How To Choose A Colour Palette For Crocheting

Hello! In this blog post I'm going to give tips for choosing a colour palette for crocheting, because I don't know about you, but I am LOVING all the colour combos appearing on social media and in my inbox from indie dyers for the upcoming MKAL from Stephen West! There are so many gorgeous combinations out there for a gradient with 4 skeins of yarn - it's such an inspiration. Whether you're a crocheter and a knitter or you just stick to crochet, these combos are everywhere at the moment, you can't miss them!

But, what if you want to join the MKAL (or follow a pattern using 4 skeins of yarn) and you'd like to put your own combination together? Perhaps you have stashed yarn you'd like to use or maybe you'd like to treat yourself to some new yarn and create your own unique combo?

I'm going to share a technique from my Colour & Crochet Course which will help you choose your next colour palette. It begins with creating a mood board, so go grab a pile of magazines or newspapers, some paint cards or fabric samples, scraps of wool, small items from a nature walk - whatever else you have to hand - and get creative! If you don't feel like getting hands on, you can use Pinterest, or it's new sister app Shuffles, for this exercise - you can search for millions of different images and if you don't want to share your board with the rest of the world you can set it to "secret". I’ve also recently used Canva to create some collages - search in their Elements, select “photo” - there are hundreds to choose from!

For your colour theme, you might like to choose autumn, or sea scapes or perhaps a festival vibe! Don't think too hard about the bits & pieces you're adding, just go for it and see what becomes of the process. Once you have your mood board, you should be able to pick out recurring colours and put them together. Look for two colours you like and pair them together, then make a trio, then add a fourth ... before you know it, you'll have your 4 colours.

Fancy giving it a go? If you do, please share on social media and TAG ME, I'd really love to see!

Want to dive deeper? This is just one of the exercises in my Colour & Crochet Course, there are lots more to help you gain confidence in choosing colours. The course also includes 5 of my crochet patterns which use more than one colour so you can put your new found knowledge to immediate use! 

Here's a testimonial from one of my happy customers:

"Marta's color course is very enjoyable as well as helpful. I'm so glad I purchased it as I feel more confident about choosing my color pairings."

Holly-Marie

 

 

I'll be back soon, until then, happy crocheting,

Marta xx

PS. To receive these blog posts straight to your inbox, please consider subscribing to my mailing list. There's a free pdf waiting for you when you do: 25 Top Crochet Tips Every Crocheter Should Know!

 

3 tips to help you choose colours for your projects

Hello again! Have you ever struggled with choosing colours for a crochet or knitting project? I'm frequently asked how I go about choosing my colour schemes and so in this blog post I am going to share 3 practical tips to help you make the most of colour.

Tip no. 1.  Play with colour! 

Start by keeping things simple with just 3 colours at a time. Choose balls of yarn from your stash to help you with this or perhaps you have yarn wound round pegs or you could even use paint swatch cards from the DIY store. Look at your 3 colours and ask yourself "Do they go together?  Are they working in harmony?" If you like them, take a quick photo, if not substitute just one colour and try again. 

The more you play around with colours and experiment with what works for you, the easier it will become. Back in June 2017 I wrote an extensive blog post about choosing colours with a little bit of colour theory thrown in too. If you'd like to read that blog post, you can find it here.

Tip no. 2.  Create a mood board

Pinterest is an amazing resource to use when planning projects. You can create a board that saves colour schemes you like and can refer back to (f you like, you can make it a secret board). Try not to overthink it, simply save pins with colour schemes that appeal to you. Once you've saved a few pins have a look and see what they have in common. Ask yourself "Which colours work well together? What colours am I drawn to?" If you haven't used Pinterest before it's a wonderful resource - think of it as a big search engine for looking for creative ideas. Warning: pinning can become addictive! 

If Pinterest isn't your thing, you can always create scrap book pages with colour combinations you find pleasing. Rip out colour schemes you like from the interiors section of magazines, add in strands of yarn, buttons, bits of food packaging, ribbons, photos, paint swatch cards, feathers and other found items. Keep adding new pages with new colour combinations to look back on. (These torn pages were taken from Mollie Makes magazine).

Tip no. 3.  Look to the natural world

Go for a walk outside and bring your camera with you! Take time to notice colours that sit side by side in nature and look good together. If you spot a pleasing colour combination, take a photo! You can even print it and add it to your mood board, helping to build a bigger picture. 

Think of seasonal colours that work in harmony: oranges, rich browns, burgundays in the autumn; pale blues, lilacs and fresh green in the spring. Or consider the colours of the landscape: blues, sandy oranges and yellow at the seaside; a range of greens and browns in the forest. Nature has an amazing colour range - copy it!

I hope you have found these 3 tips helpful. Leave me a comment below or find me on Instagram if you have any questions or want to share your recent colour combinations, I'd love to see them!

Marta xx