Yellow

Yellow is a curious color that often provokes strong feelings.  At one end of the spectrum it is perceived as the color of illness (think hepatitis, jaundice and yellow fever), at the other end it represents sunshine and the rebirth of spring (think daffodils, mustard flowers, lemonade and baby chicks).  The artist and color guru Josef Albers had a fascination with the color yellow which he explored in many different works.  Here are just a few examples:

 

 

There is no doubt that yellow can be a difficult color (how many times have you heard someone say they can't wear yellow?), but it is also surprisingly fresh and versatile.  With this in mind, Joelle has been exploring its modern and sunny qualities in her knitting and quilting.  Check out her Triangle Quilt Journal, the beginnings of her Babette Blanket or her newly added Tomten Jacket Journal to see her progress. 

We'd love to hear your thoughts and feelings about yellow. Do you use it in your projects? Do you wear it? Do you have a sunny kitchen nook with yellow walls?  What does yellow mean to you? 

Comments

[Sue Bleiweiss]

You know I never liked yellow until I bought a yellow sofa. Now I love it. It brightens and warms a room at the same time and it's easy to combine with other colors. Depending on the shade and what it's combined with it can be loud or subdued. I'd never wear it but I certainly like decorating with it!

[Sabrina G]

The KnitKnit book designer put all the book's patterns on yellow spreads. The first shade of yellow he chose made me incredibly anxious, but the revised, paler yellow is happy and exciting.

[nikki the blogless]

This weekend I emptied my linen closet to install new Elfa shelving. While I was at it, I painted the walls in there a squashy shade of yellow. (Behr's Sunporch, to be specific). My sweetie hates the color. Its exactly the color I had in mind, but it's certainly different from the colors that I gravitate to. I am going to sew up some pretty liners for the wicker baskets that will live in there. Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy coordinate perfectly.

[kate]

Part of my kitchen is a sunny yellow- and I love it for dihses, flowers and fabric- but I don't wear it (makes me look ill). It is a cheery color- brightens life up.

[laurie]

i do like yellow but i can't wear it. i have an antique quilt that my grandmother made that is yellows and white. the front entryway of my home is gold and colors in my kitchen are yellows.
i try to use it where i can. i did knit a scarf with the curry color cotton yarn from Blue Sky Alpaca. that color goes with everything! i think it is a happy color.

[Nora]

I love yellow in nature (daffodils, dandelions, autumn leaves) but not usually in paint/fabric colors. Except I always wanted a yellow kitchen, bright and buttery yellow, it seems like it would be so cheerful. Right now I have a yellow bathroom (with black and white accents) designed by my husband and it is a little room tucked under the eaves with no windows. The yellow brightens it a bit, but I always prefer a stark white bathroom. Still, I find that I respond to touches of yellow in design. It does have a certain energy. And I enjoyed seeing the juxtapositions of yellows and gray tones in the art you featured. Thanks for encouraging us to think about yellow. I'm going to try to use a little dab of it in my next quilt and see what happens!

[jenny]

I read in Weeks and Ringle that yellow is seldom used in quilts, so I decided to make a quilt only in yellow and gray. It turned out okay, but people don't react to it very warmly. maybe with a softer pairing than slate gray it would be seen as more "pretty" rather than a Pittsburgh Steelers quilt or something.

[Kim]

I love adding yellow to my projects. I've complimented dark shades of green, and blue in my scarves with a thinner yarn of bright yellow. Also, I just started a dog sweater with coral body and a rustic yellow for border, neck and sleeves. I never really thought about it, but yellow is the color I reach for when I want to add something vibrant and special to my projects.

[Natalia]

Yellow is my most favourite colour, and any time I see something yellow in shops, I really have to fight myself. Any shade will do, I'm a yellow addict.