It's Fall here in the Northern Adirondacks. Usually we are surrounded by bright red hues in the leaves on the sumacs, and maple trees. This year the trees are a orange and bright yellow/greens. Beautiful! Everyone who is a regular reader of this blog knows how much I love bright color, especially for children. I realized I had never written a blog post about colors! That is the theme of today's blog. There is, in fact, psychology that goes behind the choice of color. There is a reason to think about color choices when sewing, knitting, crocheting, weaving, or loom knitting for charity. If our purpose is to bring hope, then we ought to think about hopeful, happy, or peaceful color choices right? My daughter, T.k. and I spend quite a bit of time choosing colors for our projects. We stack up all the yarn on the beds and choose which colors we want to put together with which project. (though we have the hardest time with our gradient yarns like Caron Cakes LOL) The Spruce has a great primer on color which lays out all the ins-and-outs of color choice! I recommend crafters read it. I've always been partial to a mix of primary and secondary colors. Red, yellow, blue, the primary colors and the corresponding secondary colors, green, orange and violet, have always been a good starting place for me. There are some knit and crochet designers that are very color conscious. In fact the Crochet Crowd has an entire plethora of articles on the color wheel. Fueled by the color artists at Yarnspirations, the yarn choices are pretty amazing. The color card combinations at the Crochet Crowd's webpage would keep any artist plenty busy. Color theory basics are discussed at Lion Brand Yarn. Lucy at Attic24 is a genius with color combinations. Color is discussed in some length in this blog post on her typepad page. In fact in the UK she has partnered with Wool Warehouse to create yarn packs to match the projects she has created on her website. Susan Carlson of the Felted Button is very big into bright and colorful crocheted creations. Admittedly some of her creations are not within my current skill set, however they are all spectacular! Lots of lovely color combinations with great textures! If you are ready to play with a little color I recommend Susan Carlson's Citrus Stripe Blanket , Lucy's Cozy Stripe Blanket, or Zelna Oliver's Cosmos Fields Shawl Knitters, I don't know about you but I like color even in my knitting. Pattern designers who like color in their knitting can be a bit challenging to find. I don't do "colorwork" or "stranded" patterns. (I simply do not have time) I do less knitting now, probably because I cannot find the color that feeds the soul. However, it's easy enough to find all the color you want in the color palettes found in catalogs from your favorite yarn companies, ie Lion Brand, Willow Yarns, Knit Picks, Herrschners or Mary Maxim. Using these color palettes with your favorite yarns or with yarn leftovers, and a basic knitting pattern will give you a great idea what yarns work together. Ready to practice? The Garter Chevron Blanket by Mina Philipp, also the aptly named Loops & Threads Colorwheel Chevron Baby Blanket (would also make a good lap blanket),or the Van Smoot shawl by The Cashmere Junkie Even my son, who is really pretty sedate in his color choices likes a bit of red or bright blue in his clothes. As I thought about today's post, I wanted to be sure to include a note about crafting for men. Don't be afraid to add a small stripe of color. It just shows that you put some thought into what you made for them. As crafters we always strive to do our best for others but I think the rule of thumb my mom taught me was the best. Always give someone a gift that you would want to receive yourself.
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