I’ve recently been enjoying designing blue things.
This is my new shawl – Traigh – which works so well with Tarbet, one of our new shades of Milarrochy Tweed.
Tarbet is a glorious mid blue with lots of colourful tweed neps, which make it really interesting. This rich, complex, maritime blue is my new obsession. . .
It’s the colour of Balmaha, my current favourite sweater.
. . . and it also features in another new garment design which I can’t show you yet (but will very soon). Whatever it is about Tarbet, many of you clearly feel similarly about it, because no sooner do we receive new stock in the shop than sell out. (If you’ve missed out on our recent restocks worry not: a very large yarn delivery is imminent which should satisfy everyone’s Tarbet needs)
The designs I’ve been working on in recent months will soon be gathered into a small, capsule collection. And as well as featuring in my choice of yarn, blue is definitely a theme in the collection’s photography and styling. I don’t think you can argue with an indigo striped sleeve.
(Pabaigh)
And pale blue chambrays always conjure summertime for me.
I often find discussions of colour frustratingly generic. When I read that blue is humanity’s favourite colour, or that blue features on 53% of the world’s flags, I just want to shout, but which blue? Blue can be so many things!
Blue can evoke melancholy, or it can signify excess. In German, blue suggests drunkenness; for Brits of a certain generation, an obscene joke will always be a blue one, and for Australians, blue can mean an argument. You can scream blue murder, or you can have the blues.
There’s no getting away from blue’s ubiquity, or to some extent, its conservatism. I think of Thatcher, top to toe in Tory blue, of the royal blues of Diana, of the soft blue Victoriana of 1980s Liberty and Laura Ashley.
Blues for me have always been highly specific. When I was developing Buachaille, I had an obsession with very flat, pale-ish mid-toned blues that looked great in two-tone colourwork. I called the blue that I came up with Between Weathers.
I love the way Between Weathers works with white.
And I love it on its own.
I find myself continually returning to blues and whites in stranded colourwork . . .
And a deep solid inky blue – Moonlicht Nicht – features in one of my all-time favourite designs, the Oa hoody, from my Inspired by Islay collection,
Moonlicht Nicht is a wonderful very, very, very, very dark shade of blue that often makes me think of Father Ted:
Dougal: “I read an article about priest’s socks, that priest’s socks are blacker than any other socks.”
Ted: “That’s right, Dougal. Sometimes you see lay people wearing apparently black socks, but if you look closely, they are really very, very, very very dark blue.”
Yet I gravitate towards pale, creamy blues just as much as deep dark ones. Smirr – one of four blues in my Milarrochy Tweed palette – is particularly delicious.
I designed the winter colourway of the Craigallian hat around Smirr, and found myself wearing that sample a lot last year.
The touchstone for the design of my Strathendrick sweater . . .
was Milarrochy’s Lochan shade . . .
And yet, if you asked me objectively to state my favourite shade in the palette, I might well gravitate towards Ardlui – a blue I’ve never yet foregrounded in one of my designs.
Perhaps Ardlui will at some point have its moment. Because Tarbet isn’t vacating the blue space in my design brain anytime soon!
Anyway, I’m interested: do you have a favourite kind of blue? How would you describe it?
KDD & Co 
Hi Kate, thank’s for this blue subject.
As a girl or teenager I used to just live with blue.
But then, as a joung adult I discovered warm colours and it felt more appropriate for me. I had been feeling too much blues before, that I had to move to more energetic colours.
Which I still wear. But I still have a sort of respect for blue and the calming effect it had on me.
Not to say, my blues were petrol, dark water colour.
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I’m coming late to this discussion, it need some thought. My immediate response was that a favourite blue (or any other colour) depends on the texture of the yarn or surface. Think of the difference between a flat dark navy blue school jumper and the exact same colour in silk or mohair or Buachaille Moonlicht Nicht. It always fascinates me how a single colour can look in different textures can look opulent, or fresh, or very utilitarian. And this is before you start combining colours; about which I could go on, but won’t.
