Tuesday, July 08, 2008

The wormy way to swatch



How do I decide which colors to use? I get the balls of yarn I think I'd like to use and set them in a place where I'm sure to see them as I go about my daily business. I rearrange them in passing, and toss out one here and there. When I get a group I like, I sometimes make these quick little i-cord worms to see how the colors work together, knit up. Then I carry the little dears around with me, out and about, so I can observe them in different lights. Sometimes they're wee little things like the ones above...some become long coiled serpents, waiting in my pocket.

6 comments:

Gudrun Johnston said...

Oh I'm so glad you shared this...I'm going to be digging into some colourwork soon and was feeling a little apprehensive about the swatching...this is a great idea!
Thanks!

j said...

you do have amazing and beautiful combinations in your work.

have you ever thought of writing a book?

kat coyle said...

such a good idea for color swatching! i'm always knitting gigantic swatches. i'll have to try this magic little worm in the pocket idea. thanks for sharing.

knithound brooklyn said...

That's a great idea! I like that you can carry it around and observe them at will, and in different lights, etc.

I am a stripe fanatic and if you don't mind, I will adopt this method for upcoming projects.

Anonymous said...

I just taught my kids how to knit those worms this past winter. They made dozens of them and now we use them as bookmarks, lol.

Great idea on color inspiration!
a.

craftivore said...

Yarn worms in pockets. I like it.