The Rainbow Connection
By Daryl Brower
Putting together a great color combination is easier than you might think.
Mix Masters
Feeling shy about putting colors together? Try a few of these combinations to get your creative juices flowing.
Fishing for complements? Try pairing blue and orange; blue-green and red; yellow-green and violet; green and red-violet.
Not certain opposites attract? Go for an analogous scheme: hot pink and red; teal and lime green; aquamarine and violet; sunburst yellow and tangerine.
When it comes to color, most knitters fall into two groups: those with a knack for knowing which hues will look good together (and which don’t) and those who haven’t a clue where to begin. The former group tends to plunge in boldly, mixing and matching with reckless abandon. The latter usually follows the picture shown in the magazine or pattern book hue for hue, afraid to stray from the suggested yarns or colorways for fear of making a mistake. Those who hold back are missing out on some big opportunities. Getting creative with color can enhance the whole knitting experience.
Where do color trends come from?
So who decides that gray is the new black? It all starts with trend forecasting services like Pantone and the Doneger Group. Drawing on everything from pop culture to economic indicators, these groups make educated guesses as to what will influence style in the seasons ahead.
Using themed groupings based on what they think will be big (“bold,” “inky” and “contrast” are big buzzwords), they pull together presentations containing design boards (collages of photos, fabrics and other elements used to create a mood and represent a color or texture), color swatches and a bit of text hyping the message. Yarn and fabric mills use trend packages to choose colors for their new lines and put it all on view at textile shows in the U.S. and Europe (for knitwear, Pitti Filati in Florence is the go-to destination).
Designers source new fabrics and fibers at the shows, and the fashion press reports home with their take on what’s hot, what’s not and what’s up and coming. The rest of us absorb it all from magazines, blogs and department store clothing racks; before you know it, we’re all programmed to crave the color of the moment.
|
|
|
Getting Personal
By-the-book knitters tend to pass up styles they love because the color shown on the model isn’t one they like or doesn’t look good on them. Or they go ahead and knit the sweater as shown but end up unhappy with the color. But the great thing about knitting is that you can have it your way. All you have to do is stitch the sweater in a shade more flattering to your own coloring. But while most of us have no trouble switching a solid-colored sweater from turquoise to tan, we lose confidence when the sweater in question involves stripes, Fair Isle or some other color patterning. So how do you choose colors with confidence? Entire books have been written on color theory, but most designers take a more intuitive approach.
“Dealing with color in knitting—or any other medium, for that matter—is a very personal process,” says designer Brandon Mably, highly in demand for the color workshops he teaches around the globe. “There’s no such thing as a magic formula for color. Only you know what yarns are at your disposal; only you can physically place one yarn next to another and assess how the colors work together; only you can assess your own emotional response to the color combinations that you come up with. I don’t believe anyone has the right to tell you that a particular combination of colors works or doesn’t work. If you like something, then it’s right for you.”
In his workshops, Mably piles a large group of colored yarns in the middle of the floor, then explains how if you look closely enough, a few great combinations will eventually catch your eye. “As a demonstration, I make appealing combinations and weed out discordant notes,” he explains. “I find myself putting a soft duck-egg blue with a group of pinks that start to glow, or a burgundy red with a group of tobacco browns, or a soft lavender-pink with gray-whites. Lots of little unexpected surprises come out of working this way.”
“Choosing a palette for any artistic endeavor—whether it’s painting a kitchen or knitting a jacket—involves making choices about what kind of mood one is trying to create,” explains Gina Wilde, founder of Alchemy Yarns of Transformation. “I find that if I’m clear about what emotional response I am trying to provoke, the color or combination of colors I’m trying to create will come through.”
Wilde gravitates toward analogous colors (those next to each other on the color wheel) to evoke a sense of harmony. “I’m uncomfortable placing green and red together, or yellow next to purple,” she explains. “Colors that sit opposite on the color wheel create a sense of disquiet in my aesthetic. But put blue green next to blue next to blue-violet next to violet and I find a sense of well-being.”
