The Philadelphia Museum of Art has an exciting exhibit called New Grit: Art and Philly Now. The show includes twenty five contemporary artist with strong ties to Philadelphia who explore being and belonging. This mixed media painting titled Son Songlines: Cosmos by Howardena Pindell is a favorite from the show! When I saw it I…
Category: Color Stories
Color Stories: Houston Meadows and Andorra
One of my favorite things about Philadelphia is how close and accessible nature is. Houston Meadow is part of the Wissahickon trail system in the Andorra section of the city. I went for tons of walks here during quarantine and it’s an amazing place to checkout throughout the seasons as the colors and plants change….
Color Stories: Germantown Collection
The Building Blocks collection colors came from our love of classic styling and design, so we went for a palette of neutrals mixed in with some deep primary hues. We have seen gold and deep plum everywhere this season, so it was a no brainer to include honey and rhododendron. The deep dark (true) navy…
Color Stories: Mojave Collection
As we mentioned yesterday, Mojave is “Meghan’s Yarn” – inspired by her love of cellulose fibers and saturated, bright colors, it will come as no surprise to hear that she wanted a lively collection with pops of color to accompany the release of the yarn. When putting together color inspiration for the designs, we focused on…
Color Stories: Scout Collection
It is no secret that neutrals reign supreme in my life: I love black, grey, white, and navy blue. But adding a little pop of color here in there is also a good thing, so when putting together the palette for the Scout Collection I focused heavily on the neutrals in the line and added…
Color Stories: Andorra Collection
As mentioned previously, Kelbourne Woolens Andorra was fondly referred to as “Courtney’s Yarn” around the office during much of its initial development and planning. While most all of what we do here is collaborative, Courtney very much took the reins when it came to designing the yarn, the final color selection of the line, and…
Color Stories: National Geographic Photos of The Day
National Geographic is the only (non-yarn related) magazine subscription that I have consistently maintained for my entire adult life. I love the photography, the articles, and the world-wide perspective each issue provides. I recently transitioned from print to the digital subscription, and tend to devour the whole issue in one or two sittings. As the…
Color Stories: Rhinebeck Ready
Like any sane human, I love autumn. I look forward to nothing more than the humid heat of summer to be over so I can enjoy cool days, apple picking, gorgeous foliage, wooly sweaters, and…Rhinebeck! We’re headed up to the NYS Sheep and Wool festival in a few weeks, so I thought it would be fun…
Color Stories: The Pop Collection
When designing The Pop Collection, we wanted the colors and styling to be a little bit retro and mod, while still maintaining the classic look that Kelbourne Woolens patterns are known for. Meghan put together this color story to use as a reference when choosing colors, planning the designs, and styling the hair, makeup, and…
Color Stories: Postcards from Acadia
Our family recently spent the week in Acadia on Schieffelin Point. We go up every year at the beginning of July, and the cool air, days on the water, and time to relax with family is a welcome respite from the sticky hot summers of Philadelphia and post-TNNA exhaustion and mayhem. Since The Fibre Co….
Color stories: Tax time blues
Now that the last day of tax season has come to a close, we found ourselves talking about taxes in the office. We’ve got the tax-time blues! And thus the birth of this blue color story. I found this incredible resource of women illustrators and came across the photomontage pieces of artist Eleanore Shakespeare. The piece shown…
Color Stories : Baby Decor
With the fresh KW babies in mind it seems fitting to have this color stories post reflect baby decor and The Fibre Co.’s fresh new Luma yarn. I came across this fabulous children’s interior design blog, Room to Bloom while browsing Pinterest the other day. Now my head is flooded with ideas for my boys’ room!…
Color Stories : Bright Spring
There is a lovely calendar hanging over my desk made by artist, Vicki Rawlins. It’s called Foraging for Frida 2017. February’s Frida is bright with pinks, reds, yellows and light blues. I immediately thought of the Luma line and what I could make with these vibrant colors. I know some of you may be thinking,…
Color Stories: Greenery
Pantone declared Greenery as 2017’s color of the year a few months back. Although I’m a big fan of dark greens, this shade of green isn’t anywhere in my closet, yarn stash, or house. When Meghan asked me to do a color story I knew I wanted to incorporate this color in a palette I…
Color Stories: Icy Fluffy December
