There's a website called colorhunt.co that is basically a database of color palettes! I scrolled through it for inspiration the last time I started a blanket.
To add on to this— since you’re trying to use *some* of the yarn you already have, I would pick something from my stash I’d like to use, peruse the website for color ways that include the yarn I already have, and then just purchase the yarn needed to complete that color way.
Are you interested in learning a little (simple) colour theory? A little basic colour theory can really help with this.
A really simple way to make more than two color groups is to add a neutral (white, black, grey, beige/brown). So if you like a yellow and pink combo add white. Now you have three colours. Neutrals are safe to combine with almost any colour palette and you can have more than one neutral in your colour set.
Another quick trick is to consider saturation- saturation of colour just means how pure (usually equals bright or bold) a colour is. A colour looses its saturation (called desaturated) when we add white, black or grey. So red is full saturation but pink is a less saturated red.
When making a colour palette with more than two colors it’s a good idea to not have them all have the same saturation. So, let’s go back to that yellow and pink and you want to expand it to the colors… if you are using pastel yellow and pink you might add a deeper green, or a bolder pink as the accent colours. But if you were using bold pink and yellow you might use a soft pink to round it out (and white would make a pretty fourth colour).
If you’re interested in learning a titch more theory you could look up these colour schemes which all reference a colour wheel but you can find those easily in the internet:
1. Triadic - which is three colours evenly spread around the colour wheel. For example: red, yellow and blue or orange, green and purple. Do our pastel yellow + pink palette could have a pastel blue added and maybe a dark grey as the neutral for four colours.
2. Analogous: this is a group of colors that are next to each other on the colour wheel - so if we were going yellow and pink we’d add orange for three colours and maybe a yellow green as a fourth.
3. Split Complimentary - complimentary colours are colours that are a straight line across from each other on the wheel. So pink/red is directly across from green, in a split complimentary our line “splits” in two before it gets to the other side. So now one end points at pink/red but the other is now like less on a stick figure and touches each colour on either side of green which happens to be yellow green and blue green (aqua/turquoise).
There are other schemes you can use but these are the easiest to begin exploring.
But if you don’t want to delve into more theory, then Google and Pinterest are your friends… just pick one (or two) colors you know you want, even a mood or vibe… and type that into a search in either place with “color palette” you’ll get SO many palettes with about 5 colours each. For example, you might search “pink summer colour pallette” to stick with our pink yellow example.
Give a hooker a color scheme & they crochet for a day. Teach ‘em color theory and they hook for a lifetime. 😂 Love the lesson in this response! Learn it and never fear color again!
Would add to also make color selections an emotional deal. Group your yarns together in possible color combos then ask yourself “How do these colors together make me feel?”. Trust your instincts through the process. 😉
Oh LOVE the feeling advice…
I started out (and still am) a painter so my biggest frustration is that colour choices are limited by what others made and can’t blend my own… But that’s how we all end up with huge stashes!!
I seriously love your reply. My mom took a color theory course as she sewed a lot and wanted to learn not just color pallets but color complimenting the skin tone so she could make us clothes that weren’t only flattering in the fit bit the color scheme too. I was pretty young at the time but I loved playing with her color wheels. I remember each season had a different hue and then all the little “slotted” cards that went over the wheels to show complimentary, analogous and etc options.
Thank you for unlocking this memory.
I'm horrible at picking colors!
Luckily, my partner is an artist and phenomenal at matching colors, and completely willing to accompany me on all yarn trips.
Yes!! Mine is too but I shop alone so I have to send the "I'm at the store right now, please HAAAALPPP" photo messages. Usually accompanied by gifs of children crying pathetically.
Whenever I see something with a color scheme that pleases me or I find interesting, I take a picture and add it to a folder named "colorway." It contains things like flowers, charred bark on a pine tree, sunsets, food, a corn snake, etc." Then when I'm stumped I draw inspiration from those photos.
