What? Another giveaway??
Of course! And this one is all about colorwork from the Queen of Colors herself, Kristin Nicholas!
I personally had a chance to ask Kristin a question which was: “My question is this. Do you have a favorite color scheme, and if so, how do you break out of it? For example, my colors run with the colors of nature and the seasons, and I seem to be stuck in that rut. It’s not that I don’t like other colors, but that’s just what “calls” to me”.
And her answer was this, “I do have favorite color schemes but because I design for publications, I cannot let my personal likes totally dominate my work. My likes tend towards spicy color combinations of oranges, reds, chartreuses, fuschia, purple and espresso but I’m always changing it up a bit. When I plan a big project like a book, I always try to have projects that run the gamut of colors so that there is something for everyone
I find working with color to be the most satisfying, challenging, interesting and fun part of being a knitwear designer. Every project I design is a bit different. Like you, many times I am inspired by nature or by paintings or artwork. But I can easily be just as inspired by seeing a bunch of balls of yarn fall on the floor and make their own color combination.
Lots of times I try to challenge myself – take a color that I wouldn’t usually use and have it be the base color in a project. Then I combine it with some other shades in my yarn basket and I see where it takes me. I’m lucky that I have my own yarn named Julia (after my daughter) that I designed the colors for. Not all of them are my favorites but it is a balanced collection with something for everyone.
Often when I teach a class, I suggest to the knitters that they buy one skein each of an entire line of yarn. Then they should start swatching with it and working with the colors to see how they can combine them. Usually a line of yarn is “colored” by one person with an unique color vision and my experience is that the colors within the line will work together nicely. It can be an expensive way to start but it is one way to really start getting better with working with color and feeling more confident.
The most important part of my design work is swatching. I cannot overstate this too much. Working out a color combination on a swatch is where it all happens. My studio is full of bags of swatches that I have knit over the years. It is good to keep them because I refer back to them often for other ideas.
Kristin’s Blog: http://getting-stitched-on-the-farm.blogspot.com/ and Kristin’s Shop: http://kristinnicholas.com/shop.htm
Here’s the deets…… leave me a comment telling me about your own adventures in colorwork, no matter what kind, even if it’s only 2 different colors. If you don’t want to wait for the contest to end, you can get your own copy here: http://www.sixthandspringbooks.com/pressroom.php
Hurry, contest ends Friday, Feb 26!
I’ve dabbled in colorwork – a Christmas stocking for my baby son, a sweater for myself, a tea cozy here and there – but I’ve never mastered it like Kristen has and would love to learn more from her book.
I love color and I think that’s what draws me to knitting. You can get in and really play with colors with very little risk! My next adventure in color is to learn to spin. I think it might be fun to try some of these patterns in hand spun yarn.
When I am at a lack for a fresh color palette, I go walk around Target. There are so many differnt places there to see color at work. From the throw rugs, to packages. It always gives me a new place to start.
This looks like a wonderful book to get the inspiration I need to jumping into color knitting. So far it’s limited to Noro who does the work for me.
I have followed Kristin’s blog for some time and love her use of color. My own combinations have been limited to Fair Isle and some striping. I’d love to win her book.
I have only done colorwork two. Both were Fair Isle. I took 2 classes, we made a hat in the first class and a Christmas Stocking.
The hat use 4 colors and the stocking used 5 colors. I enjoyed both classes.
I love color in my knitting! I am knitting a swatch for my first Fair Isle attempt, the Oregon Cardigan by Alice Starmore. Eeks, Steeks!
Well, I am a quilter and crocheter so although I also tend to like nature colors, I will use whatever it takes to make the quilt I am working on “right” for the person who will receive it. I am not too fond of pinks or pastels. However, Kristen’s works are so beautiful with all the colors she uses together that I am sure learning to expand my preferences somewhat.
i sure do love color. i have no favorite. its hard for me to pick out yarns without wanting every color there. i know many don’t do my colors,so i have to be careful. but if its for me. Yippppeee!!! off i go.
Would love to win this amazing book. It has something for everyone.
I love color, but mostly use stripes (or self-striping yarn) to accomplish this. It would be great to learn something new.
I love color work especially fair isle. But the one time I tried it i had a hard time keeping it from puckering. I would love to have a copy of the book. I adore color and need the inspiration to try again.
I love purple and green together. I’m currently working up all of my leftover yarn into hats to donate. Lots of color work and great combinations there lol!
I love color work! My favorites are Scandinavian knits.
My latest interest is working with ombres and self-striping yarns of all colors. They’re very technique-friendly!