One of the times of the year that is most fun is colour development time. I am lucky enough to be able to do some of this throughout the year for a variety of reasons including clubs, custom requests by a LYS, special events etc., but once a year I choose an overarching theme that will guide and shape the new colours I create for our main palette. For our variegated colours I chose the theme SASS, and I showed the creative process behind three of those sassy colours a few weeks ago.

For this post I want to tell you about the theme I have chosen for the semi-solid or tonal colours, and show you the creative process behind a selection of my favorites. The theme I have chosen is “A Cabin in the Woods”. Think about going to stay for a weekend (or even a week) in a warm cabin in the woods, with a lake nearby, beautiful paths to go for walks on, a wood burning stove, maybe some snow falling here and there (but not so much you can’t go for a nice walk), and of course you have all the knitting, crochet, or weaving your heart could desire right there with you so you can pull it out whenever you want! This theme says comfort, and warmth, and nature.

With that theme in mind meet the first new colour I want to tell you about: Hearthside! This colour is warm and rich. It’s based on the glow of the coals burning down in the fireplace while you sit all cozy and warm in a comfy chair nearby, gazing at them dreamily. It’s red, but it also leans to orange, and may lead to happy discussions about which one it really is! Only the dyer knows and she isn’t telling.

The next colour that is part of the Cabin theme is Iron Horse. Iron Horse is a steel blue-grey that is almost metallic on some yarns bases, and in some lights. It is the iron of the wood burning stove, or the fire guard. It evokes a strong sense of nostalgia for me. I recall staying in a cabin many years ago, and having so much fun keeping us all warm by tending the fire. It was so lovely to be knitting and then take up the ornate fire place tools to maintain the coals. One of the really interesting day trips we did was to go to where an old train wreck lay. It was a steam engine that had plummeted off the tracks many, many years earlier and there it lay, gently returning to the land it once came out of. And now it has given this colourway a name. I can just see it knit into fabulous cables in either a sweater or a sock!

The next colour I want to show you is called Cozy. Cozy has been in my mind of late, and looks to me like a sweater that just wants to hug you! It isn’t pink, it isn’t red, it’s that perfect shade of dusty rose with just a touch of a brown background that falls right in-between. Cozy is just that; well aged and cozy and warm without being too much to handle. It makes me happy just to look at it, and I will have to knit a sweater out of this one to hug me on long winter evenings in front of a fire while I eat strawberries (there is a touch of a strawberry tone to this one). It’s contemporary and yet ageless.

The next colour I want to introduce you to is called Eat Your Vegetables. And just like your vegetables this colour is good for you! I love trees, and so I have a number of greens inspired by them. This green is no exception. I wanted a sunny happy green, in a mid-range tone, so of course I looked no further than the pine trees that make up much of the forests of Alberta, where I live. There is nothing better than listening to the wind roar through the pine trees when one is all snug in bed under a hand made quilt at night in a nice cabin. Why the vegetables? Well I find a nice rich stew for supper is so well complimented by a salad! Kale and lettuce yum. Put all those things together and voila! We have “Eat Your Vegetables”.

Last but not least on this sneak peek of Cabin in the Woods colours is Pompeii. Pompeii is an ancient city buried in a volcanic eruption two millennia ago, and rediscovered in the 19th century. I have a fascination and love for archeology, and one of the things that struck me the most when I went to Pompeii was the stunning colour of the terracotta roof tiles. So warm and sunny in appearance, and of course this colour collection is all about warm! Pompeii is a rich terracotta colour that ties into the colour of a good log cabin wall as well as the town of Pompeii itself, where the people enjoy the good life. I gave it some of both elements so it would harmonize with the rest of the palette. This colour is warm and rich and makes my heart go to those warm places. I hope it does the same for you!