I've Joined The Army

If you followed my old Knittin' Diva blog, you know that I have long been an advocate for raising breast cancer awareness. My mother is a 15+ year survivor, and I have calcifications that have been "on watch" for more than 10 years. As a 40 something women, I am in awe at how many women still do not get mammograms or do self exams. So many women survive breast cancer now, because they are getting early screenings, but there are still hundreds of thousands that do not.

While a lot of attention over the last 3 decades has been given to the "cure", there is still still not a lot known about how breast cancer is caused in the first place. Scientists have been able to identify the BRCA1 & BRCA2 genes that may increase the likelihood of getting breast cancer by 80%, but that only pertains to about 5-10% of those who develop breast cancer. So what about the other 95%?

Dr. Susan Love, a long time breast cancer educator and advocate, launched a groundbreaking initiative, called the Army Of Women, that connects breast cancer researchers with real women who are willing to participate in wide variety of research studies. All women are encouraged to join the Army of Women, including breast cancer survivors and those who have never had breast cancer. The goal is recruit 1 million women, and thus far, we are 350,000 strong!

Since declaring “war on cancer” more than 40 years ago, the scientific community has made great strides in some areas. However, the number of women diagnosed with and dying from breast cancer is virtually the same as it was in 1969. Currently, the vast majority of resources for research are focused on early detection and treatment of breast cancer. More resources need to be spent on determining the cause of breast cancer, which isn’t just going to take more research – it’s going to take a different type of research. Studying mice and rats isn’t enough. Mice and rates do not get breast cancer. More studies must be done with actual women. The Army of Women is jumpstarting this type of research providing quick access to a diverse group of women for various studies.

For the sake of my children, my grandchildren, and my great grandchildren to come, I'M IN! How about you? Learn more by going to http://www.armyofwomen.org/.

Going In Reverse

I have a tendency to do things ass backwards….often. While learning a new concept, I have difficulties with being patient, while I read / learn about the concept…I often just want to get my hands in and play. Fiber dyeing is a case in point. Five years ago when I started Beyond Basic Knits, I simply played. I envisioned a color, sometimes changed that vision while the yarn was in the dye pot, and I applied. Most times my colorways would come out just as I had anticipated, but there were times when I got a bit over zealous with the color, and hated the outcome. My husband (who is an engineer) would look into the dye pot, and then look at me like I was crazy. I didn’t measure anything. I simply went by eye shot. I do this in my cooking too, so you next to never get the same exact dish twice. When I started hand dyeing, most people felt the same about their yarn purchases….they liked the fact that they would never get the same exact colorway twice.

Once I started knitting sweaters, this all changed. I can now appreciate the value of getting colors that don’t scream, but that sing a happy melody together. Of blending colors that compliment one another. This all brought me to the study of the color wheel, in which we are doing this year. I’m taking a step back, and playing with semi-solids, to try to learn more about tones, tints, shades, hues, and now, color value.

So what is color value anyway? Simply put, it is how light or a dark a color is. It is a comparison of a given color, to a scale of grays that range from white to black. (see scale below)

The numbers on the scale represent a percentage of black that has been mixed with white to form that particular gray.

We played a bit with this concept last month, when our color of the month was blue. We took our blue, which had a color value of about 10, added a bit of gray, which changed the value to about 30, and then added black, which changed the same color’s value to about 60. If you look at our Storm Surge Colorway, a colorway we introduced about 2 years ago, you can see this same concept in play, where we combined all 3. This is, by far, one of our best sellers. Only now, have we begun to explore these colors by applying each shade to a single skein, and the outcome is gorgeous. (As I said, ass backwards) By knowing what a colors value is, you can better plan how to compliment or contrast them, when planning a design or project. I see another sweater coming with this shade of blue.

Let The Fun Begin

In January, February & March, we explored the 3 primary colors (red, blue and yellow) as part of our Celebration of Color. We also learned about the differences between shade, tint, tone and pure color.

April is when the real fun begins, as we start to play around with combining the 3 primary colors, to create our own secondary colors. With warmer temperatures, the change in season giving us warmer, brighter days, and watching all of our vegetation come to life, we've decided to make April the month of orange.

Be sure to watch the blog, as we explore the color orange over the next 4 weeks, and the bad rap it gets. Maybe our exploration will help you see orange in a new way.

