I'm just back from our show at Stitches West 2015, and as usual it was such a blast meeting and talking with the knitters and crocheters who came to our booth. It is always a thrill to see projects worked from our patterns and to demonstrate techniques one-on-one to those who come and visit us.
Probably the most common question I receive, after technique-related questions, has to do with choosing yarn colors. More often than not, a knitter or crocheter choosing yarn colors asks my advice on what colors go together, or they bring a friend that can offer advice.
Or they just fall into the pattern of choosing the same colors, and they complain about it. I can't count the number of times I heard that someone's stash was full of greens or purples or whatever the particular person's favorite color might be and that they are tired of always choosing the same colors but they just can't seem to break free of the pattern. Or of course, there is always the person who has an almost-entirely black wardrobe and is always struggling to choose colors to liven it up.
I teach a Craftsy class on colorwork with Tunisian Crochet, and one of the video lessons is devoted to helping people choose their own color palettes using colors in photos that they love. Although only tangentially related to the technique, I probably get more positive feedback on that lesson in the class than any of the other class lessons. It's a very hands-on, practical method of choosing color that has nothing to do with theory or color wheels, just taking a look at what works in the environment around us and extracting the color elements out of these successful examples to use in one's own work. It's about mimicking the beautiful color in the world around us. And it's the approach to color that has helped me the most in my work as a designer.
So many of us just have a general lack of confidence when it comes to colors and how to combine them.
If you consider yourself a color person, what usually inspires your to choose the colors that you do? If you're not a color person - what color ruts would you like to break out of?
Right now, select colors of our DK Cotton Tape yarn are on sale (this yarn is available in cones as well!), and in an effort to help the "color challenged" in the crowd feel confident choosing a color palette, I've come up with 12 sophisticated palettes that I feel are wearable even for the more color-timid. I hope they inspire you to combine colors in new ways!
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Palette #1: (left to right) Rust, Mustard, Orange |
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Palette #2: (left to right) Navy, Grey, Brown |
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Palette #3: (left to right) Cerise, Gallant Red, Fuschia Red |
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Palette #4: (left to right) Chocolate, Cream Tan, Tan |
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Palette #5: (left to right) Gold, Musty Orchid, Chocolate |
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Palette #6: (left to right) Purple, Chateau Rose, Chocolate |
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Palette #7: (left to right) Grey, French Blue, Lilac |
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Palette #8: (left to right) Musty Orchid, Grey, Teal |
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Palette #9: (left to right) Purple, Gold, Tan |
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Palette #10: (left to right) Cream Tan, Chateau Rose, Gold |
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Palette #11: (left to right) Tan, Brown, Cobalt |
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Palette #12: (left to right) Mustard, Brown, Musty Orchid |