So, here is the second trend I'm blogging about as part of Deramores (the lovely people who sell all the lovely yarn and now sell West Yorkshire Spinners - squeal!) blog competition. The trend for this post was originally blogged by Heather Leal of The Patchwork Heart.
Rainbow Colours
If you didn't already know, I love colour! Rainbows take colour to a whole different level in colour choosing. We often think of a rainbow as being bright and bold and, when I was browsing through Ravelry, I discovered I'd favourited a number of patterns which all use bright rainbow colours. There are a few areas to consider when crocheting a rainbow:
Stripes vs Varigated
There are 2 ways to achieve a rainbow in our crochet.
Jessie Rayot's 'Skylark in Wonderland' uses mini skeins to create this beautiful rainbow shawl.
The first is to use stripes. Changing colour at the end of each row or round (make that last pull through before you change colour in your new colour for a nice, clean change). This gives you beautiful, clean stripes where you want them and you can use however many colours you would like - think of the giant rainbow you could create?! However, it can mean lots of ends to weave in - for me, the biggest chore of crochet!
This beautiful shrug by Bernadette Ambergen is called 'Rainbow' and uses a varigated yarn to create a rainbow. Long colour changes create stripes without too many yarn ends to weave in.
Varigated yarn takes the millions of ends to weave in away and someone has selected your rainbow colours for you! However, you have no control over how long your stripes will be, when the next colour will start or the number of colours in your rainbow.
You also need to be aware of the length of your colour changes. In the shrugs the colour changes are lovely and long creating beautiful stripes. In the flower below, the colour changes are much shorter, lasting only 2 or 3 stitches. Your project will determine the length of colour change you want. Although a short change is effective in a small flower or shawl, would you want to wear it as a jumper?
Choosing Your Rainbow Colours
I love the way we all have our own palette we steer towards when we choose colours - mine are pinks, purples, teals, turquoises and emerald greens. Although this is wonderful, and I love seeing how other people combine colour, it can make choosing colours for a rainbow a bit daunting.
1) Firstly, a rainbow doesn't have to be bright and bold. It can be more subtle, like the pastel shades in this flower. It could be an earthy rainbow of rusty oranges, browns and greens or a neutral rainbow of greys, black and white.
2) You can start by getting your stash out, or visiting your local yarn shop, and looking at different ways of combining the colours. Start with 2 or 3 colours and put the balls of yarn next to each other. Introduce other colours and see how they affect your choice so far - do they brighten it or dull it? Does it make you smile or grimace? Keep playing around until you find the colours that make your heart sing.
3) Do you have a ball of varigated yarn you love? You could use this to crochet your rainbow but, if you want beautiful, clean stripes, then pick out the individual colours within it and use these as solid colours to create your rainbow.
4) Finally, look at other peoples rainbow projects and how they combine colours. Use their colour choices to inspire yours. There are lots of crocheted rainbows out there so there's plenty of inspiration to be found. Attic 24 is a great source of inspiration for your rainbows!
I hope this post has given you some inspiration to start your crochet rainbow.
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.
