Henderson - Crochet Crochet with Color

How you use color will determine the look of your project, and the feeling the colors evoke. Color has very strong psychological impact and there have been several studies about the effect color has on people. As a crochet artist it is good to know the rules, but feel free to break them. Some of the prettiest projects Ive seen use all sorts of colors ignoring all of the traditional color scheme rules. Use the information in this section as guidelines, but dont be afraid to experiment and combine whatever colors you like.

Contrasting Color Scheme

A contrasting color scheme uses colors on the opposite side of the color wheel. If you look at the color wheel you will see that red is opposite of green, orange is opposite of blue, and yellow is opposite of violet and are known as contrasting colors. You can also use secondary and tertiary colors to compliment your main color selections. When paired with black or navy blue, contrasting color schemes are especially bright and vibrant.

Analogous Color Scheme

An analogous color scheme uses colors right next to one another on the color wheel. Usually the colors are in the same color family such as green, green blue, and blue. You can also use different shades of these colors to create a very pretty and rich looking project. One option is to use analogous colors as a gradient going from light to dark, or dark to light. This effect can be really stunning in a project if the light color is very light and the dark color is very dark.

Triadic Color Scheme

A triadic color scheme uses colors which form a triangle on the color wheel. If you look at the color wheel in the image above you will see an example of a triadic color scheme would be orange, green, and violet. Another example would be the main primary colors of red, blue, and yellow.

Tetradic Color Scheme

The tetradic, or rectangular, color scheme uses two sets of contrasting colors for a very vibrant color combination. For example, orange and blue paired with violet and yellow. If you connect these colors with lines, they form a rectangle. When using a tetradic color scheme it is a good idea to choose one color as the dominate color and be aware of the combination of cool and warm colors if you want a particular color temperature in your project.

The information I shared in this chapter should be seen as guidelines. Color choice is very personal, so dont feel bound by the different explanations of color schemes and color families. If you like a color theme, use it. That being said, here are some tips for choosing the right colors for your projects.

• Decide if you want a color scheme which is soothing or vibrant. This will help you choose colors which either contrast each other, or are from the same color family.
• Do you want your colors to be cool or warm? Cool colors have more blue in them while warm colors tend to have more orange or yellow. For example, violet red is a cool color, while red orange is a warm color.
• Choose a neutral color to compliment the color scheme. Neutrals include white, black, gray, and sometimes brown.
• Look to nature for inspiration. What are the colors in your favorite flower? Is there a landscape you are fond of? Inspiration can be found in many places so keep your eye out for any color combinations which speak to you.
• Choose colors which make you happy. In the end your color choices are your own, so use the colors you like and that make you happy with your project. Be bold and daringthrow the rules out the window and experiment!

Using color in crochet is fun, and it is very easy. There are no hard techniques to learn, and if you know the basic color changing techniques you will be on your way to learning more advanced techniques well cover in a later chapter.

In this chapter well go over the way to change colors at the beginning of a row, how to carry colors up a row or a round of crochet, and how to change colors in the middle of a row or round.