colour musings...part 1
I never tire of colour: observing, contemplating, mixing and remixing. And the fact that I get to work with colour every day fills me with excitement and happiness. Viola colours start with an idea and evolve in the dyepot to become the images and skeins you cast onto your needles. Our intention is that you continue the colour blending and mixing in your work and again as you use and wear the items you create. In this way, colour exploration can go on forever, and you may just find that your colours appear to change over time. Colour is alive, flowing, relational and unique to each of us. I love to think about the specific notes I can see in a colour and wonder what another set of eyeballs is picking up, it’s as personal as any other quality that makes us individuals and is utterly fascinating.
As we pack up your orders from last week’s shop update, I find myself once again swept into a contemplation of your colour selections and combinations. There is so much insight in each order and a beautiful reflection of each person at the other end of the computer screen. Thank you, as always for your support and especially for your inspiration. I LOVE to see our colours through your eyes!
Because I know it can be difficult to make selections through a screen, I’ve taken a moment today to gather some more avant garde colour combos from the update to illustrate a few helpful tips for making colour selections. Polwarth & Alpaca held double with Mohair is an undeniably magical yarn pairing (the texture and weight is a delight) and I’m here to say that your options for colour pairings are more broad than you may realize…keep on scrolling to join me on a little colour journey…
We often receive emails asking for advice in choosing combos of mohair and p&a and we LOVE to help you. I usually begin by sorting my favourite combos into categories:
Safe combos are of similar value, intensity and hue and are the easiest to choose whether you’re shopping in person or online. They’re kinda fool proof, no fuss, sure fire hits and there is nothing wrong with them of course.
and then I jump into the (I think) really interesting combos, exploring contrast in temperature, value and intensity. These may feel risky, but I hope I can help you by breaking down the ways I see and think about these more challenging colour pairings. I find these to be the most deep and interesting results. Here we go!
Here’s Cantaloupe p&a with Pollen mohair. This is the closest to a safe combo that I’m going to show you because these colours are both warm and close on the colour wheel. Cantaloupe has plenty of yellow in it and both have a greyish, drab cast over their bright base. Cantaloupe is mid-light saturation and Pollen is quite light. These two are going to be a very harmonious and easy pairing.
You might notice that the cool yellow of Pollen is pushing Cantaloupe to show some pink, which is pretty darn cool (or, should I say warm?)
next up, is Alto 2 with Pollen. These two are close in value but not temperature. You’ll notice that the subtle browns in both colours jump out and the delicate yellow of Pollen appears stronger against the cooler Alto 2. So that’s a value match and temperature contrast and I expect this combo will create a really nice glowing warm grey. You might be tempted to think of mixing paints (yellow + blue = green) but that’s not always the case with yarns, especially mohair, because their textures have a huge impact on the way we see their colours.
And I am really into this one, it’s Cacao and Pollen. Both are warm (but further apart on the colour wheel than the cantaloupe and pollen pairing) but this time there is a big contrast in value. Cacao is deep and rich and causes the light, bright areas in Pollen to really come forward. Cacao has plenty of soft pinkish red under all that rich brown and I think the pink really comes forward in this combo.
Knit up, you’ll see a marled effect from the value contrast and, I expect, the Pollen will add a glowing warm cast to that rich Cacao. Another interesting point to keep in mind is that the dark colour will not necessarily overpower the light colour, as you may be tempted to believe. If anything, Pollen will dominate this combo and could even dull the rich, silky quality of Cacao. But there’s only one way to find out ;)
Here is a really complex pairing. Shell and Pollen. Shell is distinctly in the middle of everything; not dark or light, warm or cool or any colour in particular. It’s also the most variegated option I’m showing you. Right away Pollen pulls out all the warm neutrals from that skein of Shell, and those hints of blue brighten at the same time. Against that bright skein of Pollen, Shell looks extra murky and moody and its variegation will add lots of depth and movement to this mix. I anticipate a real chameleon knit coming out of this pairing; one that will shift with light, setting and the rest of your outfit.
that’s all for now, I’ll be back tomorrow with more colours and thoughts!