend to be very vague and more romantic when naming colors, so I ignored the red flag when ordering it. I knew that it had a tinge of orange, but that was ok since "wheat" was going to be tan, or so I thought. Wheat also had a orange tinge, however. When do fields of wheat look orange, except maybe during an exceptional sunset? Arg.


I was a little embarassed during the first few knitted tiers, almost apologizing to questioning onlookers that I didn't know it was going to be so bright, so orange, so... SEVENTIES. Even my own mother proclaimed 'Ick'. Fine. Thankfully SissyPrincess assured me that I would come to love my ugly duckling - that maybe it would felt into a beautiful swan. I think it did just that - I already love it now that it's felted, the colors melded subtly, making it autumn-like. I love it. Whew.



Pattern is Market Squares from Bags: A Knitter's Dozen - using the entrelac technique. Yarn is Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in colors: maple syrup, pumpkin, wheat, fern and avocado ('avocado' color should have been another obvious clue, don't you think?). Before Felting (right)