Pale colours aren’t always popular. That’s it, I said it!

So this is a short essay in defence of pale colours.

Pale naturally dyed colours give the most nuance that nature has to offer- we are so used to seeing all the bright colours that we can’t actually see the subtleties of pale colours any more (I’m sure I read an article or blog post about this recently but I can’t for the life of me remember where!). Digital photographs also don’t necessarily lend themselves to seeing the differences of these colours very easily (although it’s the best option we have in our globalised online world)- skeins of naturally dyed ‘pale’ colours are something better suited to seeing in real life. Something about the translation of pixel and data to image does not translate. Thus that poses a problem for the natural dyer who sells online.

Pale colours also use up all the dye vat of precious natural colour (for example, when you make that glorious red, you also have to make many many pinks), and then the the walnut husk vat- the gift that keeps giving and giving and giving…..of paler and paler colours. The last thing you want to do when making a dye vat is waste any because it takes so long to make in the first place and is a waste of resources and also money if you bought the extract or time if you gathered it. There is something to be said for using up every last bit of something so precious.

Some people see pale colours only as a compliment to bright or darker moodier colours (which they very much are), but they are often playing second fiddle to them, they ‘pale’ in comparison, and fade into the background. They seem less important or needed but the reality is, you wouldn’t have a visually satisfying piece of colourwork without paler colours, sometimes a stitch pattern shows up better in lighter tones (so it doesn’t over power the texture) and sometimes you got to reignite your imagination and thoughts around ‘pale’ colours because without them things just wouldn’t be aesthetically coherent.

Last year when I knitted a swatch for my Ola Yoke (pattern by Ella Gordon), some of the colours look a bit wan, beige and slightly boring on their own. However, when put beside the correct colours they start to sing and ‘vibrate’.

So that is my short essay in defence of pale colours. I can highly recommend them! They are a gift from the natural world- enjoy them. And if you want to help a natural dyer out, consider them for your next project :D

In defence of pale colours- a short essay from a natural dyer