Blue like my Hair

Several times during the past month, I have been stopped by strangers asking me about my hair colour. Sometimes they just want to tell me they think it’s fab. On one occasion (outside the Co-Op in Kidderminster) a lady called across the car park to ask which came first – my shoulder bag or my hair? They are basically the same colour! She was quite tickled when I said my hair came first.

As my hair has been blue/teal for nearly six and a half years, I sometimes forget that it’s not a ‘standard’ colour and get surprised when folk comment on it. But it is quite different from the ‘norm’ for hair colour and also from what it would look like if it was left ‘au naturel’, when it would be brown at the back and mostly white at the front! I did start to see more of the white resurfacing last month when I simply didn’t have time amongst everything else to keep the colour topped up, and I have to admit I felt much more ‘me’ once I’d been able to dye it again.

Something I noticed years ago at Knit Camp in Stirling in, I think, 2013, was that a large group of knitters was likely to have more people with unusually coloured hair than among the general population. At Knit Camp there was a lot of purple in evidence, although mine was still undyed at that time. I’m not sure if the general trend among creative types is towards brightly coloured hair still though – I will have to pay attention this coming weekend at the North West Winter Wool Festival (at the Imperial Hotel in Blackpool).

Personally, I love having blue hair and it has become quite a trademark – when checking in to set up at a Buxton Wool Gathering a couple of years ago (the first time I had attended), the organisers knew who I was without my even having to give my name! As they said, there weren’t a lot of folk trading with them who had blue hair.

We used to have coloured wine glasses – each with the bottom of the glass a different colour and Sue would always give me the one that was “Blue like my hair”, so it became a phrase. Blue has been my favourite colour since I was a small child and had a peddled blue plastic car – at some point I will locate and share a photo of toddler me ‘driving’ that car! Looking around the house I see now there are lots of blue things – and walls! Whenever given the option it seems I will plump for a particular type of blue!

Do you have a favourite colour? One that you are drawn to over and over again? What is it? Do you know why you love it so much? I’d love to hear about it!

Later this afternoon I will once again be topping up the blueness of my hair in readiness for the North West Winter Wool Festival at the weekend. I’m really looking forward to this show. Shirley has worked really hard getting everything organised for us, and it’s going to be fun to stay at the same venue as the event as well! No long drives after setting up to try to find the accommodation, or worrying about navigating the traffic on a Saturday morning! Blackpool isn’t as far away as I’d thought either – apple maps was giving me a drive time of an hour and a half the other day when I looked up the journey which is very reasonable. I will allow extra time though, because with the M6 you never know. If you are coming to the show, please do say hello – and if you’ve got an Imperial Cowl with you, please do show me!

Thank you to everyone who has bought a copy of Bodelwyddan already this month – I’ve sold 6 copies of this pattern so far this month (and we’re not even halfway through February yet!) so at minimum there will be a donation of £18 to Treasure Chest YGC, a charity that raises money for those having treatment for breast cancer at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd (hence the ‘YGC’ – it’s Glan Clwyd Hospital). I’m hoping there will be some more sales before the end of the month to increase the donation I’ll be making. Both digital and paper sales of Bodelwyddan will be included.

If you can’t make it to Blackpool at the weekend, don’t worry, I’ll tell you all about it next week. Until then, take care, and do something with your favourite colour! K x