There are shades of pastel blue that, in a superfine flat jumper, look dreadful on me. Insipid if not slightly grubby. The same colours in a bulky airy yarn (imagine a powdery plushy Carbeth) and it’s a totally different story. It looks luxurious and flattering.
I notice too how preferences can evolve with exposure to new images and especially for knitting, seeing a new yarn. Has anyone else had the experience of thinking “I’ve never liked [insert colour here] but this particular nuance of the colour in this new yarn …” just before buying a jumper’s worth.
So, favourite blue – it depends. And in the meantime, I keep visiting yarn shops and getting shade cards to see blues in all their textural glory. And looking out for serendipitous blues in my world.
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I am very sorry, but I love green, I feel blue to be wonderful, when combined with green. X x
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I like dark blue, navy blue, midnight blue, indigo.
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SO. MANY. GORGEOUS. BLUES!!!!!!
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Dear Kate,
I thoroughly enjoy your blog and as a new knitter I get a lot of inspiration from reading it.
I adore the headband wraps you wear and would like to get some. Could you send me the address or source of where you get those? Email is: samplerannie@hotmail.com.
I hope to learn to knit quickly. I see so many beautiful designs that are so intriguing.
Annie
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Blue is my favorite color. I find it comforting. Every now and then I think I should branch out, but I always return to the blues and then don’t wear the new non-blue item much, if at all. My favorite blue is dark navy/true navy which I use as a primary. I really like white with blue, but I’ve been blessed with teeth that will never be white so wearing white makes my teeth look even darker, sigh. I feel joy just looking at your selection of blues and I want them all! However, I prefer sweaters with a higher/narrower neckline, closer to a crew, and sleeves and body with enough ease to allow layering to accommodate our erratic weather and going in and out of buildings, could your patterns be adjusted? I really like your color work and designs! I’m thinking Scatness would look good in these new blues of yours, what do you think?
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I’m also a fan of blues, and it’s hard to choose which one. The first blue that came to mind is the color of the matching opal necklaces my mother and I bought on a trip to Australia. It’s a beautiful pale color, with flashes of other colors reminiscent of a beautiful tweedy yarn. I also adore the combination of blue and white. I associate it with the plates at my grandmother’s house when I was a child. I’ve inherited the dessert plates and tea set, and it always makes me smile and think of her when I use them. My sister-in-law is a fan of the blue-and-white toile prints, and the hand-me-down bassinet that my daughter slept in for the first few months of her life was in that pattern. My favorite color crayon was always cerulean, and I’m also fond of turquoise – so much so that I painted the bathroom that color, with pale blue and orange accents.
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Ah, blue. I am in Brittany, as every summer, and there is blue everywhere… the sky and sea, the hydrangeas, the Breton stripes in navy or turquoise, boat hulls, shutters… and the blues in the very varied rocks (this is actually the Pink Granite coast, but still!). Oh right, and the pyjamas I am currently wearing!
My knitting always seems to revert to blue, I have to make a conscious effort to choose other colours – and I love then all. But blue… the first proper garment I knit at 17, after playing withknitting since I learnt from my great aunt at 4, was a pale blue lace top, 1982. The second (a German ski sweater in two shades of blue with mountain peaks and lice) was, too. And the third, a Scandinavian-inspired blue sweater in very thick acrylic that I finished in May when I was 19 and my first daughter two months old… So many blue projects over the years. My Oa in the original colours isa WIP I‘ll be getting back to this week :)!! <3
I have a very very dark blue and brass gold readyfor an Alice Starmore waistcoat later on.
My favourite colour combination is pretty much any shade of blue with any shade of red/pink and I have a particular fondness for blue with woods, all hues (and not justbecause I sail!!). Aaaah, blue!!!
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Ah, blue. I am in Brittany, as every summer, and there is blue everywhere… the sky and sea, the hydrangeas, the Breton stripes in navy or turquoise, boat hulls, shutters… and the blues in the very varied rocks (this is actually the Pink Granite coast, but still!). Oh right, and the pyjamas I am currently wearing!
