Combining Colours

I’m not a trained artist or designer and when choosing colour combinations all I have to work with is curiosity, a wee bit of bravery and the small amount of knowledge I acquired during primary and secondary school art lessons. The yarns I use for my projects are usually either oddments or reclaimed from unwanted hand knits I've acquired from here and there so the range of colours available to me is constantly changing. When choosing the colours for a project I follow a really simple rule of thumb which seems to work well.

In the colour wheel below, choose one colour then notice the two colours which appear on either side.

e.g.

GREN BLU E PUE

or

RED   ONGE Y OW

You can introduce as many yarns as you like as long as they're shades of the three main colours. This guide also works well with schemes of just two colours so don't be afraid to try things out.
Blacks whites and greys can be combined for a smart monochrome effect and a combination of earthy tones produces a pleasing result.

BLACK WHITE GREY




Its possible to lift 'boring' browns by combining with
reds and cream and for a little extra zing add some
turquoise or gold.

I've used this colour scheme for my most
recent afghan design project which as you
can see from the picture is surprisingly effective.