Atlanta Knitting Guild meeting

Last night we had a program by Margie Deeb, who does some amazing beadwork. She was there to talk about color theory, and like any guest speaker, she brought some of her work and books.

Ah, the books. I had to buy two of them. One of them is all about looking at something in art or nature and deriving a color palette from it. The other was also about color theory, but it has some wondrous beadwork in it. When I saw a bead woven, incredibly realistic octopus, I had to have that book. (Remember, I love, love, love cephalapods. Enough to stop eating calamari.)

One thing she said last night is that when she's gone to speak before groups, she gets feedback later about how she made color theory easy. Hmm, I thought, we'll see. She lived up to her word and gave me much food for thought.

I'll admit, I've been goofing off since I quit working for Needle Nook. Yes, I don't have a dedicated place to work. How could I possibly dye with cats wanting to help all the time? I can come up with all sorts of excuses, but the truth is that I found myself frightened by the prospect of it all. I personally know 2 indie dyers who sell to Loopy Ewe, as well as selling in some brick and mortar stores and online themselves. It's daunting to think that wow, I've got to come up with great colorways, then dye it all, then label and sell it. What if my colors that look interesting in my head totally suck. What if I can't translate them? It was a type of paralysis of analysis.

Actually, Margie's talk about color theory was like that small, but absolutely crucial, bit of information that I needed to hear. And I find it interesting that in some ways I was headed in the right general direction, but this nudged me onto the course. I think her two books will more than pay for themselves for both the color theory help, and I wouldn't mind picking up beading again. Glass fascinates me in ways that yarn and fiber can't. Light and transparency, reflection of metallics, the glow of pearlessence - captivate me like a magpie.

One more thing. I had been in Walmart yesterday, and I stopped to peruse the magazines. I ended up getting the Bead And Button's Beader's Handbook. Margie has an article in it.