Rainbows, and the beginnings of a new blanket...

I'm considering the colours to include in my next blanket. A couple of swatches done and an idea sketched out, I'm not keen on winging this one as I'm often tempted to do. I'd like the restriction of a plan, something I can pick up and crochet without having to make a decision on where to go next, something I can start with the end already in sight.

 

 

Often, designers and bloggers have an instantly recognisable palate; the boundaries of their colour choices giving them away just as much as the freedom with which they choose. A vintage pastel palate, muted neutrals and natural hues, or a saturated rainbow of colour. I feel like I hop all over the place when choosing my own - often adding more to rectify unsatisfactory combinations (see my hexagon blanket dilemma here!), and turning to the internet for inspiration, it's hard to know where to start!

  

I confess to succumbing to the easy pleasure of rainbows as often as the next person; finding comfort in their child-like regularity and nostalgia in their palate. A rainbow, although encompassing all colours and possibilities, also provides structure and gives order to what otherwise could become a chaotic jumble - a riot of colour is not what I'm after!

 

My idea for this new blanket started with some yarn - Rico Essentials Merino Aran, with a little Debbie Bliss Cashmerino too. After swatching however, I realised that the colours weren't tallying with the blanket I was thinking of and some adjustment was needed. So, I dumped it all out on my dining room table...

 

 

 ...and started to impose order in the chaos, creating rainbows, and then taking them away.

 

 

 

 

 Pared down, I could now see where to add more colour, so I raided my stash, not for matching yarn, but for anything that would create the palate I needed. Steering away from the rainbow - the regularity of which often requires equal amounts of all colours to create balance, I started to play not only with the colour of yarn, but the amounts of each. Adding plenty of neutral white and even some graphic black.

 

 

 

 Adding colours back in that I'd previously removed, no order, yet in an ordered way.

 

 

There are colours left over that I'm surprised I don't want to include, those that have previously been my favourite additions to other projects, and there are colours included of which only the tiniest scrap makes a difference and alters the overall colour scheme completely.

 

 

I can see the colour scheme for my blanket coming together nicely and I'll buy yarn to fill the shoes of those added from my stash as I need to. The rainbow is still there, providing balance and coherence, reminding me of projects I've completed before - maybe there is a coloured thread running through my work, a rainbow of my own? I suspect it is harder for me to see - have you discovered your rainbow yet I wonder?

 

xx

This post is my submission to the Deramores Craft Blog Competition 2015. Deramores is the UK’s number one online retailer of knitting and crochet supplies. Visit www.deramores.com for more details.