Yarn Palettes Realized

Last month I wrote a post describing how I use photos for color inspiration in my projects and I described the easy technique I use to convert photos to yarn color selections. So many people are afraid of color - and using photos to select color in this way really is a bit like "training wheels" for one's color confidence.

We are offering a new yarn on the website (Lucci Cotton Tape) that I am enamoured with right now - one of the great things about it is that it comes in so many colors.

I teach how to make this really versatile Multi-Garment in my Craftsy Tunisian Crochet class - and this yarn is perfect for it. When I was exploring how this yarn worked up in Tunisian, I got the idea to show my students examples of all kinds of palettes using this new yarn using the color selection techniques that I introduce in the class.

So a month has gone by, and the swatches for each palette are done! Here they are, presented next to their original photo inspiration.

If you use my technique to translate photos to yarn colorway selections, here are a couple things to keep in mind:

It's hard to select 3 or 4 colors out of the millions that exist in a photo!  Choose the colors that represent why the photo works for YOU.  If 10 people were to make palettes from the same photo, chances are they would create 10 very different palettes. There is no wrong or right here as long as you are able to effectively able to use this technique to choose color combinations you like!
Take a look at the "base colors" in the photo as well as the "highlight colors" that really make the photo pop for you.  If you are choosing a contrast yarn that will be used sparingly in the project, you would choose one of those highlight colors for that yarn, and select base colors for the main colors in the garment.

I've posted each of the completed palettes here with a listing of the colors used in each swatch.  Now that you see the colors realized into a fabric - are you surprised by the results?  Did you like some palettes better before they were worked into a fabric? Conversely, are you surprised by how much you like some fabrics because you really didn't like the photo or the palette when you first saw it last month?