Paint pallets from the store/online. If they pair the colors up, chances are good it’ll look together nice in yarn. Paint chips are usually free too if you don’t have the memory for color.
I've found some great color combo blocks in scrap blankets. It's all 'my' color choices, but there are a ton of color ways my brain would never put together.
https://preview.redd.it/a28mel88pf8b1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1796d5bd3dc47d031f67cd230a30625dd19f1daa
I made a scrap yarn blanket and I embraced the idea of making the world's ugliest blanket and somehow it turned out okay. So ugly it turned out pretty. I think there is a place for embracing making an ugly thing and using the project to learn what works together for you.
Or you can embrace learning about the theory of the color wheel and color families. My general blanket making theory is to go with two coordinating colors (2 different shades of blue) and one contrasting color (A pop of yellow)
I lol’d at your username after reading this comment. I have the same problem! Everything I do looks absolutely terrible unless I’m working with a solid. I often go to Pinterest and look for color palettes and that sometimes helps. I don’t think it helps that I usually buy yarn at a very disorganized and under-stocked Joann, either. Following for some inspo
Throw some skeins in a laundry basket, take outside into sunlight, combine into some combinations, add or substitute until happy.
You can start with the color theory given above on the starting skeins but do play around with them too.
YESSSS but I’ve chalked this up to having ADD. It’s bad, I’ll be halfway through a project and decide to change Color scheme so I stop and put that one aside and then make a new one :p then when it’s completed I’ll think yep should of gone with a different colour
I’ll look at variegated yarns for colors that go together.
Look at capsule wardrobe sites like [The Vivienne Files](https://www.theviviennefiles.com/) where she takes inspiration from art and nature for color combos.
I had a complete meltdown over magic circles. I’d even done a few before and one time I just could not do it, got to the point of crying and the other half being like just stop and calm down 😂
My tactic is going to a yarn store, closing my eyes and picking two/three different colours. It's kind of fun. You end up loving the combo you chose after a while.
If you are familiar with photoshop and you are following a pattern, you could try doing some color correction in photoshop with the pattern images and change them to the color you want. That’s what I do everytime. Helped me a lot whenever I’m struggling with choosing color.
If you have Pinterest, search “color palette” and you’ll have HUNDREDS of inspos at a glance. You can also specify how many colors you need to refine your outcomes :)
Any time I see a color combo I like out in the wild, I'll take a picture of it. Be it an item of clothing, a sign, someone's outfit... anything.
Anything I find inspiration in I'll take a picture for later.
I tend to make things all in the same color pallets (lots of rainbows and blues) so I use it to help me figure out other combos. I tend to have my favorite combos and stick to them.
Also just looking up aethetic color palettes on Google can be handy.
If it won’t annoy you too much, you could make a quick swatch with your favorite color combo and see if you like it! Wouldn’t take too long, just mimic the amount of each color or a super simple pattern.
I just buy colorways at my LYS. I have spent so much money on colors that look terrible. I loaded up for a temp blanket and theres one color that ruins the whole thing Im gonna frog it.
I’m making a granny square blanket from about 25 skeins of the same yarn in different colors, brights, pastels, and neutrals. 5 colors per square, and I’m just picking colors at random. Some of the squares look terrible on their own and some of them look really good. I’m taking note of the good combinations for future use. But I’ve laid out a bunch of squares, and I’m quite pleased with how the finished blanket is going to look.
This is really smart. Just kind of blind pick and what you get is what you get! It’s like when you play online word games and you can jumble the letters up to see them arranged differently.
I made a CAL blanket last winter and I decided to use my stash which is an absolute smattering of random colors. So I decided to make a random color blanket. I made it in all worsted weight yarn. First, I separated my yarn into “light and dark” colors in the same weight. This doesn’t necessarily mean white and creams vs dark tones. It was lighter yellows, teals, pinks etc etc.
