Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

Of all the color tools I have, Color Grid by Gail Callahan is probably the most unusual. It costs $7.95 plus $3.50 for shipping and handling, although the $3.50 will cover shipping up to four grids. Most of my color tools are cards or decks or color wheels. This one is a glossy-print grid with a viewer. In some ways, it is almost like a slide ruler. The grid has 12 colors based on the classic red-blue-yellow painter's color wheel. Pure hues run down the middle of the grid, with five tints above and five shades below. There are no tones. The viewfinder has a 3 by 3 grid of holes. The center hole is larger than the surrounding eight. And the viewer has a thin rectangular box. To use the tool, place the viewer on the grid, centering the large hole on the color that most closely matches your main color. The viewer then shows you surrounding colors that make a good analogous color scheme, as well as complementary colors way over on the other side of the colo...

A smaller set of cards designed to work with a specific product line is the Lunatic Fringe Yarns Playing with Color Cards . They cost $37.50 on the Lunatic Fringe website or can be found at some weaving supply shops. butter yellow on left; information side of yellow card on right This is a set of 44 cards that match the 44 colors (including greys) in Lunatic Fringe's Tubular Spectrum™ line of yarns. The cards are a nice large size (3¼ by 5⅛ inches, or 83mm by 130mm) and come in a metal tin with a clear window. There's also a paper insert explaining how to use the tool. That same information can be found here on their website. The first thing you are likely to notice is some colors have the number 10 and some have the number 5. As the insert explains, Tubular Spectrum is based on the Munsell Color Wheel , which has 5 primary colors and 5 secondary colors, resulting in a 20-color wheel. A color with a "5" is one of the primaries or secon...

The Essential Color Card Deck by Joen Wolfrom, comes from the same source as the Ultimate 3-in-1 Color Tool. It costs about $30. The sturdy box contains 200 cards each measuring 2½ inches by 4 inches (64mm by 101mm). In addition to the cards, the box contains a folded piece of glossy paper that shows all 200 colors and a color wheel. As with the Ultimate 3-in-1 Color Tool, the Essential Color Card Deck is based on a 24-color Ives CMYK wheel. Colors are numbered 1 through 24, starting with yellow and moving through green and blue around to purple, red, and orange. There are seven cards for each color: 1 pure hue 2 tints 2 tones 2 shades The back of each card shows the color wheel, the location of the hue, and the color schemes of two different split-complementary, complementary, triadic, and analogous. Each card has both a number for the hue and a letter, so you can put the cards back in order. The bottom has the RGB, CMYK, and Hex codes for ea...

This is a tool I've had for several years, long enough I don't recall where I bought it or when. It is the Ultimate 3-in-1 Color Tool by Joen Wolfrom, updated third edition (2010) from C&T Publishing. It currently sells for about $22 on the publisher's website, but it looks like Amazon and even WalMart carry it? tool fanned out; back of golden yellow; front of yellow This has long been my go-to color tool for several reasons. It is based on the printer's primaries of cyan, magenta, and yellow (CMYK). It uses a 24-color wheel. Each card shows complementary, analogous, two versions of split-complementary, and triadic. The tool has 6 cards at the beginning to provide an overview of color theory and how to use the tool. There's a color wheel with all 24 colors numbered, beginning with yellow as #1 and working through greens to blues, through purples to...

I love color! I tend to be drawn to vivid, pure colors. But that's not always appropriate. Sometimes, you want something quieter, more subtle, more sophisticated. Recently, I've acquired some color tools. I thought it would be helpful to post a series of reviews about different color tools. Which ones are best suited for which circumstances? Which ones would be most helpful based on what type of help you most need? First up, Palette Scout from Zollie. pure hue upper left, plus 2 shades; bottom are two light tones This one is the most expensive of all my color tools. I bought the full bundle which includes the card pack plus the online color theory course, match guides, and palette suggestion pdfs. The whole thing normally sells for more than $100. I purchased it as part of a Black Friday 50% off sale. Good for me. If all you want is the card pack, that costs about $30.  Bullet points: based on painter's primaries (red, yellow, blue) 18 hues ...

When I was first learning fiber crafts, I would get an embroidery kit. I followed the directions meticulously. I achieved the result on the package. For many of us, this is a solid way to learn a new skill. The project can have a skill level matched to our level of comfort. Everything can be planned so a beginner is successful. Nothing is too difficult nor uncertain. At some point, crafting is about more than following instructions. There's a difference in art class between "let's copy this famous painting" and "pick your own subject and express it." Yes, copying and following directions can help you acquire skills. Crafting at its highest artistic level is about using those skills to create items reflecting the personal expression of the maker. It is about transmuting tradition into innovation, old into new. For knitters, the transition to innovation is often subtle. It may start with, "Oh, I like this pattern, but I can't find...