SMP Craft

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Today we have an excellent guest blog post from author Leonie Morgan. Her new book 100 Colorful Granny Squares to Crochet: Dozens of Mix and Match Combos and Fabulous Projects is filled with cheery granny squares in bright, eye-popping colors. Below she shows you how nature inspires her color choices when she crochets and for crafters who are a little intimidated by color, gives advice for how to construct a bold palette. Leonie also includes a link to a Pinterest board she created that displays a collection of wonderful crochet projects that provide color inspiration for her.

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We are surrounded by color every waking moment. There is so much inspiration around us! I take inspiration from absolutely anything and everything.

Here’s a holiday photograph I took in Norway.

I love the colors in the picture, the contrast of blues and reds with touches of yellow and white. Using some of the colors in the photograph, I have planned the color combination of my next crochet project.

The colors are beautiful and so wonderfully evocative of my holiday!

I love choosing color combinations for new projects – I get giddy with excitement. There are so many colors to choose from, so where do you start?  Here are some things to keep in mind:

A mixture of light and dark colors provides plenty of interest. Too many dark colors can look flat and too many light colors can look faded. Mixing light and dark colors will boost the contrast of your color palette, adding punch and interest. Don’t forget neutrals, such as, gray, cream, black, and white. I tend to choose palettes with a light, a dark, and a middle shade. Even though the three colors may be completely different or shades of the same color, the light or dark value is as important as the color. As an example, picture a beautiful tree decked in green leaves. It may seem that the leaves are all just green, but when you look closer, you can see a whole range of greens from the very palest tint of green, to deep, dark, shady greens. Our eye is drawn to contrasts so it’s good to keep in mind that a mixture of lights and darks will look the most stunning.

There are handy tools online for picking color combinations. Browse the Pantone website for current color trends, try a color theme generator, or browse through photographs on Flickr and Pinterest. Here is a Pinterest board I created of other people’s crochet work that I absolutely love!

Ultimately, color is a hugely personal thing. One person’s favorite color can be someone else’s most hated color! The truth to color choice is that there is no right or wrong, it’s all relative and my best advice is to just go for it! Mix colors you love to your heart’s content and see what you come up with. You can always make a test square to doublecheck your choices. Remember: Rules are meant to be broken!

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Like what you see? We’re giving away a copy of Leonie’s fabulous book, plus two skeins of Vanna’s Choice yarn to two lucky winners. To enter to win, please leave a comment below telling us your go-to color combo (also we’d love you to sign up for our newsletter at the top-right of this page). Please only one comment per person and, sorry, but this contest is for U.S. and Canadian citizens only. This giveaway will run from April 1 — April 11 and two winners will be chosen at random using random.org on Friday, April 12. Good luck!

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Winners!

Congratulations to Sarah H. and Patty, the winners of our book and yarn giveaway!

Thank you to everyone who entered and for the overwhelming response! Check back again soon for more giveaways!

Happy Spring! Despite it being in the low-40s here in New York, the flowers are just starting to poke out of the ground, which gives me hope that warmer temperatures and spring dresses are just around the corner! To celebrate the season we’re having a giveaway for our fabulous new book 50 Sunflowers to Knit & Crochet by Kristin Nicholas along with some Lion Brand Kitchen Cotton yarn.

We are so excited about this book. The sunflower patterns are bright and cheery and come in all shapes and sizes. Plus, there are patterns for leaves and stems, butterflies, ladybugs, and bumblebees to add to the collection. Looking through this book just puts you in a good mood. It radiates springtime and sunshine. And there’s no one better to translate a field of sunflowers into knit and crochet patterns than author Kristin Nicholas. Kristin lives on Leyden Glen Farm, a working sheep farm in western Massachusetts with her husband and daughter (Oh, and not to mention, 400 sheep, 3 border collies, 2 Great Pyrenees guard dogs, 10 cats, 30 chickens, 1 guard donkey, and 1 guard llama). In the summer, her family grows a field of sunflowers that was the inspiration for this book. Check out the video below to see Kristin working on the farm and to hear how she incorporates color beautifully into her work and life.