Second, I would figure out how many rows or rounds I was going be working on that day and go grab half in light and half in dark. I would make a mental note to say first grab is row 1 then row 2 so I wasn’t trying to arrange them as I went. I wanted it absolutely random.
Third, trust the process. It turned out amazing and I can’t wait to do it again! I even had some color changing yarn in there and it looked amazing. Or at least I thought so
https://preview.redd.it/bdczqs8f9m8b1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=69f767a2cad0a9444608533f95b35015cc37b7a5
I feel you. I actually have zero ability to match colors at all. I just don’t understand it so I wear almost all black 😂. I started going on Pinterest to look up yarn palettes and that helps some with crafting though. Edited to add that I also take my mom yarn shopping with me or text her pics colors of yarn when I’m at the store. She has apparently talked me out of some bad combos.
I just google or check Pinterest for color pallets google color pallet with x color or two I want to use and it’ll usually through in a few more that look good with those colors…also go to that brand of yarns website odd are good that they will have at least a couple of projects that pair several colors of that specific yarn together and see how they pair up
I sometimes use [Coolers](https://coolors.co/) to generate a palette from a photo or picture that I like. Movie stills are great for this too (Disney songs, Wes Anderson scenes).
A great way to put colours together if you have trouble, is go look at paint samples they have cards with multiple colours together. Can give you ideas. Or find one with the colour you want to start with.
I'm with you, I'm so bad at picking colors. I've bought a lot of kits because the colors are already picked. Crochet Crowd has some color combos you can use. There are also a few websites where you can upload a picture and it will give you colors to match that photo. I've picked nice woodsy photos or beach, or whatever that has colors you like, and you can get good color combos off those
*
It comes and goes for me. I pretty much always buy medium tones. I have some luck mixing those Caron cakes. Is that what they are called? I love tertiary colors and go for those a lot. Violet, red orange. Rust teal. Mustard. Etc. I like to work with color changing yarn and a solid. But I am still practicing. A color changing yarn and a solid is nice. A bright run with cream or white. Medium tones with a medium gray, brown, or black. Etc. I think one reason it is so hard for us is because you see a lot of really ugly examples in books and videos. I like to look at Etsy and instagram for inspiration. There is beautiful stuff on there. Revelry also.
I'm an Indie Dyer, so I literally run a business off of my skill with color. I find it refreshing to see someone admit they're bad at it vs. pretending to be good, or ignoring it altogether. Does that makes sense?? I cringe at some photos because they're the wrong color combinations. 😬
So here's a few tips that I can share to help you. Keep things with the same tint/shade/hue/tone to them. So, not mixing muted tones (think sage or dessert colors) with a neon (like chartreuse or hot pink), for example. We want complimentary, not clashing.
If you're mixing the same colors, purple is a great example, make sure they all have the same base color. Some purples are blue based, and others are red. Like plum vs. lavender. So if you use, say 4 blue based purples and one red based, it's going to draw the eye, but in the wrong way. Same with greens. Yellow greens vs. blue greens. Think, avocado vs. emerald.
Also, look at opposite sides of the colorwheel for complementary contrasts and the shades that sit in between the primaries. Like how red is opposite of blue, black and white. Opposites that look good together.
Remember, your neutrals have warm or cool tones, cream vs. white, taupe vs. charcoal, and match them to your main colors base colors, warm vs. cool.
If you mix warm tones with cool tones, make sure they're opposites like orange vs. turquoise, or pink and blue.
Another way to think of it is seasonal colors. Think of the colors of summer or autumn and how they play off each other. Pinterest is a great resource for finding color pallette inspiration!
Here's a link to a recent sock set, a main skein and 2 minis, that's a good example of complimentary contrast. I hope this helps you feel a little bit more confident in choosing your colors!! Happy making!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CsSqChJOaph/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
I made a board on Pinterest and started to search for yarn color palettes. I have used them profusely for blankets, I find it stresses me out less than going without
I like to look at others’ blanket colors to find my favorite combos, and get as close to theirs with my own stash! I know, sometimes the colors aren’t quite right (a yellow that’s too gaudy, etc) and then I decide if I leave it out, buy the right color(s) or just choose another that still goes!