My knitting always seems to revert to blue, I have to make a conscious effort to choose other colours – and I love them all. But blue… the first proper garment I knit at 17, after playing withknitting since I learnt from my great aunt at 4, was a pale blue lace top, 1982. The second (a German ski sweater in two shades of blue with mountain peaks and lice) was, too. And the third, a Scandinavian-inspired blue sweater in very thick acrylic that I finished in May when I was 19 and my first daughter two months old… So many blue projects over the years. My Oa in the original colours is a WIP I‘ll be getting back to this week :)!! <3
I have a deep dark blue and brass gold ready for an Alice Starmore waistcoat later on.
My absolute favourite colour combination is pretty much any shade of blue with any shade of red/pink and I have a particular fondness for blue with woods, all hues (and not justbecause I sail!!). Aaaah, blue!!!
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Coming in late to this discussion, the rich blue of a germander speedwell is pretty unbeatable.
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When I used to paint, I adored Cerulean Blue the best, but I also loved Prussian Blue (so sombre and moody!)… I think I liked Ultramarine least because it makes such a dirty purple when you try to mix it with red. I think Alice Starmore has a blue yarn in her Hebridean 2ply – Witchflower? – that is a similar sort of saturated warm mid-shade blue. But I also really love periwinkle blue; it was the colour of a crayola colour that obsessed me when I was very young and I remember being annoyed that the waxy lines were not as saturated on paper as they appeared in the crayon. I still love a sort of warm mid blue, but when I think about how I have worked with blue in my knitting, it is the sky that obsesses me most. And the ongoing problem of how to show the saturated blue of a hot midsummer day in yarn shades that are matt and that do not, unlike the summer sky, have hot bright light pouring through them. The perfect blue (hue) for the sky is often too dark to read correctly in knitting (value) and I’ve experimented a lot with this problem trying to find a solution! How lovely it is to see all your blue things together and to think about this single colour in your designs. Hurrah for Tarbet, it is such a glorious bright and jolly shade x
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everything here is so evocative for me . . . I also have a very strong recollection of crayola periwinkle blue, which as a child, seemed to me to be the exact same shade as an elderly relative’s facial mole . . . somehow I always thought of that when colouring with it.
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It was my favourite crayon as a nipper too! The mole comment is hilarious.
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As soon I read the line about the periwinkle blue crayola colour I swear I had a flash back to the exact same experience you describe. The frustration of colour in materials like crayons not feeling representative of the lived experience of them is so frustrating. It is also why I have such respect and awe for artists like Monet who was truly amazing at using light. I just yesterday saw the Colours of Impressionism exhibition from the Museé d’Orsay collection and I’m still breathless from it.
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Grey blues are my favorite, from smirr to a darker stormy blue grey
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I enjoy your fashions and the creativity on this site so much. I love the sweater below, and can’t wait till I have a home and am able to do all the things I love again…like knit yummy sweaters…..and feel yummy fleeces between my fingers. Love the blues! They are so beautiful!
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I just bought the Caller Herrin snood from your store a while ago and it’s the first blue accessory in my wardrobe for years. I’m also moving toward all the wonderful blue tones now, so I’m totally knitting this shawl :)
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I really like bright, intense blues like Pantone’s reflex blue C. I’ve been spinning a lot of different blues this summer and it’s been magical. Blue is kind of the gift that keeps on giving!
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I’m partial to the Miles and Trane kind of blue.
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me too. I think it is Bill Evans who makes that album.
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Blues, all of them, are my favorite color. I can’t pick one, as I’m drawn, from an emotional level, to everything from pale blue to deep , almost black blue. Some recent favorite blue sightings: the sky just at dusk, with the gradient across the sky from almost green-blue to deep indigo, the murky blue of the lake I swam in recently, my lovely pile of blue yarns, which range from teal to almost purple. What is it about blues that make me gravitate towards them? I think it’s that this one section of the color wheel evokes so many moods, many of them calming, comforting, and peaceful. Thank you so much for this post. Your yarns and designs are so beautiful and inspiring.
