Color Inspiration

People often ask me how I come up with all of my color combinations. They want to know whether I'm just naturally good with color or whether I copy color schemes I see elsewhere. The answer is both--I am pretty good with color, but I'm also always looking for color combinations that appeal to me. I see sweater patterns everywhere--in paintings, rugs, and upholstery; in display signs, product labels, and graphic advertisements; in other peoples' clothes; and so on. I carry a camera with me almost all the time, so I can take a quick picture of color schemes that are worth following up on.

I often find clever color arrangements on note cards, which already reflect an artist's eye. Below are two note cards I really like with colors that I'm planning to borrow.

These colors are actually quite similar to another sweater I'm just finishing (preview to come soon!), but that sweater doesn't have any red. I'm hoping that by playing up the red and aqua/turquoise and downplaying the brown, the two sweaters won't look wholly identical.

After I took the picture of the yarns, I realized that I'd forgotten the blue-green in the background. I'm not sure I have a yarn that will match that color, but I'll hunt around. Or maybe I like the colors well enough with out it. I don't have that yellow-green color in some of the smaller leaves, but I think the butter yellow will be good enough.

I'm excited about both--stay tuned to follow my progress!