Even the most cautious of crafters will, at some point, want to use more than one colour within a project. But how do you know whether your chosen shades will work together in the final piece? There are a few things that need to be considered before you hit the wool shop.
Colour theory
Most people are aware that the three primary colours are red, yellow, and blue. Secondary colours are those which are made by mixing two primary colours, for example, orange, green, and purple. However, we all know that there is a myriad of colours beyond these in the form of tertiary colours. These are made by blending a primary and secondary colour. Add in the effects of black and white and we now have a whole palette to choose from.
These modifying effects are known as hues, tints, tones and shades, and each has a specific ‘recipe’ to make them, such a shade being a colour with added black. These colours can be arranged on a colour wheel and from there, combinations can be selected. The Tate gallery has produced an interesting look at how artists use the colour wheel to select their paints.
Using the colour wheel
Looking at the colour wheel, a good starting place is to look for pairs of colours that are exactly opposite each other. These are known as complementary colours, but you may be surprised by some of the combinations, such as purple and yellow! You can also do the same for a wheel of tertiary colours. Need more than two colours for your design? You can simply lay a triangle, square and so forth over the colour wheel to pick out the desired number of complementary colours.
You can also factor in hues, tones, shades and tints. There are also the analogous colours, which are those adjacent to each other. Does all this sound a little too complicated? Why not simply purchase knitting kits from a specialist such as
https://www.woolcouturecompany.com/collections/knitting-kits and receive a set of colours picked out for you?
There is already so much to think about with knitting and crocheting to a pattern, that having to also select suitable colours for your project can be daunting. Avoid expensive mistakes and time consuming unravelling by purchasing a ready made knitting kit with beautiful colours already selected for you to enjoy crafting with.