Clever Color Combos

When perusing Ravelry, what attracts my attention, more than anything else, is the color of a project. I am especially drawn to unexpected color combinations. For example, when I saw MicheleLB’s terrific felted slip-stitch tote, I immediately bought the pattern and the yarn to make it — and copied the designer’s color scheme exactly:

My felted slip-stitch tote (sorry for the picture quality - this is from last year pre-blogging...)

Here are some other versions of the tote that the designer made (these are her photos):

I absolutely LOVE those color combinations. But I would never have thought to put those colors together in a million years.

When yarn shopping, I tend to be drawn to the same colors: pinks, browns, greens. And although I love unexpected color combinations, I am not clever enough to come up with them myself. How do I get better at this?

On another note, I am sad about the imminent closure of Noe Knit. A loss for San Francisco knitters, for sure.

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Nartian Says:

June 6, 2009 at 8:52 am

For some people, they simply have good color sense, maybe intuitive? But for a lot of people, including myself, it’s learning how a color wheel works, looking at lots of examples in nature and art (even if in photographs), practicing by putting colors together to see if you like it or not, and getting input from friends who have a good color eye.

morewithles Says:

June 6, 2009 at 9:55 am
Great advice – and fun! Thanks!

Sent from a handheld device – please excuse any typos.

pdxknitterati Says:

June 6, 2009 at 4:14 pm

Funny, because I don’t think of myself as having good color sense. I picked colors for my parents’ house once. It was dire. Knitting is much safer!

I tend to stick with the blue/green/purple palette. When I knit the orange/green/red bag, I had severe doubts, but I love how it turned out after felting.

So far, it’s all trial and error. Luckily, I had a lot of colors to play with; they were all part of my log cabin blanket project. You can see all the players here:

http://pdxknitterati.com/2009/01/03/log-cabin-blanket-and-friends/

MicheleLB

morewithles Says:

June 6, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Michele — I’ve long admired your color sense! Your log cabin blanket is terrific!!! Thanks for the comment.

Laura Says:

June 10, 2009 at 9:19 am

I got a lot of practice with color when I was a quilter–a “phase” that lasted about 25 years. That said, I chose 4 colors for a felted entrelac bag that is so ugly I put it away in a closet to store yarn in. Oy.

morewithles Says:

June 10, 2009 at 9:45 am
Laura — I’ve heard that about quilting (something, by the way, I dream of doing someday!). Your comment about your bag made me laugh out loud!!! Oy is right.