Colour Blocking Tips and Palette ideas!

It can be TOUGH to combine colours – I know! I’ve done a LOT of experimentation, and I still don’t get it right every time. But I have learned a thing or two! Here are my best tips for crafting colour-blocked combinations that ‘just work’.

• Different colours but similar values
• Choose *mostly* solids
• Lots of colours… but not TOOOOOO many!
• Choose your moment … Pick the right PLACE to switch
• Play Play Play!

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Let’s dive right in to our tips on colour blocking. If you’re ready to try this on the needles, check out the Besties Hat and Besties Hoodie patterns!

The Besties Hoodie includes 27 sizes (from baby to 6XL, women’s and men’s sizing too!) and 6 yarn-weights – so you can knit it in YOUR favourite yarn. The Besties Hat includes 6 sizes (from newborn to adult L) and 5 yarn-weights – perfect for using up odds and ends. Get these patterns as PDFs, and you can also try them in the free Tin Can Knits App – where you see ONLY your size numbers – so simple!

Different colours (hues) but similar values (relative lightness / darkness)

The colours (hues) in your colour-blocked project can be very different (think mint and orange)… but they’ll play nicely together if they have similar values. What is value? It’s the relative lightness or darkness of the shade. To learn more check out our post Colour Theory for Knitters.

Collect fun combinations! With colour-blocking, I suggest you simply ‘beg, borrow, or steal’ when looking for palettes that please you. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel, I promise. Just take this blog post to the yarn shop (or pull out your stash!) and replicate a combination that excites you!

Choose *mostly* solids for colour-blocking

Alexa designed the Besties Hoodie in Brooklyn Tweed Tones – calling upon her daughter Hunter’s sharp teenage fashion sense to curate the palette of soft and happy colours! A heathered or solid yarn will always work really well in a colour-blocked project.

For the Besties Hat, I wanted to work in a hand-dyed yarn. I LOVE the glowing colours that you can find in hand-dyer’s ranges – and I chose Hazel Knits Lively DK for its vivid rainbow of options! In a colour blocked project the overall look comes together best when you choose almost-solid colourways – rather than variegated ones. When you look closely, these subtle kettle-dyed colours have small nuances and aren’t true solids – but they read as strong blocks of vibrant colour.

Lots of colours… but not TOOOOOO many!

You CAN go too far! If you are changing colours every few rounds, it’s gonna be cool, but it won’t be blocks – it’ll be stripes. No shade on the stripes, but you may wanna limit yourself at least a LITTLE when curating a palette, and choosing where to change colours.

Choose your moment … Pick the right PLACE to switch

There are a few places that work particularly WELL for changing colours. Let’s look at the example of the Besties Hoodie and Besties Hat patterns.

In the hat, a dipped brim is really fun.

I like to change colour after working at least one round in stockinette (otherwise you get a slightly-messy detail due to the purl stitches).

At the crown, I prefer switching colours a couple rounds at least before beginning the decreases, so that transition doesn’t end up looking too square.

In the Besties Hoodie – which also includes a sweatshirt option – you’re spoiled for choice. You can make the body one colour, then pick contrast colours for all the attached ‘parts’ like sleeves, pocket, and hood. We’ve gone ahead and worked the hem and cuffs and drawstrings in contrast colours too.

If you’re planning on changing colours within the body, you might want to consider having the colour change happen somewhere above or below the full bust line.

Check out these diagrams – are you drawn to the use of simpler, large blocks of colour? Or are you tempted to use ALL the colours? A two-colour pair can be very effective… but so can painting each piece a different vibrant hue!

Have you found more classy transition points? Did you do it differently than we did, and it turned out AMAZING? Share your creations with us using the hashtags #BestiesHoodie and #BestiesHat or get in touch directly!

Play Play Play with those colours!

We have a LOAD of helpful tutorials that you might enjoy when developing your colour sense! And we have a WHOLE COLLECTION of playful knits designed to stretch your colour skills – check out Mad Colour.

• Collecting Colour Combinations – a killer trick to knit combos that GLOW
• Colour Theory for Knitters – what’s a ‘hue’ and what’s ‘value’
• Week of Colour – 5 different ‘colour strategies’

~ Emily