Latest pics are at the end ...
I have been knitting a "sample" of a Log Cabin blanket/lapghan that I want to make for my Spiritual Mother. The sample is using Red Heart SuperSaver. The advantages are: lots of yummy colors! There is loads of it, it is available locally, and it is inexpensive. It knits up fairly quickly. It is fully washable. The disadvantage is that it doesn't feel very nice. It is kind of stiff and doesn't feel real soft and cuddly.
I have a very specific idea of what I want this lapghan to look like. In that space in the middle, will be knitted or embroidered a symbol of Christ, either a cross or a Chi Rho (see above, the Orthodox Cross Log Cabin). The next sections will be in the brightest warm colors: yellows, oranges, etc. I had some varigated yarn that was called Sunshine, I think, so I used that first. Then I started putting in logs in various shades of yellow and orange.
As you can see it was only partly successful. I used different yarns: Red Heart SuperSaver and TLC Essentials, and Lion Brand Vanessa's Choice. I used one other kind, too, I think. The yarns went together fairly well, but I wasn't entirely pleased with the colors. Several colors I thought were going to be brighter oranges or golds, were much darker and duller than I expected. Especially, there is one log in there that is pretty much a brown color and I think it ruins the whole thing. My vision was of colors that would represent Light, Life, and Resurrection. I wanted *bright* and *bold* and *warm* -- colors that would pop out at you. Only a couple of them really do that.
Then, I added what I thought was going to be a yellowish green. It turned out to be almost grey. My mother claims it is a bluish green, not a yellow green. I still think it is more yellow than blue, but it definitely wasn't what I was expecting.
Starting with the green that was almost grey, I started doing an entire square in the same color. I have looked at a number of Log Cabins now, and most are true logs, that change color with each one. I like that, but I am thinking full squares will present my vision best. With the medium and darker greens, I put one log, switched to the other, then back to the first, then back to the other. Sort of okay, but didn't really make me say "wow! I like that!"
Once I started adding the blue, the whole thing started to look a lot better. That might be because blue and green are my favorite colors...
Here are the pics of the latest version, with the blue almost completed ...
Notice that right before I added this gorgeous blue, I did a narrow square of a mint green. I think *maybe* varying the size of the squares makes it more interesting ... Now ...
I have at least 2 more shades of *blue* to add, and then will move into the mauves, lilacs, lavenders and purples -- probably not *all* of those, but at least 2.
The blues, greens and lavender/purples symbolize Creation, the Earth, Nature, the gifts of God, the beauty of the world.
From there, a dark maroon, and then a brown and a grey and finally, black. These neutral and dark colors represent the Fallen world, and life in this world distant from, apart from, Christ.
But even further out than the greys and blacks, will be a wide square of the scarlet RED from the center, because in the end, it is Christ who embraces the *whole* world, and has claimed it for his own.
Folks, I usually don't do this. But it just "came" to me in pretty much a finished form. It is a kind of vision. This "sample" version starts to embody it, but doesn't quite succeed.
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