Maple Leaves

I decided it was time to break out of the black+green+white box and try a more adventurous color combination. I chose an image of Japanese maple leaves in autumn:



After quite a bit of manipulation in Photoshop, I indexed the image to 8 colors (6 greens and 2 reds), with the background various shades of green:



Then I rummaged through the yarn stash to find a dull green 20/2 cotton/bamboo blend and a bright coral-red 30/2 silk, and started weaving:



Where the green and red are on the surface in approximately equal amounts, optical blending creates brown, giving the impression of more different hues than there really are. I like the way the red and green really pop - it's an in-your-face combination. The structure is weft backed satin based on 8-end shaded satins, as with the earlier trees.