The color that screamed “pick me!” when you saw it in the shop…and which you’ve avoided forever since. The color you bought too much of because it was crazy cheap and too tempting to pass up. The color that you received from Aunt Geraldine’s estate that’s the only one you really don’t like and would never use. You must have one of these?
Or perhaps you have lots of “scraps” from past projects, with no idea how to use them up, and organization of your stash is becoming a joke?
Or perhaps your stash is small, but you gravitate towards certain yarn or beads and subconsciously (or even consciously) reject a certain color/size/brand/type?
This week your challenge is to use a color you “don’t like”.
If you’re the type to freestyle it, go for it! Pick a color and incorporate it into your current project, or start a new project and improvise.
If you need a bit more structure, here are some ideas:
- Find or take a photo that features the color(s) that you are challenging yourself to use and base a tapestry off of this image. You can resize and print the image and place it behind your warp threads as a guide (called a cartoon) or make your own sketch based on the photo.
- If you’re a bead-weaver, find or buy a pattern that uses just two or three colors and swap in your own, including your target color (or three).
- Use Beadographer to design a pattern using whatever colors you’re trying to get rid of. You don’t need to be a paid Beadographer member to do this – simply launch the app, clear the default palette, make your own palette, and start drawing. You can easily swap colors to experiment and find “companions” to go with your target color.
- If your stash currently contains only products that you love, buy something that you don’t like (yet).
Want to share your de-stash color/s? Post a picture in the comments on this post in the Mirrix Facebook group!
We eagerly await your photos – of the color(s) you’ve been avoiding, and what you did with them this week!
PS: here’s what I created for this challenge:
The brilliant Claudia Chase designed this to help me bust my own stash. Can you guess which two colors I was attempting to get rid of? If you’re a Beadographer member you can use project code U7BYX4 to open this bracelet pattern in the app and swap in your own colors.
If you’re not a paid Beadographer member but would still like the pattern, let us know (Leah@beadographer.com) and we’ll email you a PDF.
Read how Mirrix President Claudia Chase approached this challenge here.
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We hope you have fun with this challenge! When you're finished with it, we encourage you to post pictures on social media! On Instagram and Facebook, use the hashtag #summerweavingchallenge on your public posts. You can also email me (elena@mirrixlooms.com) pictures and lessons from the challenge. We will share some of these in the coming weeks!
Remember, Summer Weaving Challenge awards will be given based on participation and achievements, so let us know what you're working on (via email or on social media, as noted above) if you want to be considered for one of the amazing prizes (including a 12" Loom and goodies from some of our amazing partners like Rebecca Mezoff's "Introduction to Tapestry Weaving" class, a tote bag from Gist Yarn and some SoftTouch wire by SoftFlex.) at the end of the summer!