And just like that, it’s winter. We haven’t seen snow yet here in Philly, but it is cold and I think the forecast says snow is on the way. Freshly fallen snow is so magical and pretty. It changes the landscape and makes even familiar locales look different. As wonderful as snow is (at first),…
Color Stories: Wild Irish November
Blustery winds, waves crashing on the coastline, damp moss covered stones, and sheep clustered on jagged hills lined with babbling brooks; this is what we experienced on the western coast of Ireland last winter when we traveled to the mill to design The Fibre Co. Arranmore. As we have just received a large shipment of Arranmore…
Color Stories: Golden October
It’s been a warm autumn on the East Coast, but it’s starting to get chilly at night. For this month’s color story, I tried to think of cool/warm juxtapositions; lava pouring into the Icelandic ocean, sipping on sherry with dessert, and walking in the warm sunshine in a field on a nippy day. Of course,…
Color Stories: New Colors of Acadia
This color board had a little bit of a different inspiration. Instead of coming up with a theme and choosing images that reflected that theme, I wanted this month’s story to highlight all of the new colors of The Fibre Co. Acadia, as the palette of six colors works to wonderfully well together. To find my…
Color Stories: Lavender Desert
With the high temperatures most of North America has been experiencing, it’s really hard to think about knitting and crocheting. But, since that is our passion, we are thinking about it! I have loose, breezy tops on the mind that are easy to work and easier to wear. I love this classic and simple top by…
Color Stories: Delicious
Things often described as delicious: candy, cakes, fresh fruit, the perfume of flowers, the softest yarn. This was my inspiration for June’s color story. I’m so excited about crochet summer, I decided I’d let my mood board decide what color of Road to China Lace I’ll be using for my project! That’s right – pink….
Color Stories: Jewels
“These gems have life in them; their colors speak, say what words fail of” -George Eliot. The way the silk, cashmere, camel and baby alpaca fibers hold dye and reflect light make Road to China Light one of the most beautiful yarns around. The colors are deep and saturated, or soft and heathered and all have…
Color Stories: Wind-swept spring
Though we most often associate Spring with fresh green buds on trees, bunnies, tulips, and colored eggs, early Spring is bare, a bit chaotic and beautifully stark. The wind is sharp and howling, birds start to migrate north, storms wash debris to the shores, and it’s often rather chilly and wet outside, but the light is clear…
Color Stories: Daydreaming in Green
It’s February and it’s cold. The holidays are over and now we are looking down the road to spring. I find myself daydreaming of green at this time each year. When it’s this cold and grey outside, I go through three variations on my green dream theme: travel to sunny, lush, exotic places; gardening; and museum – hopping….
Color Stories: Deer November
I love this time of year. The mornings are frosty and the air is sharp and dry. The bright fall colors are starting to fade into dusky lavenders, dove grays, and the color of toast. Where I grew up on the western edge of Iowa, we would wake up in the mornings and see fresh deer…
Color Stories: Cider Time
It’s Autumn again. It seems like this year summer turned into fall overnight. The weather here in Philadelphia is starting to cool but it’s not yet crisp out. You can smell the first wood-stove fires of the season and almost hear the fast clicking of needles as knitters are racing to finish their first round…
Color Stories: Crochet Summer: Shell Pink
Now that we are rolling into Summer, it’s high time I put some serious thought into Crochet! For me (a beginner), Crochet is romantic and sweet and a bit mysterious. It reminds me of my grandmother’s sweeping crocheted lace shawls that she would drape over the back of the davenport and of the lovely little airy tops…
color inspiration: Acadia
I recently just spent a week in Acadia with family and friends for our annual summer vacation. The cabin where we stay is in the woods overlooking Flanders Bay, and the landscape is a combination of rocky beaches and thick woods. I mainly worked on my Lucinda sweater while there (in the appropriately named Acadia),…
Color Stories: Grey Wolves
All of this pleasant Spring weather has me looking forward to summer knitting. I really want a nice, lightweight top knit out of lace weight yarn. I want it to be nice enough that I can wear it to work but could also be worn with a pair of cutoffs on the weekend. And I’m thinking it should…
Color Stories and Inspiration Boards
Sometimes deciding on which project to cast on can be difficult. More often than not, we crafters have a running list of things we want to knit or crochet “next”, but because of time, yarn budgets, or because we were only blessed with one set of arms, we have to choose just one project. And at other, rarer, times we can…