Friday, June 01, 2007

Project Spectrum: Black, Red, Metallics

I'm still working on Tea Time and Cara in past Project Spectrum colors, but do hope to cast on for a couple of new things that fit with the current PS scheme. The colors, black, red and metallic, make me think of Christmas. As it's never too early to start on presents, I think I'll make at least one stocking with Patons yarn using a pattern from Simply Knitting magazine. The stockings will be good wrappings for gifts this December. The yarn is red with a gold thread running through it.

Also, I plan to cast on for a shawl using Rowan kidsilk night which has a silver thread running though it. The pattern is from Exquisite Little Knits. What cast on/off would you use for this? Just long-tail, or is there something better? I haven't made a lacy shawl before, so I'd appreciate your advice. I really want the ends to look neat and match each other as closely as possible.

As someone who tends to go for muted colors, I'm a little surprised at how many things I found around my home that fit the PS scheme! Red is prevalent in my dining room, but in a subtle way. It's in the upholstery of the chairs (see the background of the Rowan yarn pic above) and I have a red checkered tablecloth that you've seen a lot as the background of my pics (including the Patons yarn one above).

Metallics are everywhere and sadly all need polishing or dusting! I blame the dogs for tracking all the dirt in ;-) In my kitchen, I have this quirky old coffee grinder.

I like to hang paintings and prints on the walls and most have gold frames that add a soft metallic gleam here and there. This one is the most ornate and one of my favorites. It's petite, just about 10 inches across.

Many of my things that are black, red and metallic come from or are inspired by things from China, India or Japan. In my living room, I have this cabinet for our cd collection. It's just from the Winterthur Museum catalog, but adds a little color to the room and thankfully hides all the the cds and keeps them from getting dusty.

Other than the cd cabinet, all my black, red and metallic items are very small and part of displays in my curio cabinets. Here is one example. It's a little wooden toy horse from India. I've collected horses for a long time.

Another example is this demi cup and saucer from Japan.

Of course, I have to include a picture of Jeff's bike as it's black, red and metallic! (This is the pic from the Cannondale site, not Jeff's actual bike.)

Well, that's all I have for now! I look forward to seeing all your PS posts for the new color scheme!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Black, red, and metallics do lend an Oriental air. Nice coffee grinder; do you use it or is it purely decorative?

Anonymous said...

Oops, hit the button too fast.

Anonymous said...

What a fun post! You have so many interesting objects and I always love seeing them in your photos. :)

Devorah said...

You have such neat objects! I'm with Kristen, do you use the coffee grinder? It looks really interesting.

Sarah said...

Yes, the coffee grinder does work! I don't use it very often though as it's quicker to have the machine at Starbuck's do the work ;-)