I often get asked where my inspiration for color combinations comes from. My answer? It comes from everywhere! Everything has potential. Nature, food, even my children’s clothing and toys often strike me as, dare I say, beautiful. But how do you go from something ordinary to fiber art? All you need is an objective eye and a little imagination.
Lets take a journey, shall we?
My oldest daughter loves butterflies. Her room is stenciled with them and there are framed Anne Geddes Baby Butterflies hanging on the wall. Ironically she doesn’t like any other bugs, but that is a whole other story. Recently on a trip up to the Mackinac Bridge, we stopped at an observation point for pictures. They had a lovely garden area, which was full of none other than Monarch butterflies. She was in heaven. I, on the other hand, was snapping tons of pictures, trying to capture their beauty, all the while thinking of color matching in my head. Lucky for me, an artist friend of mine has already perfected this colorway, so I can use hers as an example.
This first image is no doubt beautiful. I’m shocked that it was actually taken by me - with my camera! It does a great job of capturing the depth of the Monarch’s true color, which contrary to popular belief, is more than just orange and black. If you look closely, you can see that yes, there is orange. There is also white, black, some orangish tan as well as a pale orange. (Depending on the picture, you can get more colors, but this should suffice for a basic palette.)
A good knowledge of your dyes and patience comes in handy at this point. Trial and error of testing your colors will help you match the colors you’re looking for. I personally keep swatches and recipes so that I don’t have to start from scratch every time I am looking for a specific color, and each artist has his or her own way of formulating color. Once you’re done choosing the actual colors, apply them to the yarn, and voila! You have your Monarch butterfly captured.
That is a great example of something that already has color depth. The butterfly has done the work for you - all you have to do is match the colors, add it to the yarn, and you’re done. Ok, so its not quite that easy, but what if you only have two colors to work with? Or even just one? That is where things get a little more tricky. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes less really is more, and depending on the color combination, one or two colors may be all you really need. Sometimes though, its not and you need to add a little to get a whole lot more.
Think, for example, of cherries. My husband and daughter love sweet cherries in the summer, but most cherries are just some form of red or pink, right? So how do I make a pleasing palette from red? Here is how I did it. I took the red from the cherry, added a variation shade, added some brown (cherries have stems don’t they?) and I can now knit cherries for my family.
It really isn’t rocket science. Anyone can be inspired by anything at all. Here are some other examples of things I’ve been “inspired” by.