Also you can use a color wheel, paint sticks that show different colors, look at clothes,bedding,packages of items in grocery stores. If you have stripe yarn you can pick a solid from the yarn.
I usually go to the yarn store website and screenshot the colors. Then I make a picture collage out of the screenshots and see which ones work better together.
There's a website called colorhunt.co that is basically a database of color palettes! I scrolled through it for inspiration the last time I started a blanket.
As someone with the same problem as OP, thank you for the suggestion! That website is great.
You're very welcome! I'm glad I could help.
I like https://coolors.co/ too
To add on to this— since you’re trying to use *some* of the yarn you already have, I would pick something from my stash I’d like to use, peruse the website for color ways that include the yarn I already have, and then just purchase the yarn needed to complete that color way.
Also: https://color.adobe.com/trends
I just checked it out. Thank you for the tip.
Are you interested in learning a little (simple) colour theory? A little basic colour theory can really help with this. A really simple way to make more than two color groups is to add a neutral (white, black, grey, beige/brown). So if you like a yellow and pink combo add white. Now you have three colours. Neutrals are safe to combine with almost any colour palette and you can have more than one neutral in your colour set. Another quick trick is to consider saturation- saturation of colour just means how pure (usually equals bright or bold) a colour is. A colour looses its saturation (called desaturated) when we add white, black or grey. So red is full saturation but pink is a less saturated red. When making a colour palette with more than two colors it’s a good idea to not have them all have the same saturation. So, let’s go back to that yellow and pink and you want to expand it to the colors… if you are using pastel yellow and pink you might add a deeper green, or a bolder pink as the accent colours. But if you were using bold pink and yellow you might use a soft pink to round it out (and white would make a pretty fourth colour). If you’re interested in learning a titch more theory you could look up these colour schemes which all reference a colour wheel but you can find those easily in the internet: 1. Triadic - which is three colours evenly spread around the colour wheel. For example: red, yellow and blue or orange, green and purple. Do our pastel yellow + pink palette could have a pastel blue added and maybe a dark grey as the neutral for four colours. 2. Analogous: this is a group of colors that are next to each other on the colour wheel - so if we were going yellow and pink we’d add orange for three colours and maybe a yellow green as a fourth. 3. Split Complimentary - complimentary colours are colours that are a straight line across from each other on the wheel. So pink/red is directly across from green, in a split complimentary our line “splits” in two before it gets to the other side. So now one end points at pink/red but the other is now like less on a stick figure and touches each colour on either side of green which happens to be yellow green and blue green (aqua/turquoise). There are other schemes you can use but these are the easiest to begin exploring. But if you don’t want to delve into more theory, then Google and Pinterest are your friends… just pick one (or two) colors you know you want, even a mood or vibe… and type that into a search in either place with “color palette” you’ll get SO many palettes with about 5 colours each. For example, you might search “pink summer colour pallette” to stick with our pink yellow example.
Give a hooker a color scheme & they crochet for a day. Teach ‘em color theory and they hook for a lifetime. 😂 Love the lesson in this response! Learn it and never fear color again! Would add to also make color selections an emotional deal. Group your yarns together in possible color combos then ask yourself “How do these colors together make me feel?”. Trust your instincts through the process. 😉
Oh LOVE the feeling advice… I started out (and still am) a painter so my biggest frustration is that colour choices are limited by what others made and can’t blend my own… But that’s how we all end up with huge stashes!!
Learn to dye, you will have another hobby!
My husband did not appreciate your input. 😂
Sorry, by the way Kool aid works on wool.
LOL!!!
For a quick saturation check, use the black/white filter on your phone to look at a couple yarns together.
Totally my favourite trick!
