Jane Wood pointed out this wonderful post on Ravelry about how to combine colors last week.
For many of us, we’re fine as long as the colors are picked for us as they are on painted canvases.
But move away from this and we’re afraid. We just don’t feel confident in how to pick colors that go together. It’s as if we want Granimals for threads so we just pick tags with all giraffes and they will go together.
Yes, the post is nominally about knitting, but the principles of color and color combinations work the same for needlepoint. For example try her advice on picking 3 or more of the same color to create a color scheme with three different threads in the same but not quote matching color. Could you make a needlepoint from that?
Pick three nearby colors to create an analogous scheme. That’s what I idd in this bellpull and it worked great. I became much more confident in using this color scheme.
Contrast can be more difficult to learn but ease yourself into it by using the cool/warm contrast in similar values.
Try these as simple ornaments such as my eight pointed stars (here and here) to let you create something useful quickly while trying out the combinations. Write down the ones you like for future projects.
Don’t neglect to read all the way to the end. There are some great suggestions for why a color scheme might be “off.”
About Janet M Perry
Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family
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