Knitting tips and guides ·

TIPS: How to put colors together

TIPS: How to put colors together
It can sometimes be difficult to find the right color combinations, if you are knitting with different scrap yarn or doing patterns with stripes or stranded knitting. We have collected our best tips for putting colors and nuances together, so you get a harmonic result, that you can cherish year after year! 
farvecirkel
A good place to find inspiration is the color wheel, which you can look at in different ways. 
  1. You can choose colors close to each other on the wheel. It can for example be blue and purple or red and orange. It brings a more balanced and calm look to your knitwear.

  2. Colors in a 90 degree angle of each other, will often compliment each other as well. It can be colors like green and orange or red and purple.

  3. A third way of looking at it is complementary colors. They are directly across of each other on the wheel. Red and light blue is a good example of two complementary colors that go well together. If you choose to go with complementary colors for your knitwear, it will often become more colorful and lively. 

Choosing colors for your scrap project 

You do not have to make a final plan from the start, but it can be useful to follow some simple guidelines for making the best color choices.

One thing at a time
Try to make one decision at a time and lay out the next yarn combo, you plan to knit with. This way you force yourself to stick to that decision instead of assessing the next color before you have finished knitting with the current color. 

Achieving harmony and a calm expression
There are several ways to achieve balance and a calm expression in your scrap yarn project.

 

References: Use your colors to create references. For example, if you have pink at the top, you create a reference by knitting another round of pink or two somewhere else.
Fades and color choices
Fades: If you need to change out of a color family, do so by knitting a fade, where you start on the new color while pulling in the color you want to finish, for another round or two. This way you avoid hard stripes and achieve a faded transition 
Color harmony: Use the color circle to make decisions about the next step.  E.g start with a color group (orange/
red) and expand with pink/yellow. If you want it very colorful, start by using the complementary colors (and their neighbors). 

 

Knitting with the right gauge 
 Once you have decided on your knitting gauge (and pattern), make a list for yourself with different qualities from your leftover basket that can be used. It can be tested with a swatch 😊 The list is good to have, when you have to decide which yarn type should be the next in the row. Remember you can easily knit with 1, 2 or more strands in the same project - as long as the knitting gauge is right. 

Don't forget that deciding on colors for your scrap project can be challenging. It is typically difficult to get a real impression of the result for the first many rows, when you do scrap yarn knitting - the magic typically doesn't unfold until after you have changed colors and yarn a few times.

 

See more tips for knitting with scraps here.

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