You are absolutely right that color is a universe all of its own and you can spend a life time just studying how colors interact and are perceived in various combinations and applications. I will mention some color fundamentals below that may help. To learn a good deal more about color theory and its application I suggest reading about the color studies done by artist Josef Albers who was married to weaver Anni Albers. Some of his exercises in color will fundamentally change how you see things where color is concerned. Just a few things to consider when selecting colors: visually, cool colors recede while warm colors advance. Add to this that dark values of color also recede visually while light values of color come forward. So with just those two factors you can play with the balance between cool/warm/dark/light endlessly. Now add to the mix that colors impact one another visually along their boarders when placed against one another or even near other blocks or spots of color in a sort of visual call and response. This can evoke a harmonious visual connection or a combative one which is often interpreted as that pop or zing of color. Proportion of specific colors as well as clarity or intensity also play a big role in the overall color impact. One helpful way to make color selections is through specific visual references. For reference I use tear outs from magazines, postcards of art works as well as having several dedicated Pinterest boards of images of color combinations/relationships I find interesting and/or out of my comfort zone to push my own boundaries. Sometimes it is just a section of an advertisement that has an interesting color blocking or color transition that I can use as a guide for selecting and combing colors. As good as our ideas can be in our heads, a direct visual reference is a huge aid. Also never underestimate making windings of yarns on a length of cardboard of a stripe combination. Just holding several balls of yarn together to see if they work won’t give you a full picture because when you break it down to proportions of each color the game changes completely. And the time invested in doing some windings beats unraveling hours and hours of knitting if the color combo doesn’t suit. All of that said about color and light when we select yarn for making our fabrics, the monkey wrench in receding and advancing colors comes into play in how things work spatially vs. in objects off of which light reflects. In observing the horizon where earth and sky meet the lightest area is the furthest from us and intensifying in saturation of color and value as the land and sky get closer to our view point. A dark room feels more closed in or advancing to us visually where as a light colored room is more spacious in feel or visually receding. So being in a color/light space vs. looking at color/light in an object has different rules. Laws of nature. Go figure. Knowing this still has application to the things we knit. Hopefully these bits about color are helpful and will add to more fun with color for you.
I can't decide how to use certain colors I've selected in a blanket, so I was delighted by this video discussing color in that way. I need to try the Keisarin Morsian socks. Thank you
It isn't knitting but Trish Burr has a book on colour. Its called colour confidence in embroidery. She does a lot of comparison of colours next to each other.
You have just made a penny drop in my head! I've got some recycled yarn from a Scandinavian country (I think Sweden) and that has that soft drapey feel to it that you've described. It's lovely stuff isn't it? I have only used it to sew up blanket squares for a gifted blanket, so I have no idea how it will work out in a garment or how it will wear, but it's going to be interesting to find out! I also have a colour card from the online fibre retailer Hilltop Cloud which is worth buying. It is a grid of colours with an overlay which shows you which shades go together and which contrast with one another. A great little tool. It's called a Wedding Color Grid. She only carries the Brighter shades version, but I've had so much fun with mine. Katie is based in Wales, so you might find one of these cards (and possibly the non-bright one!) in the US.
Color is an unfathomable mystery to me. It occasionally makes me question my sanity because it does wild things to my brain like getting me "high" during visits to art galleries. Color is a drug. My mom told me when she was pregnant the color of her kitchen walls made her sick. I absolutely love experiencing colors. I don't think I'll ever understand how they work.
love color stuff! mostly i just use the ones i like [cool colors, and maybe some brick red], and things mostly turn out fine. using a variegated yarn instead of having infinity ends to weave in is so helpful. Melissa--mel makes stuff-- has a couple of very good episodes abt colorwork, and she has done plenty of it. in one ep, she shows some swatches of one fair isle pattern, same colors, but arranged differently--very instructive! i've never really gotten the 'dominance' thing; i switch between my hands to keep the tension even, seems to work fine. also, your new [?] haircut looks very sharp :-) .
I love color, and I’m good at putting colors together, but can’t explain how I do it 😂. For example with your granny squares, I also like the colors of the smaller one better and I know it’s because of the pop of the pink/purple/berry. But is it because it adds contrast, or that I just prefer those colors? I don’t know. I think the best thing is to do exactly what you’re doing and play around with it. Thanks for another interesting and fun video!
🙋🏼♀️I’m legally blind. Color is the only thing I see clearly. I have myosin experiences with color, but could never distill them in a comment. You do too…but are now discovering it’s magic 💗💗
So I'm probably better with color than words. So if something doesn't make sense, please tell me and I'll try to clarify because I do want to help. The pinned comment is great. I wanted to add that most colors are actually made up of a lot of different colors. You probably can't see them but they still effect things. So if you put two colors together that have the same or similar colors mixed to get that color they "play" together in ways like your shrug. The more similar your "undercolors" are the more the colors will harmonize and the more different the more bold and reactive they will be together. I hope that makes sense. You might like watching some of yarn dying videos like arcane fibers where the dyer explains why he adds certain colors and what the dye colors do when they interact.
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
You are absolutely right that color is a universe all of its own and you can spend a life time just studying how colors interact and are perceived in various combinations and applications.