Drawn To Blue

Right from childhood, I have had a thing for blue. If you look in my closet, you will see that most of my clothing is some shade of blue. (I'm a blue jeans and t-shirt kind of gal!) Many of my knitting projects are some shade of blue, a majority of my quilting projects have included blue, and if I thought my husband would let me, I'd paint a number of the rooms in our house, some shade of blue. I have boys that have blue eyes (Thank you God!) and a pair of Blue Jays that come and say hello every morning.

If you know me, you know that I can't swim. Yet, my favorite place to be is near the water (that's right - blue!). Blue skies that hold the promise of a new day, a fresh start, growth and a breath of fresh air. Blue waters, that while the waves gently beat along the shore, hold the power of both comfort and destruction. This same water scares me. That one day it will take my life, or that of my kids. Yet, I'm drawn to it, like a fly to fruit. Is it the power of blue?

Blue is the Color of the Month for March at BB Knits. A celebration of spring. The season that promises blue skies, blue birds and blue bells.

Learning to Paper Piece

About 4 years ago, I sewed my first stitch, after having protested the idea of sewing for much of my life. It's amazing, really, how kids will transform you. After a series of events with my boys, that landed them in the hospital, and realizing during this time, just how much comfort their blankies provided to them, I decided I wanted to learn how to quilt. At the same time, I started our local Project Linus chapter (we provide hand made quilts to seriously ill children). My mission, to make quilts for other children in need.

In the beginning, my quilts were simply patchwork quilts, and I did really enjoy making them. Over time, these have become a bit boring to me, and seriously, how many patchwork quilts can one person have? That said, I went on a hunt....I needed a challenge. I joined a number of quilt guilds, and a few online quilting groups. Both offer a lot of learning opportunity from some of the most skilled quilters. Some of these groups also offer exchanges. While I was reluctant to join at first, worried my skills were not up to par, I have found that it's a great way to try new techniques, without committing yourself to an entire quilt. This month, to go along with our Celebration of Color, I opted to try a little paper piecing with some red fabrics I had in my stash. I must admit, I'm not a real "heart" person. A little too "cutesie" for me. However, with these rich reds, I rather liked them. I found that paper piecing is a great way to use up those little scraps of fabric that I have been collecting in a box. Now I'm stash diving for the next paper piecing project :-)

February Reds - A Little Lesson

If you follow our blog, then you learned about pure color, tone, shade, and tints last month. We had a little lesson in this exploration last week, and the gorgeous reds you see to the left were the result.

The 2nd from the left, is our pure red. Reds can be very tricky, as many times they either have orange/brown undertones, or blue undertones. This red is gorgeously pure! As you may recall, a tint is created when adding white to a pure color. Tinkly Cocktail, on the far left, was our result. Next, we added a little gray, to create a tone, and come up Sangria, a sort of smokey red. Lastly, was creating a shade....adding black to our true red. The result....heavenly! We called it crushed velvet as the richness in colors makes us think of velvet. It appears, that it quickly became a favorite! We posted our update on Facebook on February 2nd, and it sold out almost immediately. Not to fear though, we've restocked! Remember that these glorious reds are on sale this month at 15% Off!

The Meaning of Yellow

Yellow evokes a number of different feelings for people. For some, yellow is the color of the warmth. For others, Hope. And yet for others, it means danger. These meanings can change, dependent on our mood, and yellow can take on many different forms, all at the same time. I find yellow to be a stimulating color. When I seen the bright yellow sun in the morning, I feel chipper, ready to take on the day ahead. I feel bold; free. I admire artists who use the color yellow so freely. To me, it speaks volumes about their view of the world and their aura. However, yellow can very easily be overused. When I am surrounded by yellow I feel overstimulated, anxious and long to escape to a more calming color like blue.

Yellow is one of those colors that many of us so wish we could wear, but it just doesn't look good on most. (I so envy people who can wear yellow and look good in it!) There was a time, during the Elizabethan Era, that yellow was symbolic for wealth and social status, and so it didn't matter how it looked on you. Thankfully, times have changed and for those of us who craft, we find other ways to use yellow. Yellow fiber, yellow fabric, yellow paint; you get the idea.

Now, go take a look in your closet......Find one item that is yellow. Come back here and share with us what it is that you find, and what kind of feelings it evokes in you.