Of course, if you feel your color choices are not coming together well, plenty of tools out there can help make the task less intimidating (several such tools on the market are geared specifically to fiber artists; see “Cool Tools,” above). You can go the old-school route by picking up a color wheel and reading up on color theory, or you can take a looser but equally effective approach. Want to change the stripe pattern on a sweater? Try pulling out skeins in complementing, contrasting or related shades and lining them up on the floor or tabletop (a white backdrop will help you see the colors more clearly) to see what looks good together. As you make selections, keep in mind that fiber content, texture and even gauge can factor into the finished look. The fuzzy texture of wool, angora, alpaca and cashmere can make colors seem darker; silk, rayon and some cottons supply a slight sheen that can make the piece appear lighter; and metallic yarns reflect light, making colors brighter. A tighter gauge (fewer stitches to the inch) tends to make color contrasts more obvious. Add or subtract colors until you find a combination you like, then knit up a few swatches to see how your choices will work in the actual project.
Color Theory
Every time I’m asked about my ideas on color, I wonder what I could possibly say that isn’t stating the obvious. My day-to-day life is brim full of color. I perceive it everywhere, even in the drabbest settings. But when I see what a lot of young people are wearing these days—beige, gray, black—I sense a fear of color commitment.
Whenever someone asks me to knit, I start the process by wondering what color family would bring them most to life. Would soft pastels underline a delicate complexion or wash the customer out? Is a deeper coloring required to reflect those green eyes and red hair? Do I want a clean, clear jewel palette or earthy tones? I’m always searching for life. That’s why beige or pale gray rarely fit the bill. But there are no set rules; sometimes that very neutral scheme of stony colors is very chic.
I love older women who dare to wear shocking pink or brilliant purple, lighting up every room they enter. Wearing unusual colors is like giving a gift to the street. I often follow a good outfit, studying just what makes it so noticeable. I’m always on the lookout for lively combos in life: at fruit stalls, with their oranges and yellows and greens; at makeup counters, with all those close tones of magenta, pink and earth. I continually wander into antiques shops or museums to analyze color stories from the past. Embroidered textiles, glazed pottery and painted furniture with their patina of age can give much inspiration. Even the color of the museum walls can give you a clue, the way a plain brown pot looks dull against white but comes into its own against teal blue. These are mere starting points on this vast adventure called color. I learn something every time I start a new project.
—Kaffe Fassett
|
|
|
Let the Yarn Do the Work
It’s hard to find a knitter who isn’t smitten with variegated yarns, especially those of the hand-dyed or hand-painted variety. But for the color-phobic, they’re an especially attractive option—all the work of choosing and blending colors has been done for you. Sit and knit for a while and voilà—you literally have a work of art on your hands. There’s just one minor caveat: While no one can deny the breathtaking beauty of all those fabulous colors twisted up in one gorgeous hank, what you see in the skein may look quite different in the finished sweater. So how do you tell how the colors will translate? If you’re lucky, your yarn shop will have a swatch or two knit up so you can see the way the various colors play out as they’re stitched row by row. If not, you may want to experiment on your own before you buy in bulk. Pick up a single skein and do some swatching, keeping in mind that the width of your project will also play into how the colors repeat. “You’ll get a vastly different look on a 40-stitch scarf than you will on a 120-stitch sweater front,” points out Maie Landra, founder of Koigu Wool Designs, renowned for its striking variegated hand-paints and innovative colorwork. If you like the way the colors interact, head back to the store and buy more yarn. If not, you can create a quick hat or bag to give to a friend.
