Heresy or Treason?
Well….whichever it is, I’ve committed it.
I live in the land of the Aran jumper. You know, cream-multi-stitch-knitted-marvels, periodically coming into and going out of the hearts of fashion, but a staple to knittingdom nonetheless.
I am the owner of an aran-inspired knit cardigan. Cotton, not wool, but still intricate in its hand-knit-but-not-by-me stitchery.
And so…
Warning: Rationalisation Diversion Ahead
…I never wear it anymore. It sits in my wardrobe, yellowing with time. Oh sure, I wore it when I was a L’Oreal-Number-Seven-brunette, but those days are no more. And to wear it now? Hmmm….I’m sure I would tire of the enquiries after my health as I’d look so poorly…pale cardigan, pale skin, pale hair. The gray of the hair and cream of the fibre fighting it out for supremacy, with my complexion as the loser. No thank you.
Right, so living simply means trying to minimize excess and I can’t bear to have this cardigan taking up precious storage space. Okay, diversion done…
Cold weather is upon us and now drastic steps have been taken in the quest for a new piece of winter apparel.
As the cardigan is 100% cotton and washable, it’s a great candidate for sporting a new colour, sympathetic to my new colouring.
Instructions are fairly clear. In goes the dye. In goes the salt. In goes the dampened cardigan. Shut goes the door….oh my goodness….what have I done?!? Sigh. Can’t go back now. No changing of the mind. I can’t watch as the dye runs through every single fibre of the cardigan. Gonna distract myself by taking down Christmas decorations…
(A few hours later…)
Final result? Have to say that the in-real-life colour is a darker, truer green…
If you’re an aran purist, my deepest apologies, but treason or no, I’m quite happy with the results!
I think it’s gorgeous; the fact that it’s even a richer green that we can see is a happy thing! The only fears I would have around something like this is uneven dyeing, but you’re apparently a pro — it looks great.
And PS - your hair isn’t gray: it’s silver. You have to work in the sparkles where you can!
04 Jan 2008 at 12:44 pm
I like.
04 Jan 2008 at 2:20 pm
Funny! As I started reading your post, I was thinking just dye it another color. And then I read on and low and behold a new color.
I love the green! Plus you are in Ireland. A green aran has to be ok.
04 Jan 2008 at 2:21 pm
yah! That colour is neither heresy nor treason.
Methinks.
I particularly liked the descriptive of pale warfare. . . .
04 Jan 2008 at 2:46 pm
It’d be heresy to not make it look good - and if it doesn’t look good you you, then you’re not going to wear it, which means that it’s going to waste … or something. So, it’s wise reuse. And it now looks quite good!
04 Jan 2008 at 2:52 pm
Oh, I love the new color!! It is gorgeous! Sheer brilliance!
04 Jan 2008 at 3:27 pm
It turned out great and the color will look great on you. I think it’s great that you were not afraid to dye it - good job!
04 Jan 2008 at 4:16 pm
With my more-salt-than-pepper hair, I can’t wear ivory anymore either, unless I want to have all the healthy glow of an old piece of Parmesan cheese! When I saw your photo in Knitty with your beautiful crimson Tudora, I thought, “There’s a woman who WEARS her colors!”
Great job on the cardigan - Brava!
04 Jan 2008 at 4:40 pm
Gorgeous! that dark green will look great on you, Cheryl!.
04 Jan 2008 at 7:44 pm
I think it looks fantastic! What a a great way to breathe new life into a cardy that wouldn’t have seen the light of day. Far better for this handmade beauty to be out and about in another color, than to be hidden away in its pure, original state.
04 Jan 2008 at 8:29 pm
I love it!
04 Jan 2008 at 9:52 pm
I just love your color –Dark green
04 Jan 2008 at 11:55 pm
Ah, Cheryl. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Excellent idea. Instead of giving it away, you found a great solution.
I have to say…I have silver hitting my brown locks very, very fast. Wow…and too think when I was young I wanted to be blond. What was I thinking.
I think you hair looks stunning. I love it.
Enjoy the new green aran sweater….I’m sure it will look fabulous on you.
05 Jan 2008 at 2:28 am
Very pretty color and much more practical — unless your lifestyle lends itself to sitting in a chair doing nothing but petting your white angora cat all day (and who’s doesn’t…).
05 Jan 2008 at 3:05 pm
Oh, oh, oh, oh my. It is beautiful. You did a wonderful job with dyeing it. And that shade of green just picked up my lagging spirits. And inspired me. Now I must go find something to dye. Preferably something belonging to one of the men in the house (evil grin).
05 Jan 2008 at 7:04 pm
As well you should be happy with the results. It turned out beautifully. Had you just posted a picture of it without the explanation, I am sure no one would have even guessed that it didn’t start out as Green.
05 Jan 2008 at 9:37 pm
well done! it looks great. the color is wonderful. have fun wearing it!
05 Jan 2008 at 10:15 pm
a colour change to suit you? can’t be treason or heresy - must be practical, esp. in times of reduce, reuse, recycle! pity that those colours don’t work with wool (or rather, the wool doesn’t work in the washing machine:)) - I still have a woolly one lying around, but it’s to large for a pot and natural dyes:(( enjoy it, I am sure the maker would be pleased to see that you are still interested in wearing it (at least if she or he is sensible:))
06 Jan 2008 at 3:47 pm
oh, how brave and daring…great way to start off the new year!
06 Jan 2008 at 7:41 pm
Brava, knitdiva! I’d imagine your cardi feels as a brilliant butterfly emerged from its wardrobe cocoon. Wear it proudly, and share the story!
07 Jan 2008 at 4:47 am
whew, that was a close one. I thought you were going to tell us that you had thrown the cardigan away. I was all ready to figure out how to dial an international call!!
It looks fantastic!
08 Jan 2008 at 7:22 pm
First:thank you for “tudora”.
My hair is going the same way and you are right,color is better than the dusty nocolor-thing.Great lokk for you “new” cardigan.
Gitte from Denmark
09 Jan 2008 at 11:19 am
Very cool and a nice “recycle”. I nearly wanted to jump an email to you when i thought you were just donating it off to charity! It is a beautiful sweater.
15 Jan 2008 at 8:26 pm
Nice way to give a sweater new life.
21 Jan 2008 at 9:44 am