How does the saying go?  I think it’s “April showers bring May flowers” and boy are we getting showers over here in my neck of the North East woods.  I feel as if winter’s still here.   Dark, gloomy, gray, very wet days have become all too frequent.  Despite what the weather’s like, I’ve decided to enjoy Spring in my choice of colours for the projects I’m working on this week.  I’ve decided to experiment with colour combos and brighten up my dreary days with vibrant colour!

I wasn’t sure if this peach and magenta combo on my Duotone Cowl (original image below) was going to work.

source: original design and colour combo from Orange Flower Yarn (on Ravelry)

I laid them out together one day, looked at them for another 48 hours then decided to take the plunge.  So far so good … I think I like it.  I’m hoping the magenta doesn’t overpower the peach once I get to the second set of repeats where the magenta would be the dominant colour.  This project is another simple one with great teaching opportunities.  In addition to being a colour experiment, I needed to learn crochet provisional cast on since the cowl will be eventually joined using kitchener stitch.  If I didn’t get enough of seaming that way with my first mitten, ha … this project is going to make an expert out of me.  The other technique is making jogless stripes … honestly, it looks messy to me but I was assured that the stitches would smooth out once the project is done and blocked.   The miles of stockinette makes it perfect for what my friend Elisa calls …  Knitflixing (aka watching Netflix while knitting).

The second project is more of a mental experiment in colour.  I would NEVER pick  that shocking green colour as an option for a solid blanket but my little cousin did.  Shown above is the yarn/colour he chose to make the Sutter Mill Cable Throw that he made me promise to make him after he saw my 2014 Mood blanket.  Strangely enough, although the colour is so startlingly bright to me, I have to admit that it’s kinda cheery to work with on those grey days and I can’t wait to see the cables forming.  Here’s the original pattern — one of the four blankets I plan to make this year:

source: LionBrand Studio

I’m making this all together instead of doing 5 stripes then seaming.  It might take a little longer this way but I don’t mind.  I know it will also get heavier the larger it gets but I’ll just have to lay it down while I work on it.  There was NO WAY  I was going to do the five strips individually … NO WAY!!!  😀  I just have to pay attention to where I make the cable crosses since three are to the right and two are to the left.

So?  What are you working on?  Anything fun, bright or using a Spring palette?  Any new techniques?  What’s your favourite jogless stripes method?  Talk to me in the comments!  😀