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wool scarves by Wallace # Sewell |
PLIED COLOR
In the world of constructed textiles, solid color is only truly possible when all of the yarns constructing a cloth are of the identical hue. Even then, color is still modulated by surface texture, light and shadow. The genius of constructing textiles with multiple threads of varied colors, plied or woven together, is endlessly subtle and rewarding to close inspection. Plying color shatters hues like a kaleidoscope, bringing one or another color to the surface unexpectedly, creating secondary patterns in its random wake.
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(top) Wallace + Sewell wool and cashmere shawl. Photo courtesy Wallace + Sewell; (bottom) wool and cashmere tippet by Wallace + Sewell, wool and silk scarf, Margo Selby; from Santa Fe Weaving Gallery |
KNIT COLOR
Knit consists of a single thread, looping its way through the air, back & forth in straight lines, until a fabric is constructed. Linear in quality, the lines of color can be broken up by using threads of several hues, plied together. Color can be swapped out in the midst for a change. Solid colors appear more saturated against a ground of plied colors. The pop of saturated intarsia color against a ground of finely twisted threads gives a satisfying lesson in color addition, subtraction, and multiplication.
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(Top & Bottom), knit scarves by Catherine Andre Paris, from Santa Fe Weaving Gallery) |
Crochet is made by pulling loops through loops until a construction holds. The progress can go linear, back and forth, until fabric is constructed, but it can also go round and round, and be added onto at whim in a non-linear fashion. Threads can be twisted together prior to construction, or changed out during construction. One can start with a palette of limited colors and by randomly recombining achieve a great diversity and subtlety of hues.
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crochet scarves by Sophie Digard, Paris. |