Gloamin’ Yorlin

Good morning, we have another lovely Yorlin, in a rather different hue, to inspire you today.

Here’s Maylin, in her natural habitat on a Cumbrian fellside (by Angle Tarn), wearing her Gloamin’ Yorlin.

Maylin says: “I don’t wear a lot of purple, but I chose the Gloamin’ shade of Milarrochy Tweed for my Yorlin as I wanted a colour that would work with the summer and autumn dresses in my wardrobe as well as the greens and browns that I usually wear. It also goes great with denim and as I discovered, my hiking trousers too!”

” . . . I knit size 3 and as I like my cardigans cropped over dresses, I reduced the body length by 1 inch.”

“I ended the body after completing a full repeat of the lace. As I am one of those people who is constantly pushing their sleeves up, I knit 3/4 length sleeves, reducing the length to 13½ inches.

I love the two outfits Maylin has selected to show us her Yorlin. Gloamin’ is a deep and moody purple colour: a shade that can be a little tricky to photograph, when it is shown alone.

But Maylin has highlighted the distinctive qualities of this shade fabulously for us by pairing it with her golden trousers.

As Michel Chevreul would tell us, since purple and yellow sit opposite each other on the chromatic colour wheel, the contrast they provide to the eye is particularly bold and pleasing.

Gloamin’ also works really well with adjacent colours, like hot pink . . .

. . . or Backen’s autumnal, rusty red.

Gloamin’ is also a shade which looks wonderful with pale turquoise-y greens, as Maylin reveals by pairing her cardigan with this lovely summer dress as well as a very appealing mini greenhouse.

Against lighter colours, Gloamin’ really gets to sing. . .

. . as it does in KC’s Glomaha, in which she successfully combined its dark, moody hue with three much paler shades: Hirst, Birkin and Smirr.

I really enjoy using Gloamin’ in stranded colourwork designs.

In the Let Glasgow Flourish blanket, for example, Gloamin’ plays a key role, as the palette’s darkest shade, in defining the border squares and outer edging .

Gloamin’ features in the palette of the Shieling blanket too . . .

But the colour gradient of the squares in this blanket transition in the opposite direction to Let Glasgow Flourish, shifting from light to dark rather than dark to light. I think Gloamin’ really comes into its own as a purple Scottish thistle!

And I’m not alone in these thistle-y associations: check out the glorious thistle tassles on Lynette Meek’s glorious’ tam . . .

. . . one of fifteen colourful hats included in our Milarrochy Heids book.

It can sometimes feel counter-intuitive to knit a garment – especially, perhaps, one which features lace – in a very dark shade of yarn, such as Gloamin’. Dark yarns can be especially difficult if you are new to openwork knitting, and find yourself working in poor artificial light, particularly during the winter months. But dark, rich colours underpin so many outfits, and if you enjoy wearing such shades, I’d really encourage you to give it a go. For any knitter who is new to lace: fear not, the Yorlin pattern is really straightforward, and – after a couple of repeats – you’ll find the panel is plain sailing. And if you are struggling with the lace, or have questions about any element of the pattern, our Ravelry group abounds with friendly Yorlin knitters, who will gladly assist.

Summer’s long days and lighter nights definitely make it the best season of all for lace knitting! And a Yorlin knitted in Gloamin’s dark and moody hue can be, as Maylin shows us, a fabulously versatile wardrobe staple.

Thank you, Maylin for sharing your fabulous Yorlin!

Yorlin kits in Maylin’s Gloamin’ colourway are now live in the shop!

Read more about the history of colour wheels and shade cards in Colour at Work

Share your progress with your Yorlin comrades in the KDD Ravelry group