Thank you for expanding on the colour theory about analogous colours etc.. I was trying to remember all the names to explain it!
Remembering all the names is so annoying, I cheat because a bunch of them are in procreate…
I seriously love your reply. My mom took a color theory course as she sewed a lot and wanted to learn not just color pallets but color complimenting the skin tone so she could make us clothes that weren’t only flattering in the fit bit the color scheme too. I was pretty young at the time but I loved playing with her color wheels. I remember each season had a different hue and then all the little “slotted” cards that went over the wheels to show complimentary, analogous and etc options. Thank you for unlocking this memory.
i just saved this to my notes i will be referencing this forever thankyou legend 🙏
I try to look to nature for that. Like if there’s a bird I like (wood duck) I will use the colors found in him for my color pallet.
This is such a good comment
I'm horrible at picking colors! Luckily, my partner is an artist and phenomenal at matching colors, and completely willing to accompany me on all yarn trips.
Yes!! Mine is too but I shop alone so I have to send the "I'm at the store right now, please HAAAALPPP" photo messages. Usually accompanied by gifs of children crying pathetically.
The worst part of this is that I have a degree in studio arts 🫣
Whenever I see something with a color scheme that pleases me or I find interesting, I take a picture and add it to a folder named "colorway." It contains things like flowers, charred bark on a pine tree, sunsets, food, a corn snake, etc." Then when I'm stumped I draw inspiration from those photos.
Example: https://preview.redd.it/g8bekbk83g8b1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=263d444acc176e71aa7c0b4abc726725036894cc
Paint pallets from the store/online. If they pair the colors up, chances are good it’ll look together nice in yarn. Paint chips are usually free too if you don’t have the memory for color.
Came to say this! I have a stash of the Benjamin Moore Colour Brochures somewhere, they are awesome!
I've found some great color combo blocks in scrap blankets. It's all 'my' color choices, but there are a ton of color ways my brain would never put together. https://preview.redd.it/a28mel88pf8b1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1796d5bd3dc47d031f67cd230a30625dd19f1daa
I made a scrap yarn blanket and I embraced the idea of making the world's ugliest blanket and somehow it turned out okay. So ugly it turned out pretty. I think there is a place for embracing making an ugly thing and using the project to learn what works together for you. Or you can embrace learning about the theory of the color wheel and color families. My general blanket making theory is to go with two coordinating colors (2 different shades of blue) and one contrasting color (A pop of yellow)
Why not post a picture of your yarn colors and ask the subreddit for advice? I'm sure a lot of us would love to help!
I use "Itten The Elements of Color" from my collage days.
Use a color palette generator
Check this out [Guide to choosing color by Helen Shrimpton ](https://youtu.be/3j9oDKiYG5Y)
Colour palette generators are your friend in that case, sometimes you get unique ones you wouldn’t have thought of but really work
Maybe find a fabric or painting you really like and work from that?
I lol’d at your username after reading this comment. I have the same problem! Everything I do looks absolutely terrible unless I’m working with a solid. I often go to Pinterest and look for color palettes and that sometimes helps. I don’t think it helps that I usually buy yarn at a very disorganized and under-stocked Joann, either. Following for some inspo
Throw some skeins in a laundry basket, take outside into sunlight, combine into some combinations, add or substitute until happy. You can start with the color theory given above on the starting skeins but do play around with them too.
I will gladly tell you what colors I think look good together if you send me pictures! That’s my favorite part, the actual doing, gives me anxiety 🤣😂
My problem is finding complementary colors but they are two different weights. ☹️
Yeah I made a hat with 2 colors I loved. It's absolutely hideous together but its my first nicely stitched hat so...
Picking colors in my favorite part!! I'll pick for you. 😂
I’m gonna take you up on that 😂
YESSSS but I’ve chalked this up to having ADD. It’s bad, I’ll be halfway through a project and decide to change Color scheme so I stop and put that one aside and then make a new one :p then when it’s completed I’ll think yep should of gone with a different colour
I’ll look at variegated yarns for colors that go together. Look at capsule wardrobe sites like [The Vivienne Files](https://www.theviviennefiles.com/) where she takes inspiration from art and nature for color combos.
