Nothing Rhymes With It

When I was growing up, that whole thing with the colours and the seasons was really big. You were supposed to look at your complexion and your hair and the colour of your eyes, and then you’d know what colours you were allowed to wear, or what you’d look good in.  My mum did it. She always looks great too, so when she told me I was a spring, or a summer or whatever the hell season it was, I totally believed her. I still do believe her – it’s just that the results of that test were so disappointing. I remember all the colours being blue and pink and god help me…teal.  There’s nothing wrong with those colours of course, it’s not like one colour can really be better than another – it’s all a matter of perspective. One person’s pink is another’s pepto-bismol Barbie-esque nightmare, and I remember being a little devastated that I was doomed to a life of wearing colours that I didn’t really like.

Then something happened. I… grew up. Is that the right phrase? Is it what happened? I’m not sure, but I remember waking up one morning and looking at my fushia blouse and my teal jacket and my pink scarf and thinking “Holy wing of a moth, I hate you” and something snapped, and I started buying stuff I liked. Sienna. Olive. Yellow iron oxide, raw umber, sap green, ochre, rust, brown, and (much to my mother’s initial shock, although I think she’s over it now) ORANGE.

cawithcoat 2014-05-21

I love orange. also happen to think that it looks fabulous on me, but truth be told, I don’t know if that’s a real thing, or if it’s just that I love it so much that I feel good in it, and therefore believe that it looks fabulous, when really it makes me look like an anemic mole rat.

I don’t care.  Spring, summer, whatever it is that I’m supposed to be, in my heart I am an autumn, and systems be damned, I’m happiest dressed like a tree in fall.

orangedetail 2014-05-21

This last Color Affection (and I think it might be my last, it’s possibly out of my system) makes me so happy I can’t even tell you.  It goes with my orange coat, my brown coat, my green shirts… all of my favourite tree garb, and it’s deliciously soft and bouncy to boot. (Oh. It also goes with all my boots.)

cadonefence 2014-05-21

Pattern: Color Affection, Yarn: Plucky Knitter “Feet” in (I think – the tags are long gone) Aperitif, Ever After and Sock Monkey.  4mm needles.  Knit with a few modifications. First, I did a yarnover between each first and second stitch, dropping it on the return rows to give a little extra length. Then I also continued the second section (short rows) until I was out of stitches. made it a little longer, and wider, which was nice with a fine yarn.

moreoutspread 2014-05-21

I am going to wear this all the time. Me and orange. Dark orange. Vibrant orange. Orange that’s dirty or cozy or bright. Orange like fruit, or maple trees in the sun, or monarch butterflies, or tulips or crayons or pumpkins or piles of persimmons.   Orange, orange, orange. It might be almost my favourite. Maybe.

cadonefence2 2014-05-21

You can keep peach, and melon, and palest apricot. I love big orange, and I don’t care if it suits my complexion. It suits my nature.

(Sorry mum.)