I will mention some color fundamentals below that may help. To learn a good deal more about color theory and its application I suggest reading about the color studies done by artist Josef Albers who was married to weaver Anni Albers. Some of his exercises in color will fundamentally change how you see things where color is concerned.
Just a few things to consider when selecting colors: visually, cool colors recede while warm colors advance. Add to this that dark values of color also recede visually while light values of color come forward. So with just those two factors you can play with the balance between cool/warm/dark/light endlessly. Now add to the mix that colors impact one another visually along their boarders when placed against one another or even near other blocks or spots of color in a sort of visual call and response. This can evoke a harmonious visual connection or a combative one which is often interpreted as that pop or zing of color. Proportion of specific colors as well as clarity or intensity also play a big role in the overall color impact.
One helpful way to make color selections is through specific visual references. For reference I use tear outs from magazines, postcards of art works as well as having several dedicated Pinterest boards of images of color combinations/relationships I find interesting and/or out of my comfort zone to push my own boundaries. Sometimes it is just a section of an advertisement that has an interesting color blocking or color transition that I can use as a guide for selecting and combing colors. As good as our ideas can be in our heads, a direct visual reference is a huge aid. Also never underestimate making windings of yarns on a length of cardboard of a stripe combination. Just holding several balls of yarn together to see if they work won’t give you a full picture because when you break it down to proportions of each color the game changes completely. And the time invested in doing some windings beats unraveling hours and hours of knitting if the color combo doesn’t suit.
All of that said about color and light when we select yarn for making our fabrics, the monkey wrench in receding and advancing colors comes into play in how things work spatially vs. in objects off of which light reflects. In observing the horizon where earth and sky meet the lightest area is the furthest from us and intensifying in saturation of color and value as the land and sky get closer to our view point. A dark room feels more closed in or advancing to us visually where as a light colored room is more spacious in feel or visually receding. So being in a color/light space vs. looking at color/light in an object has different rules. Laws of nature. Go figure. Knowing this still has application to the things we knit.
Hopefully these bits about color are helpful and will add to more fun with color for you.
19:44 “when things defy expectations, …either get excited or confused” - So True!! In more than just yarn/knitting!
I can't decide how to use certain colors I've selected in a blanket, so I was delighted by this video discussing color in that way. I need to try the Keisarin Morsian socks. Thank you
It isn't knitting but Trish Burr has a book on colour. Its called colour confidence in embroidery. She does a lot of comparison of colours next to each other.
I'll check it out, thanks!!
You have just made a penny drop in my head! I've got some recycled yarn from a Scandinavian country (I think Sweden) and that has that soft drapey feel to it that you've described. It's lovely stuff isn't it? I have only used it to sew up blanket squares for a gifted blanket, so I have no idea how it will work out in a garment or how it will wear, but it's going to be interesting to find out!
I also have a colour card from the online fibre retailer Hilltop Cloud which is worth buying. It is a grid of colours with an overlay which shows you which shades go together and which contrast with one another. A great little tool. It's called a Wedding Color Grid. She only carries the Brighter shades version, but I've had so much fun with mine. Katie is based in Wales, so you might find one of these cards (and possibly the non-bright one!) in the US.
Color is an unfathomable mystery to me. It occasionally makes me question my sanity because it does wild things to my brain like getting me "high" during visits to art galleries. Color is a drug. My mom told me when she was pregnant the color of her kitchen walls made her sick. I absolutely love experiencing colors. I don't think I'll ever understand how they work.
love color stuff! mostly i just use the ones i like [cool colors, and maybe some brick red], and things mostly turn out fine. using a variegated yarn instead of having infinity ends to weave in is so helpful. Melissa--mel makes stuff-- has a couple of very good episodes abt colorwork, and she has done plenty of it. in one ep, she shows some swatches of one fair isle pattern, same colors, but arranged differently--very instructive! i've never really gotten the 'dominance' thing; i switch between my hands to keep the tension even, seems to work fine. also, your new [?] haircut looks very sharp :-) .
I love color, and I’m good at putting colors together, but can’t explain how I do it 😂. For example with your granny squares, I also like the colors of the smaller one better and I know it’s because of the pop of the pink/purple/berry. But is it because it adds contrast, or that I just prefer those colors? I don’t know.
I think the best thing is to do exactly what you’re doing and play around with it. Thanks for another interesting and fun video!
Your volume seems kinda low, thanks for another great episode❤️🧶❤️
You love the 'art' of it - spun bats
🙋🏼♀️I’m legally blind. Color is the only thing I see clearly. I have myosin experiences with color, but could never distill them in a comment. You do too…but are now discovering it’s magic 💗💗
Color is the ONLY thing to me. If I love it, YAY, if not, I just see if I can tolerate it🤷🏼♀️
So I'm probably better with color than words. So if something doesn't make sense, please tell me and I'll try to clarify because I do want to help. The pinned comment is great. I wanted to add that most colors are actually made up of a lot of different colors. You probably can't see them but they still effect things. So if you put two colors together that have the same or similar colors mixed to get that color they "play" together in ways like your shrug. The more similar your "undercolors" are the more the colors will harmonize and the more different the more bold and reactive they will be together. I hope that makes sense. You might like watching some of yarn dying videos like arcane fibers where the dyer explains why he adds certain colors and what the dye colors do when they interact.
Practice balancing values, (dark and light), then you can assign your colors as values instead hues.