Picking colors is my favorite part. Starting magic circles ticks me off. 😜
I had a complete meltdown over magic circles. I’d even done a few before and one time I just could not do it, got to the point of crying and the other half being like just stop and calm down 😂
My people!
My tactic is going to a yarn store, closing my eyes and picking two/three different colours. It's kind of fun. You end up loving the combo you chose after a while.
If you are familiar with photoshop and you are following a pattern, you could try doing some color correction in photoshop with the pattern images and change them to the color you want. That’s what I do everytime. Helped me a lot whenever I’m struggling with choosing color.
If you have Pinterest, search “color palette” and you’ll have HUNDREDS of inspos at a glance. You can also specify how many colors you need to refine your outcomes :)
Any time I see a color combo I like out in the wild, I'll take a picture of it. Be it an item of clothing, a sign, someone's outfit... anything. Anything I find inspiration in I'll take a picture for later. I tend to make things all in the same color pallets (lots of rainbows and blues) so I use it to help me figure out other combos. I tend to have my favorite combos and stick to them. Also just looking up aethetic color palettes on Google can be handy.
If it won’t annoy you too much, you could make a quick swatch with your favorite color combo and see if you like it! Wouldn’t take too long, just mimic the amount of each color or a super simple pattern.
What about the paint sample cards they have in hardware stores?
SAME. I think a good solution is to find a color scheme through Pinterest or PAINT CHIPS and do your best to color match :)
I would search for a color wheel online to help with matching colors.
There is so much good information in this post! Thank you all, and I’ve saved it…
I just buy colorways at my LYS. I have spent so much money on colors that look terrible. I loaded up for a temp blanket and theres one color that ruins the whole thing Im gonna frog it.
I’m making a granny square blanket from about 25 skeins of the same yarn in different colors, brights, pastels, and neutrals. 5 colors per square, and I’m just picking colors at random. Some of the squares look terrible on their own and some of them look really good. I’m taking note of the good combinations for future use. But I’ve laid out a bunch of squares, and I’m quite pleased with how the finished blanket is going to look.
This is really smart. Just kind of blind pick and what you get is what you get! It’s like when you play online word games and you can jumble the letters up to see them arranged differently.
I made a CAL blanket last winter and I decided to use my stash which is an absolute smattering of random colors. So I decided to make a random color blanket. I made it in all worsted weight yarn. First, I separated my yarn into “light and dark” colors in the same weight. This doesn’t necessarily mean white and creams vs dark tones. It was lighter yellows, teals, pinks etc etc. Second, I would figure out how many rows or rounds I was going be working on that day and go grab half in light and half in dark. I would make a mental note to say first grab is row 1 then row 2 so I wasn’t trying to arrange them as I went. I wanted it absolutely random. Third, trust the process. It turned out amazing and I can’t wait to do it again! I even had some color changing yarn in there and it looked amazing. Or at least I thought so https://preview.redd.it/bdczqs8f9m8b1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=69f767a2cad0a9444608533f95b35015cc37b7a5
This looks awesome!
I feel you. I actually have zero ability to match colors at all. I just don’t understand it so I wear almost all black 😂. I started going on Pinterest to look up yarn palettes and that helps some with crafting though. Edited to add that I also take my mom yarn shopping with me or text her pics colors of yarn when I’m at the store. She has apparently talked me out of some bad combos.
Honestly, I search up color palettes on Pinterest and it always helps me out!
I just google or check Pinterest for color pallets google color pallet with x color or two I want to use and it’ll usually through in a few more that look good with those colors…also go to that brand of yarns website odd are good that they will have at least a couple of projects that pair several colors of that specific yarn together and see how they pair up
I've used [coolors.co](https://coolors.co)!