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Dear Blue Kate,
and this time “blue” doesn’t reflect the actual mental status.
I liked very much your question about the colours and the preferred one. When I was a child, I used to ask my father, who was an artist and a painter, which colour he preferred at the moment. And he always answered the same: he didn’t like any special one. Instead he said he felt comfortable dressed in blue or brown or he liked yellow apples. As a painter he explained to me that every colour is very important and absolutely necessary. Instead of answering my question, he used to teach me about naming colours. As a result, as a five year old I was able to dress myself in raw or burnt siena or in “veridian” or “feldgrau” and to play colour matching.
Returning to the blues, there is a very old way of drawing, which was used for some time before the graphite pencil was invented, the silverpoint. It requires special preparation of the support (traditional or contemporary, i. e. mostly acrilic). It can be pigmented with bone ash or chalk, but the cobalt pigmentation gives the drawing special dimension and interesting colour scale.
The cobalt blue. It is maybe not my favourite, but as a colour reflects some childhood memories as well as all the beauty of the colour name and Chinese porcelain.
Best,
Justyna
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I love blues too, and their complementary oranges. I have a dining room painted a specific shade of blue based on the robes of the central figure of Rublev’s Icon of the of the Old Testament Trinity (which hangs on the wall) with orange curtains. This room give me huge pleasure.
When thinking of blues I am also reminded of the Magic Roundabout Film ‘Dougal and the Blue Cat’ now available on DVD and recommended for all those who grew up with TMR. In the film a new character appears in the garden, Buxton the Blue Cat. He captures all the characters except Dougal, who dyes himself blue and calls himself ‘Blue Peter’ (you had to be there). In order to prove himself to the cat he undergoes a test in which he has to guess the exact shade of blue of a series of doors- great stuff!
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A history of art in three colours Dr James Fox is on BBC iplayer at the moment. The second episode is blue. Enjoy!
Lapis lazuli.
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The blue/purple of the wildflower chickory. I had never been a lover of blues. I am much more of a green or orange or yellow person. Until recently. Isn’t it interesting how our “obsessions” with colors change?
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To look at: indigo. The horizon line on the huge freshwater bay I live beside is often marked by a line of indigo – many landscape painters here try to capture it, none so well as my favourite local artist, one of whose large paintings hangs above me as I type. To wear: a flatter, lighter navy, often called “French navy” – at least that was the Dylon dye colour I used to buy to refresh tired white t-shirts. But really, most blues except for bright “electric” shades – I have a favourite peacock-coloured raw silk dress, and lapis lazuli earrings. Politics: yes, blue is also the colour for the Conservative part here in Canada, as in the UK, and I always do a double-take reading or watching US news, where the blue states are Democratic while red, unlike in most of the world, is for the more right-leaning states. As so often, a great post, thank you, Kate.
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How fortunate I have just come across you just as you are talking about blue ! Like you I am in recovery from brain injury ( menigitis & menigioma) and in the past had bouts of depression. At my worst bits I remember a dream of a deep ‘Madonna ‘ blue as I called it. I kept thinking ‘ if only I could absorb that blue I will be ok’ and spent a lot of time imagining and meditating on it. It is also like a lapis blue which is the colour of medicine Buddha in Tibetan Buddhism a healing practice. Here I am now definitely ok and find this blog.It is your Tarbet and I’m shouting ‘that’s it! I am thinking of Tarbet ! ‘
Love the designs -Wow -knitting retreat ahead ! Thank you
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Definitely petrol!!
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INDIGO! The Colour that Changed the World by Catherine Legrand One of the most extraordinary books I have ever read.
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I have been literally obsessed with blue my entire life! Indigoes are my favorite. But every single shade to the palest of blues makes me feel happy and alive! I love the blue in your shawl.