Puddle Jumping
One of the major issues knitters have with variegateds is their tendency to form pools of color or stripey patterns as the yarn’s dye sequence repeats itself. How do you avoid these idiosyncrasies? First, decide if you really want to. In well-executed hand-paints or hand-dyes, obvious repeats of color may not occur at all, or if they do, they might be quite pleasing. Landra compares the pooling of colors in variegated yarns to what happens in nature. “If you look at a flower garden or a field of flowers, you’ll find groupings of red and blue-purple at the back, white in the front, yellow somewhere else; tying them all together are expanses of green leaves and a bit of brown earth or ground cover,” she says. “So in a garden, blotches are beautiful, but in a sweater they’re not? The knitter sees a pool forming and freaks out. But if the same knitter would just keep stitching for another ten rows, pooling will most likely occur in other areas, and when the entire garment is complete, you’ll have an attractive abstract design.”
If you’ve decided you really don’t like the blotched or stripey effect the yarn is giving you, you can avoid it simply by alternating between two skeins. Knit a few rows from one ball, then switch to another and knit a few more. If you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, Landra suggests purchasing two different variegated colorways and knitting them in regular increments (2 inches of one color, then 2 inches of the next, for example). “You can use colorways that are similar in tone or contrast them for more excitement,” she suggests. Gina Wilde of Alchemy knits with two balls, not to avoid striping, but because doing so adds depth to the fabric. “Factors that move far beyond dye lots are involved in making a true hand-paint—everything from the way the wind was blowing when the yarn was steaming to the temperature of the water,” she says. “By using two balls together, you capture the difference in each skein and integrate the differences into a unified garment.”
Another option is to use stitch patterns and construction techniques that will downplay color clumping. “Striping and blotching aren’t as pronounced in lace knitting or garter stitch,” says Landra, “and in modular knitting, it simply becomes a nonissue.” Wilde points out that short-row, broken-rib and other stitch patterns can also help “throw off” the repeat of the yarn. Mixing a solid or semisolid hue into the piece can also help prevent color pooling and striping and bring consistency to multihued yarn.
Of course, the real beauty in working with color, be it your own combinations or those found in variegated yarns, is the element of surprise that comes from watching the pattern emerge. “Knitters tell me all the time that they’re simply mesmerized watching the colors change and change again,” says Maie Landra. “They keep knitting because they can’t wait to see how it all turns out.”
The Rainbow Connection
By Daryl Brower
Putting together a great color combination is easier than you might think.
Mix Masters
Feeling shy about putting colors together? Try a few of these combinations to get your creative juices flowing.
Fishing for complements? Try pairing blue and orange; blue-green and red; yellow-green and violet; green and red-violet.
Not certain opposites attract? Go for an analogous scheme: hot pink and red; teal and lime green; aquamarine and violet; sunburst yellow and tangerine.
When it comes to color, most knitters fall into two groups: those with a knack for knowing which hues will look good together (and which don’t) and those who haven’t a clue where to begin. The former group tends to plunge in boldly, mixing and matching with reckless abandon. The latter usually follows the picture shown in the magazine or pattern book hue for hue, afraid to stray from the suggested yarns or colorways for fear of making a mistake. Those who hold back are missing out on some big opportunities. Getting creative with color can enhance the whole knitting experience.
Where do color trends come from?
So who decides that gray is the new black? It all starts with trend forecasting services like Pantone and the Doneger Group. Drawing on everything from pop culture to economic indicators, these groups make educated guesses as to what will influence style in the seasons ahead.
Using themed groupings based on what they think will be big (“bold,” “inky” and “contrast” are big buzzwords), they pull together presentations containing design boards (collages of photos, fabrics and other elements used to create a mood and represent a color or texture), color swatches and a bit of text hyping the message. Yarn and fabric mills use trend packages to choose colors for their new lines and put it all on view at textile shows in the U.S. and Europe (for knitwear, Pitti Filati in Florence is the go-to destination).
