Purple Syndrome
Believe it or not, I really tried to avoid purple in this weave. I think I’ve failed.
I have cones of yarn in every colour but I seem to only see the purples. I think I have ‘Purple Syndrome’.
I previously tried breaking out with yellow and that went fine. But I seem to have regressed again. I’ve just finished two scarves and a top on a all purple warp as well …so it’s getting worse. The syndrome is now affecting my warp and weft. It’s so bad that I bought purple Tasmanian carrots yesterday, just for their hue and always have an eggplant (Aubergine) in my fridge even if it goes off.
What to do? I’ve decided to do nothing. There seems to be a popular movement advocating everyone should step out of their comfort zone which means changing colours, and often. But I’m inclined to ignore this for the moment as stepping out can also get you into trouble, make you sick, fearful and unconfident. That sounds even worse than the symptoms of purple syndrome! For the moment I’ll just accept my overly purple colour adoration and move slowly towards violet or blue. That sounds safe.
By a chance a member spinner and weaver showed me a flyer advertising the forthcoming Saori workshop in Taree at our monthly gathering in East Maitland. Immediately I knew that I had to inquire more being a passionate textiler myself. As a tutor of weaving I am preparing looms at home with different warps and envisage that with the three projects I have in mind a ‘come and visit ‘ and see, then ‘think about what you might like to explore’ approach may help to encourage prospective weavers. Reading the workshop description with a focus on creativity and free expression should contribute to inspiring those with a strong sense of curiosity. Too often negativity creeps into exploring the unknown and hinders hidden talents. Through the years of teaching tertiary and community students I have been inspired by the ‘intelligence of the hands’ and just think everyone has favourite textiles in their possession and this means creative textiles are as old as humanity. I want to know more about the meaning of’ saori’ and weaving.
Barbara 21/05/12.