Julie
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I love indigos, just finished Polkagris in two shades of indigo dyed yarn which I bought from The Border Tart and love the look and feel of it.
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I love a lot of different blues, some to wear and some to inspire & play with. To decorate myself I love the blue of lapis lazuli, with its flecks of gold, and your Tarbet is very close to that so I must be buying some soon.
I learnt recently that there are almost no true blues in nature; most natural blues are tricks of the light, clever reflections that maze the eye into seeing it blue. Perhaps that is one reason why the Greeks and the Celts didn’t have a word for blue, they saw it as bright and dark; Homer and his οἶνοψ πόντος, the wine-dark sea.
The olive-wing butterfly alone has toiled away in its genetic code to produce a true blue pigment on its wing, and it was considered so un-noteworthy until recently that the unobservant humans couldn’t even manage to mention it in the name, giving the ‘blue’ name to tricksters and illusionists who use cleverly-placed mirrors to fool us into seeing blue when none is there.
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I think it is interesting that you have a blue issue too. My husband says I have a a blue and green problem. I refused to make the Veronika in anything else than the perfect navy blue and waited until I had seen many different navies. In the end I settled on Brooklyn tweed in the Old World colorway and I love it.
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Another lover of blue – if pushed I’d have to choose a blue from Monet’s water-lily palette: towards the purplish blue end of the spectrum.
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Dear Kate, blue is my absolutly favorit color. I like different shades, but specially the indigo shades. I have often asked myself why, I think it is because I am Dutch, like Jesse. The sky with the clouds, the Delft-potterie, the old fischerman pullover from sajet, whitch is not anymore made.
So go on with your happy blues !
I always like what you are thinking about and I admire your creativity, thanks a lot, also to Tom for the beautiful fotos.
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I find myself more drawn to blues as I age. I have a generous stash of your deep blue that I look forward to knitting up (finally) this autumn.
E.M Forster in Passage to India writes one of my favorite sentences in English literature describing the sky just before the black of night as one “remembering blue”. That is the visual experience of the hue I am hooked on.
(I wish I had the novel on hand so I didn’t have to resort to a feeble paraphrase….)
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My favourite blue, and favourite colour, is Periwinkle, somewhere between blue and purple.
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My favorite blue is indigo and since I dye my own handspun wool and cotton yarn there is a lot of it around here! Natural indigo is a rich color because it contains the essence of the place it is grown as well as the individual characteristics of each dye vat. The soil, other plants, climate, and growing conditions provide unique ingredients. There is a little purple, a little green, and a little red. It even rubs off on a person (and their clothes) to share the goodness. The variability of indigo provides infinite satisfaction.
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My favorite blue is that milky, grey blue that the sky turns right before a storm. When the wind is swirling, and the sky starts to lose its blue and turn to grey, but right before it turns completely grey. I love the way the green leaves look like they are lit up against that color sky and it always brings me peace.
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My favourite blue is Moroccan blue or sometimes called Peacock blue. But I do love all blues! X
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Hi Kate – The blues in this post are truly inspirational! I would dearly love to make Strathendrick but wanted to ask you how difficult it would be to make a cowl collar or a loose turtleneck? Should I leave the stitch number for the existing collar and just knit a long tube or do you think I should reduce the number of stitches? You advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.
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My favourite blue has to be Moroccan blue or sometimes called Peacock blue. I do love all blues though.
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this post just reminds me of all the knitting I want to do, dammit.
I lean heavily to the light blue range, as I type my nails are light blue, my phone case too, but I segue easily to the blue-green shades. That said, I love Oa and the moonlicht nicht looks so good with the cream I cannot imagine bettering this palette.
I also have to reknit bluebells, seeing as I somehow managed to mangle that lovely design so badly (mixed sizings on wee bluebells so badly that the poor child couldn’t even get their arms in… pity I had already steeked it into a cardi…). Maybe Lochan or Tarbet could work with this design?