Designers source new fabrics and fibers at the shows, and the fashion press reports home with their take on what’s hot, what’s not and what’s up and coming. The rest of us absorb it all from magazines, blogs and department store clothing racks; before you know it, we’re all programmed to crave the color of the moment.
|
|
|
Getting Personal
By-the-book knitters tend to pass up styles they love because the color shown on the model isn’t one they like or doesn’t look good on them. Or they go ahead and knit the sweater as shown but end up unhappy with the color. But the great thing about knitting is that you can have it your way. All you have to do is stitch the sweater in a shade more flattering to your own coloring. But while most of us have no trouble switching a solid-colored sweater from turquoise to tan, we lose confidence when the sweater in question involves stripes, Fair Isle or some other color patterning. So how do you choose colors with confidence? Entire books have been written on color theory, but most designers take a more intuitive approach.
“Dealing with color in knitting—or any other medium, for that matter—is a very personal process,” says designer Brandon Mably, highly in demand for the color workshops he teaches around the globe. “There’s no such thing as a magic formula for color. Only you know what yarns are at your disposal; only you can physically place one yarn next to another and assess how the colors work together; only you can assess your own emotional response to the color combinations that you come up with. I don’t believe anyone has the right to tell you that a particular combination of colors works or doesn’t work. If you like something, then it’s right for you.”
In his workshops, Mably piles a large group of colored yarns in the middle of the floor, then explains how if you look closely enough, a few great combinations will eventually catch your eye. “As a demonstration, I make appealing combinations and weed out discordant notes,” he explains. “I find myself putting a soft duck-egg blue with a group of pinks that start to glow, or a burgundy red with a group of tobacco browns, or a soft lavender-pink with gray-whites. Lots of little unexpected surprises come out of working this way.”
“Choosing a palette for any artistic endeavor—whether it’s painting a kitchen or knitting a jacket—involves making choices about what kind of mood one is trying to create,” explains Gina Wilde, founder of Alchemy Yarns of Transformation. “I find that if I’m clear about what emotional response I am trying to provoke, the color or combination of colors I’m trying to create will come through.”
Wilde gravitates toward analogous colors (those next to each other on the color wheel) to evoke a sense of harmony. “I’m uncomfortable placing green and red together, or yellow next to purple,” she explains. “Colors that sit opposite on the color wheel create a sense of disquiet in my aesthetic. But put blue green next to blue next to blue-violet next to violet and I find a sense of well-being.”
Of course, if you feel your color choices are not coming together well, plenty of tools out there can help make the task less intimidating (several such tools on the market are geared specifically to fiber artists; see “Cool Tools,” above). You can go the old-school route by picking up a color wheel and reading up on color theory, or you can take a looser but equally effective approach. Want to change the stripe pattern on a sweater? Try pulling out skeins in complementing, contrasting or related shades and lining them up on the floor or tabletop (a white backdrop will help you see the colors more clearly) to see what looks good together. As you make selections, keep in mind that fiber content, texture and even gauge can factor into the finished look. The fuzzy texture of wool, angora, alpaca and cashmere can make colors seem darker; silk, rayon and some cottons supply a slight sheen that can make the piece appear lighter; and metallic yarns reflect light, making colors brighter. A tighter gauge (fewer stitches to the inch) tends to make color contrasts more obvious. Add or subtract colors until you find a combination you like, then knit up a few swatches to see how your choices will work in the actual project.
Color Theory
Every time I’m asked about my ideas on color, I wonder what I could possibly say that isn’t stating the obvious. My day-to-day life is brim full of color. I perceive it everywhere, even in the drabbest settings. But when I see what a lot of young people are wearing these days—beige, gray, black—I sense a fear of color commitment.
Whenever someone asks me to knit, I start the process by wondering what color family would bring them most to life. Would soft pastels underline a delicate complexion or wash the customer out? Is a deeper coloring required to reflect those green eyes and red hair? Do I want a clean, clear jewel palette or earthy tones? I’m always searching for life. That’s why beige or pale gray rarely fit the bill. But there are no set rules; sometimes that very neutral scheme of stony colors is very chic.
