I posted earlier this month about how some workshop leaders have steered students away from using yellow because it is supposedly “difficult.” Woolwinder and Furrworld commented, saying that they had never heard that about yellow. I’m glad this folly hasn’t gotten all the way around, and hope I can stem its further spread by addressing it in my next INKnitters article.
Using and enjoying color is a problem for so many people, because they have 1) had creativity squashed out of them from an early age by peers, parents, and teachers; and 2) had foolish sayings and pronouncements drilled into them before they knew better.
For example, have you ever heard this bit of idiocy? “Blue and green should never be seen.” Please, don’t tell the bluebonnets and forget-me-nots!
This saying is really a political warning. I think it started in Scotland, one of the places where Catholics and Protestants were at odds. Blue was associated with one group, and green with the other (I don’t know which was which). Parents and peers told children that blue and green should never be seen, because they didn’t want Catholic kids and Protestant kids to be friends.
Unfortunately, the slogan made it into the mainstream, where the political associations of blue and green weren’t as well-known. So hundreds of kids thought it was incorrect to wear the colors blue and green together, or to use them together in decorating. All because of a mistake! It’s enough to drive a person distracted.
Here’s another pronouncement that I heard about ten years ago, from a well-known knitting and art-wear designer and workshop leader: “You can’t make art with blue.” Her justification is that blue is too common in our decorating and clothing to be valid as an art color (huh???). I say, maybe she can’t make art with blue, but the rest of us can, and should.