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I also love colour and all its shades. Its hard to pinpoint a particular blue I like, but I think the deeper shades and those that reflect the sky and water, natural blues, are my favorite. As a child growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, I was told that blue was a royal colour. And I had a grandmother that wore lots of navy blue, I think instead of black. Found out on a cruise that the colour of the deep blue sea was actually a deep inkwell blue. I’m sure someone could write on all kinds of “blue” colour comparisons throughout history. Thanks Kate for sharing your love of “blue”.
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In the American Southwest, a place I have loved ever since my first visit in 1971, the turquoise stone is everywhere. You see the range of colorful blue stones from sky blue through green teals. All of these colors go well with the ubiquitous American blue denims. As someone else said, you seem to have coordinating headbands for all colors. There was one time a few years back that you let your beautiful hair loose of its bands & braids, and I’ve often wondered why you cover it up as you do.
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The blue of my eyes which people always comment on.
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Ahh…wonderful. Blue has dominated my wardrobe since I was a baby. I once asked my mother why I was always dressed in blue as a child and she replied with a simple, “I liked it.” (I had suspected it was so that she could transfer clothes from me to my brother, although at one time in North America blue was recommended (commercially) for girls and pink for boys.) The shades were mostly in the mid-blue range, slightly muted, and ranging to a dark navy blue. I naturally gravitate to these blues, still, which suit my muted colouring. I have a front closet full of dark blue coats.
The blue with which I am most fascinated, however, is a blue I have never been able to pin down the exact colour of. My partner is Italian and advised me early on in our relationship that blue “carta da zucchero” (“sugar paper”) would be a nice colour on me. His interpretation of this colour seems to be something close to Lochan but with a touch of Ardlui perhaps, although the Internet suggests various interpretations ranging from a light sky blue to a deep teal. Perhaps it is a slightly-darker Between Weathers. The blue is called “sugar paper” because it is the colour that sugar in Italy was sold in (until when I don’t know). I read just this morning that it may have been so because the bluish cast from the paper counteracted the yellowish colour of sugar that was not well-refined, making it appear more white. I had never heard or read that before. The shade is widely referred to in Italy, which always charms me – perhaps because of the lingering mystery.
My favourite blue is probably a muted, deep navy blue, but my best colour, which matches my eyes, is a deep blue with a touch of green, making it a deep version of Ardlui, I would say. My favourites of your recent designs are Traigh and Balmaha. It is clear that I must sample Tarbet as well, which is nothing short of lovely. Perhaps they are all in range of carta da zucchero.
PS I am fascinated by the suggestion that blue is the colour of love for the French. For me the colour(s) of love remain the deepest, mysterious greens of Canadian forests, but all shades of blue are strong competitors.
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I was told that blue is associated with sugar from the days when a high proportion of the population could not read. Grocers received a lot of their merchandise in bulk and then repackaged it for selling in their shop. Different coloured bags were used for different products so that the customers could pick the right thing and sugar was packed in blue bags.
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When painting I loved working with Prussian Blue for the depth of colour range- for yarn I would choose a blue/green deep sea colour, as my present favourite.
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I think of “blue” — generic blue, whatever that is — as my least favorite color, but I actually love specific blues. My favorite is close to tarbet but a little lighter and sunnier. I recently spent an hour looking at upholstery fabrics and, although I didn’t want blue, I was struck at how, in plaids and prints, the versions grounded in deep blues often were my favorites. The deep blue somehow gave them bones and structure they otherwise lacked.
PS. I love your posts, Kate.
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Yves Klein’s International blue and good old navy are my favourites but it depends what time of day you ask me!
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Dear Kate,
It’s hard to pick a favorite blue, but I especially love the pale blue/turquoise that lines the interior of a quail egg’s shell. It’s one of nature’s lovely surprises, a pale shimmering blue contrasting with the chocolaty spots of the outer shell.
Some other favorites?
The useful, cool blues used to paint the ceilings of farmhouse porches in the U.S. offer respite against the heat of a summer afternoon and are reputed to keep away “haints” and their mischief — and wasps, too.