I love older women who dare to wear shocking pink or brilliant purple, lighting up every room they enter. Wearing unusual colors is like giving a gift to the street. I often follow a good outfit, studying just what makes it so noticeable. I’m always on the lookout for lively combos in life: at fruit stalls, with their oranges and yellows and greens; at makeup counters, with all those close tones of magenta, pink and earth. I continually wander into antiques shops or museums to analyze color stories from the past. Embroidered textiles, glazed pottery and painted furniture with their patina of age can give much inspiration. Even the color of the museum walls can give you a clue, the way a plain brown pot looks dull against white but comes into its own against teal blue. These are mere starting points on this vast adventure called color. I learn something every time I start a new project.
—Kaffe Fassett
|
|
|
Let the Yarn Do the Work
It’s hard to find a knitter who isn’t smitten with variegated yarns, especially those of the hand-dyed or hand-painted variety. But for the color-phobic, they’re an especially attractive option—all the work of choosing and blending colors has been done for you. Sit and knit for a while and voilà—you literally have a work of art on your hands. There’s just one minor caveat: While no one can deny the breathtaking beauty of all those fabulous colors twisted up in one gorgeous hank, what you see in the skein may look quite different in the finished sweater. So how do you tell how the colors will translate? If you’re lucky, your yarn shop will have a swatch or two knit up so you can see the way the various colors play out as they’re stitched row by row. If not, you may want to experiment on your own before you buy in bulk. Pick up a single skein and do some swatching, keeping in mind that the width of your project will also play into how the colors repeat. “You’ll get a vastly different look on a 40-stitch scarf than you will on a 120-stitch sweater front,” points out Maie Landra, founder of Koigu Wool Designs, renowned for its striking variegated hand-paints and innovative colorwork. If you like the way the colors interact, head back to the store and buy more yarn. If not, you can create a quick hat or bag to give to a friend.
Puddle Jumping
One of the major issues knitters have with variegateds is their tendency to form pools of color or stripey patterns as the yarn’s dye sequence repeats itself. How do you avoid these idiosyncrasies? First, decide if you really want to. In well-executed hand-paints or hand-dyes, obvious repeats of color may not occur at all, or if they do, they might be quite pleasing. Landra compares the pooling of colors in variegated yarns to what happens in nature. “If you look at a flower garden or a field of flowers, you’ll find groupings of red and blue-purple at the back, white in the front, yellow somewhere else; tying them all together are expanses of green leaves and a bit of brown earth or ground cover,” she says. “So in a garden, blotches are beautiful, but in a sweater they’re not? The knitter sees a pool forming and freaks out. But if the same knitter would just keep stitching for another ten rows, pooling will most likely occur in other areas, and when the entire garment is complete, you’ll have an attractive abstract design.”
If you’ve decided you really don’t like the blotched or stripey effect the yarn is giving you, you can avoid it simply by alternating between two skeins. Knit a few rows from one ball, then switch to another and knit a few more. If you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, Landra suggests purchasing two different variegated colorways and knitting them in regular increments (2 inches of one color, then 2 inches of the next, for example). “You can use colorways that are similar in tone or contrast them for more excitement,” she suggests. Gina Wilde of Alchemy knits with two balls, not to avoid striping, but because doing so adds depth to the fabric. “Factors that move far beyond dye lots are involved in making a true hand-paint—everything from the way the wind was blowing when the yarn was steaming to the temperature of the water,” she says. “By using two balls together, you capture the difference in each skein and integrate the differences into a unified garment.”
Another option is to use stitch patterns and construction techniques that will downplay color clumping. “Striping and blotching aren’t as pronounced in lace knitting or garter stitch,” says Landra, “and in modular knitting, it simply becomes a nonissue.” Wilde points out that short-row, broken-rib and other stitch patterns can also help “throw off” the repeat of the yarn. Mixing a solid or semisolid hue into the piece can also help prevent color pooling and striping and bring consistency to multihued yarn.
Of course, the real beauty in working with color, be it your own combinations or those found in variegated yarns, is the element of surprise that comes from watching the pattern emerge. “Knitters tell me all the time that they’re simply mesmerized watching the colors change and change again,” says Maie Landra. “They keep knitting because they can’t wait to see how it all turns out.”