Color Palettes - Yarn Choices

On Wednesday, I introduced the concept of creating a color palette. Today, I'm going to focus on the next step: choosing yarns.

Once you have the palette, you need to choose the yarn or fabric based upon the theme. If your local store doesn't have colors available, the Internet often provides a good choices as well. For me, I like using my local weaving store's yarn supply, so while I have a palette available, it is often a guideline for the colors. In the Rocky Weed colors above, I don't have those exact colors, but I have a close proximity to each color. 

One way you can expand your colors is by thinking a little outside the box of colors. For example, in the selection of yarn colors I have, I don't have any grays, but I do have blues and greens that would work for gray.

The next step is to mix the yarns together. At this point, you can travel many paths, but two primary ones are whether or not to include textural inspiration from the photograph. In the Rocky Weed palette, I can choose to incorporate the textural look of rock, or I can ignore it. 

If I chose to keep the texture, I could use a series of pick-up patterns on the rigid heddle loom, or a waffle weave on a four shaft loom. Another way to incorporate texture is by choosing a yarn with texture such as a heavier yarn or mixing the yarn weights.

One other thing to take into account is the end use of the product. Do I want to make a scarf that inspires me about rocky coasts? Or do I want a purse to take with me to the coast? Sometimes, items can be created as a memory of the place. 

For example, one of the first projects I wove was wrap I called "From Dublin to Holyhead". The warp was a rich heather green and a silver stripes with the green also being the weft. The color combination reminded me both of the Irish Sea between the two islands as well as the white caps I saw on the ferry trip over. Besides, wraps are always pleasant to have when wandering around the Isles. 

What your end product will be can decide what your yarn choices will be as well. A sturdy tote will need sturdy fabric. For me, I tend to use a log cabin weave style that uses fabric as part of the weft. 

Once the colors, yarns, and weaving structure is chosen, the next step is color arrangement. Next Wednesday, I'll step you through how I arrange the colors because there are always choices to be made.