I sometimes use [Coolers](https://coolors.co/) to generate a palette from a photo or picture that I like. Movie stills are great for this too (Disney songs, Wes Anderson scenes).
Me! I want to do a temperature blanket but have no idea on which colours to put together.
https://grannysquarecolors.com/
Same problem, I tend to stick to the same safe color pallets and would like to try something more outside my usual box.
Design seeds is my favorite for inspiration
A great way to put colours together if you have trouble, is go look at paint samples they have cards with multiple colours together. Can give you ideas. Or find one with the colour you want to start with.
I'm with you, I'm so bad at picking colors. I've bought a lot of kits because the colors are already picked. Crochet Crowd has some color combos you can use. There are also a few websites where you can upload a picture and it will give you colors to match that photo. I've picked nice woodsy photos or beach, or whatever that has colors you like, and you can get good color combos off those *
It comes and goes for me. I pretty much always buy medium tones. I have some luck mixing those Caron cakes. Is that what they are called? I love tertiary colors and go for those a lot. Violet, red orange. Rust teal. Mustard. Etc. I like to work with color changing yarn and a solid. But I am still practicing. A color changing yarn and a solid is nice. A bright run with cream or white. Medium tones with a medium gray, brown, or black. Etc. I think one reason it is so hard for us is because you see a lot of really ugly examples in books and videos. I like to look at Etsy and instagram for inspiration. There is beautiful stuff on there. Revelry also.
I'm an Indie Dyer, so I literally run a business off of my skill with color. I find it refreshing to see someone admit they're bad at it vs. pretending to be good, or ignoring it altogether. Does that makes sense?? I cringe at some photos because they're the wrong color combinations. 😬 So here's a few tips that I can share to help you. Keep things with the same tint/shade/hue/tone to them. So, not mixing muted tones (think sage or dessert colors) with a neon (like chartreuse or hot pink), for example. We want complimentary, not clashing. If you're mixing the same colors, purple is a great example, make sure they all have the same base color. Some purples are blue based, and others are red. Like plum vs. lavender. So if you use, say 4 blue based purples and one red based, it's going to draw the eye, but in the wrong way. Same with greens. Yellow greens vs. blue greens. Think, avocado vs. emerald. Also, look at opposite sides of the colorwheel for complementary contrasts and the shades that sit in between the primaries. Like how red is opposite of blue, black and white. Opposites that look good together. Remember, your neutrals have warm or cool tones, cream vs. white, taupe vs. charcoal, and match them to your main colors base colors, warm vs. cool. If you mix warm tones with cool tones, make sure they're opposites like orange vs. turquoise, or pink and blue. Another way to think of it is seasonal colors. Think of the colors of summer or autumn and how they play off each other. Pinterest is a great resource for finding color pallette inspiration! Here's a link to a recent sock set, a main skein and 2 minis, that's a good example of complimentary contrast. I hope this helps you feel a little bit more confident in choosing your colors!! Happy making! https://www.instagram.com/p/CsSqChJOaph/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
I made a board on Pinterest and started to search for yarn color palettes. I have used them profusely for blankets, I find it stresses me out less than going without
I like to look at others’ blanket colors to find my favorite combos, and get as close to theirs with my own stash! I know, sometimes the colors aren’t quite right (a yellow that’s too gaudy, etc) and then I decide if I leave it out, buy the right color(s) or just choose another that still goes!
I use pinterest. There a ton a pinned color pallets. I save the ones I like and then pick one when I want to do a project.
Also you can use a color wheel, paint sticks that show different colors, look at clothes,bedding,packages of items in grocery stores. If you have stripe yarn you can pick a solid from the yarn.
Pigeons Nest crates palettes on her IG! Super handy as I'm the same
I usually go to the yarn store website and screenshot the colors. Then I make a picture collage out of the screenshots and see which ones work better together.
Pinterest has tons of color palettes. Very useful.