Old English Creations

Colour Magic – Using Colour in Crochet

by | Crochet Basics, Your Crochet Business

 by Alison Stapleton

Using colour in crochet work is part of the fun

Finding new combinations of colour can change the feel of an item or garment.

It takes a bit of practice to be able to combine colours effectively. You want them to have a designer feel and not a homemade feel.

It is best to strive for hand-crafted and not homemade.

Choosing colour for your crocheted items

If you are making items like hats or scarves to sell then consider your colour choices well.

Most people will be attracted to the brights as a matter of course, but they won’t buy a yellow hat for themselves and moms don’t dress their babies in black either.

Know who is your customer and choose your shades accordingly.

Smart colour choices start at home before you get to the wool shop . You need to be prepared.

Take a colour chip or photo of the colour you want with you and have it before you get to the store where you can quickly become overwhelmed by the week’s “special promotions” from the retailers.

If you want to sell more hand crafted items then colour selection is the first step because it adds a built-in positive feature towards reaching your sales goals.

Colours for your age

If you wear colours that don’t suit your age you either look childish or old fashioned. Take care to select colours carefully.

imgres-2Colours for babies

Babies look good in white and pastels. Lemon, lilac, mint green, baby pink and baby blue are all pastels.

These are good colours for infants up to the age of twelve months.

imgres-4Colours for kids

Kids aged from one to twelve years look good in primary colours like red, yellow and blue.

Shocking pink, magenta and purple for girls and denim blue and green for boys.

Colours for teens

Teens can start to tone down the childlike brights and go for dusky shades like grey blue, maroon and olive.

imgres-3Colours for adults

Adults look good in darker shades like black navy and maroon and olive.

Jewel colors always look good on adults.

Grown-ups should stay away from pastels.

Colours for seniors

Seniors are the older group which favours pastels again like lilac, lemon and pale baby blues.

imgres-2Soft tones compliment a fading complexion and whiter hair.

Pastels are non-confrontational colours.

Hues

Do not mix colours from different hues. A hue is the same shade of mixture with black as the other.

The Colour Wheel

Primary colours

The three primary colours are:imgres-4

  • Red
  • Yellow
  • Blue

Secondary colours

Secondary colours are the three colors that result when you mix two of the three primary colours and they are:

  • Green (from mixing yellow and blue)
  • Orange (from mixing red and yellow)
  • Purple (from mixing blue and red)

imgresNeutrals

Neutrals is a broad palette comprising all the softer colours with white or black added.

They are sometimes referred to as non colours.

Typically neutrals are shades of:

  • Cream
  • Beige
  • Grey
  • Off white

Neutrals look good on teens, adults and seniors. They are not good for babies and kids.

Fun colours

When you go into the wool shop it is tempting to choose bright colours as they are related to having fun and you subconsciously think your crochet will be more fun in bright colours.

Save the bright yarns for granny squares and blankets.

Its like the ubiquitous Christmas jersey., full of charms hanging off it and twinkle and bells. Save the dangle for the tree and not on your body.

This is why many home made items look home made.

If you are making bags don’t make them in orange and purple. But in black, beige, taupe and dark grey as these are the colours people want.

 

Primary

Red, yellow and blue.

Secondary

Orange, green and purple.

Tertiary

Turquoise, salmon, guava, sandalwood, lime and fuchsia.

 

You may also like: