My Very Own Fair Isle Swatches

re: My Very Own Fair Isle Swatches

Nan — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 00:51:54 GMT

I did a science experiment in grade school about color and their opposites. If you place a color in the middle of a sheet of white paper and stare at it for 30 seconds, then look at a BLANK sheet of white paper for 10 seconds, you will SEE the opposite of the color that was on the first white sheet. It is amazing what our eyes can do!

re: My Very Own Fair Isle Swatches

Marimi — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:06:10 GMT

It is very interesting to see how a same chart can reflects so differents ambiance (not sure about the term sorry i'm french) the first one make me think of winter, and the second of fall, why not making some allseasoned item with those, it can be quilt alike,

by the way like the motif

re: My Very Own Fair Isle Swatches

JennieV — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:31:31 GMT

Sandi, this is the first time I've even heard an analysis of how colors are chosen for a FI pattern. I'm loving it! I hope there are several more installments. I'd love to design my own FI, but even before that, choose colors of my own for, for example, Venezia and other stranded patterns.

This is wonderful! Thanks!

-Jennie

re: My Very Own Fair Isle Swatches

SueH — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 18:38:52 GMT

Venezia sweater: On my monitor the sweater has greenish-gold bands. I'm guessing it's the pattern, not the monitor...if so, I think it would be much more attreactive without them. Nothing like horizontal stripes to make us look broader! And I also think a band going across the boobs is very unattractive. Basic pattern is lovely.

Sue H.

re: My Very Own Fair Isle Swatches

TriciaS — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:21:56 GMT

Sandi, what software program did you use to do your charts in? Is is a design program like Illustrator? Also, I think one of the reasons Fair Isle seem to glow, is that many times there are intermittent stitches of white or a much lighter color, which interjects light into the pattern, therefore the "glow".

re: My Very Own Fair Isle Swatches

CeliaG — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:45:45 GMT

Thank you, Sandi, for relating your Fair Isle color journey! I'll have to take a look at Deb Menz's book since I already know about primary, secondary and complementary colors -- but that's about as far as I've learned with color combinations. I was a math/science major in school and didn't have many spare electives for choosing art courses. I also live out in the sticks, so taking classes requires more road time than class time. I may take the same path you just did for my own benefit!! I ALSO have a huge yarn stash...is there a knitter who doesn't? Thanks for focusing on color and providing another option for studying it!

re: My Very Own Fair Isle Swatches

terrye — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:18:16 GMT

I'm going to try this technique tonight, Sandy.

I learned from quilting to do the black and white thing to figure out dark, medium and lights.

This sounds WAY more fun!!

Terrye

Knitting Editor

knitting.craftgossip.com

re: My Very Own Fair Isle Swatches

SandyW — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:46:26 GMT

Orange/gold is the true complement of blu (depending on the hue) and any complement makes each color appear cleaner. and brighter. Complement of yellow is purple, complement of red is green. Choose a color, any color and then choose the color opposite that first color and you have its complelment. A simple color wheen from a craft store will help tremendoustly when choosing the color that will look great with no mistakes. I am an artist. I study color all the time. Hope this helps. Sandy

re: My Very Own Fair Isle Swatches

RachelS — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:42:15 GMT

Joining you in this adventure of color work has been fun and enlightening! Thank you for sharing your experience.

re: My Very Own Fair Isle Swatches

Debbie@8 — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 05:59:02 GMT

I have found my best color combinations are those I draw from nature. Dark greens and brown---think pine tree; light greens with yellows--think the colors of spring; greys, whites, and blues--think snowscape. And who would have thought of putting together all those colors of the fall? Try looking around you....and think, if it works in nature, it will work in a sweater. Maybe they work because they are familar or maybe like my husbands favorite winter sweater done in the colors of the beach....blues/greens and tan.....they remind him on cold days that a trip to the beach won't be long in coming.

Debbie

re: My Very Own Fair Isle Swatches

ElaineO — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 03:37:22 GMT

Thanks Knitting Daily, for helping me be a better knitter.

After I post this I'm going to order myself a Fearless Knitter T-shirt!

I recently finished a sweater for myself (first one in a long time), the Wanderlust Hoodie from Interweave Knits fall 2006; made from wool and alpaca yarn that I dyed with black walnut hulls. At my mother-in-laws suggestion, I entered it in the Colorado State Fair creative arts competition and won 1st place. Woo-hoo for me!!

I'd like to encourage everyone to enter these contests, they are a lot of fun and if we don't start getting some new people and ideas, they might just cease to exist.

re: My Very Own Fair Isle Swatches

ElaineO — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 03:23:54 GMT

This is excellent info on color - why are we all so scared of something that should be simple but isn't. Maybe its like being in the toilet paper aisle in the grocery - just too many choices. I usually stick with a single color and lots of texture, but I'm getting more fearless thanks to Knitting Daily - you're the little voice in my head encouraging me.

re: My Very Own Fair Isle Swatches

HelenJ — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 22:35:28 GMT

Thankyou, thankyou, and once again, thankyou Sandy for this wonderful incite. It's right up my street, as I have been trying for ages to figure out the colour-combo thing. In the yoke cardigan I'm working on (ok, it's put away for the summer, while I finish some other UFOs) - I had got half-way there, choosing 2 purples and 2 gold/oranges, and stayed with just these 4 colours.

I'm fairly pleased with how it looks.

I also thought about the harmonious effects of choosing colour combos that occur in nature, especially as I'm drawn to natural greens more than any other colour. There are no flowers that clash unpleasantly with their leaves, are there? And flowers come in almost any shade.

We can also use any motivic shape with any colour, but the ones that look best (to me, at any rate) are those that suggest some connection or relationship in the memory of natural beauty. Organic, I guess I'd call it...

re: My Very Own Fair Isle Swatches

SandraCorp — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 22:22:53 GMT

Hi, I don't normally join in these comments but I just can't help myself. Uh, not to be rude, but it's "complement" not

"compliment." Also, the "complement" of blue is yellow-red (known as orange). Look at a color wheel with only the 6 primary colors and you'll see -- the complement of any color is its exact opposite on the color wheel. You can learn a lot about color with an inexpensive primary color paint set. Mix a color with its complement in equal parts and you obtain gray. Or, in the case of purple and yellow, a sort of mud-gray-taupe. Painters mix smaller amounts of the complement with a color to mute the tone. If you place a pure primary color next to its pure complement, they vibrate or seem to move forward or back. That's why they use red and green on some of those eye tests at the DMV. Try it, especially with red and green. Many people really don't like the look of complementary colors used next to each other. However, sometimes the vibration makes the fabric interesting. There is a lot more to know about color than the length of this space allows -- the college course I took on it (called simply "Color") lasted an entire semester and we didn't even scratch the surface. Anyway, I hope this helps someone.

re: My Very Own Fair Isle Swatches

MarthaL@2 — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:54:01 GMT

I'm having my own adventures with color. I'm calling it Skeinology - the study and art of reading a skein of yarn. The study includes yarn I've dyed, and I'm swatching to see where the colors end up. It really is iteresting to see how knitting in the round vs. flat changes how the colors appear.

Thanks for your input, I think this is the most challenging aspect of knitting for me, and the most exciting -- sometimes you just don't know what you are going to get!

Martha