magenta armpits

The coat-in-progress doesn’t need gussets—

But I made them anyway.

Why not! Freedom of movement is always fine thing.¹

And a garment that is generous and whacky enough to include so many patterns, colors and bits of my knitting history can surely carry off a splash or two of magenta in its armpits.

Indeed, these bits of biased symmetry may be the most consistent parts of the whole thing.

Not that I know even that as yet, for there is much to do before the coat is actually wearable and I’ve no idea if it’ll fit into my life once it’s done anyway.² But so what? Because it turns out that though I thought the point was to transform the swatches into a thing so I’d never have to put them back into their bag, the process of stitching them together has reawakened a compelling colorful loquaciousness I’d almost forgotten but which, just now, feels worth all the bother.

For even as I’ve been craving silence in most quarters—

—bright-hued words have shown up on my loom to help remind me that I can be all the things at once.³

It’s as though by stitching that pattern to this knitted texture and putting them both next to a dozen variations-on-a-theme-of-blue—

—I made room for colors other than indigo to decide my studio was their kind of place after all.

At least I assume that’s what happened. What I know is that the lid of my palette box is no longer the orderly place I expected (and was sure I wanted)—

—and is instead a village of enthusiastic variety. Apparently that subdued grayish blue with which I began just couldn’t not invite a scarlet friend, and that friend invited another, and they both came up a word— ⁴

—and suddenly I find myself raveling swatches I didn’t use in the coat to free up colors who want to join the jabbering throng.⁵ And am happy to do it.

For though I am clearly not in control of this both/and word party, and certainly have no idea where it is heading—

—I still want to stick around and do my part, whatever it is.

And maybe that’s the point.

So on we go.

1. The garment is almost impossible to photograph in its current state so I’m not even going to try. Maybe next week?

2. Front bands, fastenings, neck trim, cuffs….

3. Nothing like the soothing and understated palette I’ve craved these last few years.

4. I find it oddly pleasing to think of the words as friends. Antonyms though some might be: calm and volatile, reasonable and absurd, they yet need one another to fit into whatever pattern is being built. And I get to be all of them at once.

5. For those of you who are Hobbit fans, you may, like me, think of Gandalf using the word “throng” as he slowly gets Bjorn used to the idea that a whole lot of dwarves are about to make themselves at home in his hall…