Building colour confidence
If you aren’t brave enough, skilled enough or lack the time to design your own fabulous creations, the easiest way to put your own creative spirit into a piece is with colour.
Many people, in my experience of running a yarn shop, are scared of choosing their own colour schemes, one of the reasons kits are an attractive option for many. Making a kit however, means you are making the same as everyone else, not really a unique piece that is a reflection of your creative spirit.
I want to encourage people to be brave and rather than choosing safe options look at making pieces that are unique to them by the selection of colour.
For this example I am using the very talented work of Shelley Husband. These are the first two squares in her book Granny Square Flair
The Granny Squares in the book I selected are called Deco p22 and Camillia p23. With three colours yellow, yellow-orange and linen the squares are nice enough, although somewhat flat and boring. But by adding a fourth colour of yellow-green they really pop!
When looking at a colour wheel, what you will notice is that the yellow-orange, yellow and yellow-green are adjacent to each other. This is what is called an Analogous Colourway. Analogous colour ways give a sense of balance and harmony and are often used by interior designers in room design. The linen is a neutral. Neutrals are earth tones, blacks, whites and greys. Although sometimes said to be non-colours they do have undertones. They make a great canvas for other colours to work against.
That is not the only thing at play, in the colours I selected. It’s also important to look at the
proportion of colours. Yellow and the yellow-green are more dominant colours to the yellow-orange and beige I selected. So I was more sparse in their use in the squares to balance the palette.
Granny Squares, small and fast to make, are a great way to train your eye for colour and build your confidence.
When in store you are very welcome to spread the yarn out on the floor or use the table. I’m happy to offer my opinion on colour, but as everyone has different tastes I will not be offended if you decided to not take my opinion! I can be a bit out there for some and it’s your piece and should be a reflection of your personality.
Why not book into my next colour confidence Class? I plan to run this class three times a year. Email me to go on the waiting list.