Notes on Tweed

Tweed.

Tonight's topic is tweed.

The scarf I finally finished knitting was made with tweed yarn, alternating with straight white yarn, as were the three scarves I knitted for my grandparents.  I like how they turned out, and I think the different coloured specks add a lot of interest to the yarn above and beyond how the straight colour version would look.  I bought some more tweed yarn as part of a Knit Picks order, and I'm looking forward to using it.  The tweed bits are a little more subdued than in my scarf, but I still like the effect.

There are downsides to tweed though.  Amanda warned me about the dangers of velcro near yarn, and that danger seems to be exacerbated with tweed.  It's like the little bits of colour are made simply to be absorbed by the hook side of velcro.

My winter jacket, for instance, has velcro fasteners for the flap outside of the main zipper.  If I wear my jacket unzipped along with my scarf, it takes approximately 2.3 steps before my scarf is stuck to every patch of velcro.  I can pull the scarf away, but it leaves some coloured tweed bits behind.

It actually serves as an interesting metaphor for our lives.  Occasionally we'll have someone or something intersect with our lives for a time.  Even if we intentionally remove them/it for our lives, something usually remains.  Some of that person's colour, so to speak.

So the next time my scarf sticks to my jacket's velcro, I think I'll stop for a minute before I pull the scarf away from it, and think about the bits of colour people have added to my life.  My parents added all the shades of grey between the black and white I used to see.  Tyler added a patch of yellow with green stripes to make me smile.  Most importantly, Amanda added a large splash of the most beautiful shades of blue when I met her last year.  More recently, that swatch has been banded with a ring of gold.

The colour scheme of my existence couldn't possibly make me happier.  I love the my base shades and especially the bits of colour that everyone adds to my life.  In short, I won't be re-painting anytime soon.