How to choose colors for colorwork knitting

Colorwork knitting stumps many knitters because it can feel daunting to pick colors. Mosaic or slip stitch knitting in 2 colors is great for building color picking confidence, and our new pattern, Shed some light cowl (see the muse behind the name in our last blog post), offers you a project to show off that confidence.

Color theory?

I'm going to share a secret. I read the words, 'color theory' and I pretty much freak out. Yes, I've tried the classes, read the tutorials, bought the books. And yes, I get it - there are primary colors - red, blue, yellow - that you can't achieve by mixing other colors. However, if you mix combinations of these three colors, that is how you get other colors. . . There's the color wheel. It shows colors and those colors that are opposite each other on the wheel are complementary. That means they're supposed to 'work together'. . .  There are terms like 'hue' and 'tone' and 'value'. . .  and then there are these paragraphs that explain it all and my brain glosses over. I just can never connect.

If not color theory, then what?

So if I'm not so great on color theory but I want to work with color in my knitting, what am I to do? As knitters, we're faced with a palette of yarn colors and our assignment is to select just two that will work together. Someone offers, 'You really want high contrast colors for that,' Again with those color theory terms. 'You want to be sure you don't have similar values in your color choices,' they say. Yup, color theory.

Plum and Natural together

Here's what's worked for me in choosing color combinations.

• Start with just one color that you love. . . and even more importantly, that you love to wear. 
• Put the color up to your face in natural light - do you like the color with your skin? 
• Think about your wardrobe? Is this the pop of color that will work beautifully with your wardrobe colors? Note: this may mean that it's a very different color than your wardrobe but that it coordinates with the items you love to wear.
• Once you've settled on a first color, start putting other colors next to that color. Do they work together for your taste? 
• A great tip is to wrap two skeins of yarn together. This might give you a sense of how the colors will work together in your knitting. 
• Go with what YOU love. I believe that sometimes unexpected color combinations are the bomb. I think the combination I did with Black Cherry and Scarlet (photo at the top of this blog) aren't exactly expected - but I love them. This is an example of how colors slightly shift when they are worked together. The Black Cherry turns a bit browner and the Scarlet tones down a bit. 

To make my Shed Some Light Cowl, here are some potential color combinations in our fingering weight yarn.

 Find more color combinations on our kit page: Shed some light cowl