If you’d like to enter win a copy of 50 Sunflowers to Knit & Crochet along with two skeins of Lion Brand’s Kitchen Cotton yarn, then leave a comment below (and while you’re at it, feel free to sign up for our newsletter at the top-right of this page). Please only one comment per person and, sorry, but this contest is for U.S. and Canadian citizens only. This giveaway will run from March 21 — March 28  and two winners will be chosen at random using random.org on Friday, March 29. Good luck!

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Winners!

Congratulations to Sylvia Buonanni and Christine Newpower, the winners of our book and Kitchen Cotton yarn giveaway!

Thank you to everyone who entered and for the overwhelming response! Check back again soon for more giveaways!

The tools to paint the perfect feature wall

Here’s an excellent guide for how to paint a feature wall like a pro! From the Laura Ashley blog, our new author Will Taylor of the Bright Bazaar blog (who I introduced you to a few weeks ago) will show you the best way to make a wall in your house pop with color. Personally, I love feature walls! They add some visual interest without overwhelming a room with too much color. Check out Will’s post here to find all the helpful how-tos, tips, and tricks to easily bring a dash of color in to your home.

One of my favorite bits of advice that he offers is to loosen wall plates before you tape them off and paint. This way you can get paint behind the wall plate (not on it), and when you tighten the plate back up and remove the tape, the color runs right up to the plate without any weird gaps or uneven brushstrokes.

Will makes the process seem dangerously easy, that it could spell trouble for me. It’s been a snowy, wet, and dreary week in New York, and the idea of adding a little color back in to my life it too tempting!

Have you seen Scotland’s latest tourism campaign? It’s simply brilliant! I really can’t think of a better reason to visit Scotland than these two adorable Shetland ponies wearing Fair Isle sweaters! This is a cuteness-factor overload!

Button up, ponies! It’s chilly out there!

Alright, so it’s a bit of false advertising. I’ve been to Scotland and sadly not once in my travels did I spot a Fair Isle-sporting pony! Someone needs to fix that pronto! A few years ago there was a massive call online to knit sweaters for penguins who were affected by an oil spill in New Zealand (the sweaters prevented them from preening themselves and ingesting the oil). Why not start a campaign to knit sweaters for underdressed ponies!? I know, I know. Ponies don’t really need sweaters, but…but…I just really want to see more photos of cute squat animals wearing Fair Isle! Is that so wrong?

If you’d like to help me realize my dream of seeing more Fair Isle-wearing ponies, then have I got the book for you! The Very Easy Guide to Fair Isle Knitting is not only a great introduction to Fair Isle, there are over 60 gorgeous patterns (plus ideas for variations) and 11 easy-to-make projects in the book, all containing clear step-by-step instructions, color-knitting charts, and close-up photographs. You’ll learn everything from basic two-color seeding to all-over Fair Isle pattern knitting. Check out the sample pages below to get a peek at the pattern directory (some of which I think any pony would love to wear!) I even included a Fingerless Mitts project, which I think would be a cinch to adapt into some hoof warmers!

The Very Easy Guide to Fair Isle Knitting
Step-by-Step Techniques, Easy-to-Follow Stitch Patterns, and Projects to Get You Started
 by Lynne Watterson
$22.99/$26.50 Can.
144 pages, trade paperback

Our new author Will Taylor (a.k.a Mr. Bazaar) runs the fantastic blog Bright Bazaar, which is a feast for the eyes. Will covers all things colorful and I guarantee you that you’ll get lost on his website scrolling through the loads of bold and beautiful color combinations.

Check out the charmingly adorable video above that Will made of himself running around London in a red sweater and bow tie, getting inspired by color, and typing his manuscript on a vintage yellow typewriter. It just makes you want to hop on a plane to London to stroll the streets with him while he dictates the colors you should paint every room in your house.

I know this announcement is way far in advance of the Fall 2014 pub date, but we’re so excited to be working on this new project with the great Mr. Bazaar that we can’t help but share his enthusiasm and let you all know about his wonderful blog and the exciting news about what’s sure to be a fantastic book!