The dusky blue of the sky at day’s end, tinged with gold and coral. A childhood friend’s mother called that color “sky blue pink.”
Oh, and, the incomparable blue of the spiderwort flower. And, the varying depths of navy blue.
Seems it’s not just hard to pick a favorite, it’s actually impossible!
Thanks for the post, which was such a nice way to start my day.
xST
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Sky blue
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All blues are my thing, especially love cobalt, denim like blues and navy. Tarbet is lovely……must order some soon!
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I just love your posts. If you suddenly said red or orange or brown and wrote poetically about any one of them I would be totally beside you. I think you are as much a genius with words as Tom is with pictures. You are my favorite place to go for an uplift.
love your dogs (though personally I am a cat lover); love the countryside; love the waterside; love the trees; love the seasons…
What more could one ask
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I am so not a blue person but lately Indigo is speaking to my soul. Nature’s blues are just divine aren’t they.
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Hello Kate, I live in the Netherlands and sometimes the sky turns into a very typical, a bit vintage-old blue when the wether is changing…I think its when in the clear blue sky, clouds are comming from far, then the sky starts to turn into this color. I call it ‘Dutch Blue’ because I never saw it anywhere else. You can also sometimes see it in paintings of the old Dutch Master’s like Rembrandt. That’s my favorite color blue…
I dye my own wool and sometimes (most of the time by accident) I get that color blue from mixing colors…
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Really loved your TED talk, it brought all your struggles into perspective. But what interested me most was hearing your voice! I have always followed you silently, and hearing you speak changed my vision, and brought you to ‘life’!
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Yoy forgot that in France blue is the colour of love
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I’m having a Teal Blue faze! But also loving all the blues. Ardlui is looking good to! Choices Choices
I also would love to know how you do your headbands. You always look gorgeous!
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Hi Kate, Blue or Bluie is also a common nickname for Australians of a certain generation. Go figure. Loving the blue tweedy goodness. Pru.
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Especially those who are redheads! Go figure!
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I was going to mention that too. Don’t forget ‘true blue’, which refers to someone truly Australian – it has a somewhat patriotic overtone, but means more than that.
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All blues are great! My favourite colour :).
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Aah blue…. as you say, so so many special possibilities. In one corner of Africa the paint manufacturer has a chart colour called ‘Pilcher Blue’ because I had an obsession with the blue of Yves St Laurent’s Moroccan walls and they were amused enough to try to re-create it (it is a vibrant cobalt blue with a vital hint of violet). The resulting ‘blue’ terrace area, with scrambling, luscious plants, was rich and wonderful. Love your discussions of your design processes.
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I love all blues, but cobalt blue is my favourite. I also love using a blue palette in colourwork such as the beautiful combinations used in Caller Herrin and Tarbet.
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I think that the rich blue of Tarbet is probably my favorite blue–or maybe it’s that nice dark shade of Lochan (and Moonlicht Nicht), but it also makes me happy that you’re gravitating toward Ardlui, which I think suits my coloring more than a true blue. And I’ve just placed an order for the Traigh kit in Ardlui….
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:-)) i love them all :-)))
Very lovely post today ♥ thanks
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I love Farrow and Balls Light Blue. Which really is a grey with an hint of wedgewood blue. Smirr is close to that blue.
The other blue I like is a cornflower blue which is similar to Tarbet.
Blues and soft greys are just wonderful.
Great article.
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I absolutely cannot live without cornflower blue, I have a linen skirt in that shade that is practically falling to bits because I wear it so much and have never found the exact same shade anywhere else. I love your new scarf, next on my list me thinks!
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I love blue ….. and green and all the colours between the two like duck egg and teal! I’m knitting my Polkagris with lochan and I have ordered the Traigh kit in ardlui. This I have to say blue is a firm favourite with me!
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Dear Kate, I love blue, but it shades towards a cool lilac blue…..
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