Travelling Woman and The Colour (Purple) Turquoise

Aka a study in turquoise.
Its become my 'summer purple' this colour of the sea. Heavily enabled by some glorious colour as amateurely photographed underwater (by me) in the Coral Sea while snorkelling - my own Liquid Light show

Travelling Woman Shawl in Kaalund Enchante 2 ply silk (Left unblocked, right blocking).
I think it's the light in the tropics that's drawn me to a broad spectrum of blues, especially turquoise.

The recently completed Travelling Woman shawl really has been travelling all over with me. To a wedding in Perth and a visit to Sydney and she's booked on the trip to India in February. My next lace shawl project will be 100% wool, rather than silk as I was a little frustrated with it by the end (a little splitty), even though it shines so beautifully and on wearing I vowed to work up the Silver Sword Silken Thread care of Knitabulous sometime soon.

I've always had a thing for purples and deep reds, but not really blues. They 'belonged' to my younger sister. I was always the one dressed in reds. I also developed an aversion to navy and most blues care of my school uniform. I mean you wear similar colours for 13 years and you kind of get over it. Maybe that's why some of the nuns became nuns, or folks joined the Navy - they liked the colour.

It's possible I've hit on turquoise recently as its just the next natural step for me and my personal colour cycle. I started with blue for school, red at play, white and yellow were told to go make friends with someone else. I moved to black for work (and everything else) when I left school. Turned the purple corner and hung out there very comfortably in all its shades for many years. Had a brief affair with bright orange, which fizzled as quickly as it began. Fell out with brown and burgundy in the winter of 1998 when we over did it together. Was drawn to silver and grey more than ever before shortly after, or perhaps as a result of, the millennium partying, plus it was 'critic preventing' black. Default purple and black again.

If you've read a recent post you'll see I've had a bit of a pink thing going on, which is fairly limited to strong, dark pinks and fuscia's, especially when they go near intense oranges. Some green and teal crept in through a Wollmeise loophole and that's when I think the greens morphed into good strong teals, which became the recent turquoise obsession.


In this Turquoise Gallery of Delight: Travelling Woman Shawl, recently started Lace & Cable socks in Koiggu, complete with home made butterfly stitch markers (more on butterflies another time), sewn double pointed needle holder with pretty Japanese fabric button in turquoise and a touch of left over pink Koigu icord, earrings and bracelet made by a local designer (she's at Port Douglas & Cairns markets, I've just lost the tag) and some fabric stash just to add to the tropical challenge dresses that conspired with the Wollmeise earlier in the year.

But wait there's more: the yarn line up photo helps me document the turquoise creep and now I see that it started 2 years ago...with some very humble Peaches & Creme Cotton and without sounding too much like Miss Helena from Romper Room (in which I appeared when I was 5 year old!) there's Rowan Kid Silk Haze in Mist, All Hemp6 in Deep Sea, the Koigu, Kaffe Fassett Regia, Knitabulous Mumbai Skies (really says "take me to India" doesn't it?), left over ball of Kaalund silk, Woolorganics, Caraibes Bouton D'or cotton, Cascade 220 in Caribbean Sea, Madeline Tosh Sock in Oceania and Cotton Fine in Caribbean - definitely a theme here.

I wonder what's next for me in this colour cycle and what will 'suddenly' have taken over my wardrobe in 2 years time?

"Through the streets of your town"

Well not every day, but for the best part of a week I recently made my way through the streets of Brisbane town. It was an impromtu visit, on the back of a yoga workshop I attended in Sydney with one of my favourite yoga teachers, Judith Hanson Lasater. There was an opportunity to assist her when she presented the workshop again in Brisbane the week after, and in all of about err 3 seconds I'd decided I wanted to assist. Its just not that often you get to be near 'the source' for an extended period. This year seems to have become one adventure after another, so I just keep going with the flow and pleasantly so.

I made the phone calls you do when an opportunity like this presents itself, booked the flights and no sooner had I arrived to Cairns from Sydney, washed and repacked I was on a plain to Brisbane. It had been years since I'd visited, owing to the fact that, well it was Brisbane. I lived in Sydney, why on earth did I need to visit 'BrisVegas' unless I was on my way to see relatives or friends for weddings, funerals or trips to somewhere else near Brisbane? I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe its because, now that I live in Cairns Brisbane seems like a big, sophisticated city, or maybe its just because the city has undergone something of a cultural revolution in the last decade. I really don't mean that to sound disrepectful either, oh just keep reading...

I decided to adopt my 'London' approach, ie. land, run around the city as much as possible on public transport en route to where I was staying that evening, taking in as much as I could stand, until the shops shut, or I ran out of hands to carry my purchases along the way. I was deliberately travelling light, yoga mat, clothes and small case to facilitate easy of getting around, but with enough 'room' to pack any bits I bought. Well there went that idea pretty quickly. No sooner had I landed, found the train to Bowen Hills, bus to Newsmead and walk to Tangled Yarns, bumped into LynS (just arrived at the shop from Sydney!) and decided on purchases, I'd run out of hands! I really enjoyed visiting Tangled, such a lovely, bright shop, with plenty of captivating yarns to drool over.. Possibly why they serve tea and cake (Turkish Apple, Orange Poppy Seed respectively), or maybe they saw me coming and in need of sustenance after the trip.
Scores on the doors included Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Wild Orange to complete my mother's request for Fallen Leaves from Haiku Knits (I know, I've finally given in to mum's request for something in orange even with her very red hair, it will be a fun knit), a mixed bag of the Cascade 220 to play with (Plum, Turquoise, Mimosa), some Madeline Tosh Sock in a beautiful Oceania turquoise and an assortment of Brown Sheep Cotton Fine 4 ply (Raging Purple, Prosperous Plum & Caribbean Sea) to make at least one garment from Interweave Knits Summer/Spring 2009/10. Throw in a few magazines (Knitscene, Spin-Off) and satchets of Soak (well the bottles just wouldn't fit in my bag) and I was done, baked, as nicely at the cake. I needed a nap after that and a restorative yoga pose - Viparita Karani, or 'legs up the wall', perfect for travelling. It also dawned on me that a new theme colour had found its way into my knitting. Turqouise. I just keep finding myself drawn to it. It will never replace my purples, they are regally safe. Maybe it is living at the edge of the Great Barrier Reef, or the light.

Another little gem while visiting a yoga friend's home was this: An original copy of 'A Manual of Dyeing: for the Use of Practical Dyers, Manufacturers, Students, and All Interested in the Art of Dyeing. Volume 1' by Christopher Rawson, Richard Loewenthal Edmund Knecht (Paperback - Jan 1, 1893). The things you find on other people's book shelves!

A few days later I was at my cousins home with his wife and their adorable children. They were on the other side of the city so I didn't stay with them during the yoga workshop. What fun I had with them when I did get there though. Bonding with my 'cousin-in-law' at a preview of Camilla Franks' Kaftans and post show drinks on the river at stylish Drifts. Even driving over the Go Between Bridge to get there.Playing yoga with the children and watching them come up with new yoga poses, eg the Caterpilla-Butterfly ie rolling self in yoga mat (possible when you're a slim child) and unfurling with wings flapping.

Another treat while in town was seeing the Valentino exhibit, a story worthy of its own post. It wasn't long before I was on a plane, heading back to the Cattle and Cane, satisfied I had options for future 'city fixes' and with many more ideas for my own yoga practice and artistic endeavours!