Color Theory

There is an amazing amount of information and plenty of web tools available for color theory, but in knitting (and I'm sure many other things), one of the important aspects of mixing colors is whether the finished product is more of a blend of multiple colors, or whether the finished products shows distinct color blocks next to other color blocks.

The difference is whether you can successfully mix colors (without it getting muddy) or whether different colors work together in a compatible way

Magic of Koigu

Koigu, and a number of other variegated yarns work best for me when I do a combination of blending and joining.

What I mean is...if I were to do a fine-gauge Fair-Isle pattern with Koigu, it would blend the colors too much and not let individual colorways be distinct, but if I do a slip-stitch pattern or a striping/cabling type of pattern, the colors can remain distinct and still blend in the overlap.

A perfect example is the comparison of the two scarfs I'm making with Koigu.

You'll see in the Interlocking Crochet Scarf, the colors seem to stay separate and distinct and in the Koigu Cross Stitch Scarf (using the exact same colorways of Koigu), there is more of a blend going on.  So, with these two colorways...I like the blend and the mix...which do you prefer?

Then to totally confuse my theory, I show you a scarf that mixes lots of different colorways of Koigu using the Linen Stitch and it still looks fantastic.

I guess swatting is just as important for color work as it is for shaping!