Once in a lifetime color inspiration
I was lucky enough to catch the aurora borealis during that rare geomagnetic storm earlier this month, and it was so spectacular that I’ve had a hard time putting into words what I saw and felt that evening. Fortunately, I have tons of pictures, each one better than the last. I’ve found myself randomly scrolling through them lately, probably as a reminder that it actually happened and that I did, in fact, see them with my own eyes!
It got me thinking about how stunning these colors are together, and how well they would play together in a palette for a knit or crochet project. I often look towards nature to inspire me when putting together a yarn color palette, and the colors in the auroras are so vibrant and unconventional.
I thought it might be fun to play around with color palette options inspired by the photos I took that evening and yarn I have in stash. This is such a fun way to be re-inspired by my stash while triggering inspiration for future projects!
If you want yarns that are closer to an exact match of the color palettes, scroll down for my recommendations.
Palette 1: Light
Light option 1
Fyberspates Cumulus in Plum, Polka Dot Sheep Iron Horse in Juneberry, Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in In the Navy, OOAK, and Mint to Be.
Light option 2
Palmer Yarn Co OOAK 2-ply Sock minis, Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in Mint to Be and OOAK.
Light option 3
Palmer Yarn Co OOAK 2-ply Sock minis, The Spinster’s Daughter in York, Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in Mint to Be.
Light option 4
Silly Goose Fibers Plump Fingering in Iris, Ice Ice Baby, Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in Mint to Be, OOAK, and Herb.
Light option 5
Palmer Yarn Co Soft Sock Base in Spring Mini Set, Asylum Fibers Smooth Sock in Cosmic Heartbeat, Knitted Wit minis
Light option 6
Knerd String 2-ply Fingering in Cherry Garcia, Blue Sky FIbers Woolstok Light in October Sky, Knitted Wit minis
Palette 2: Dark
Dark option 1
Hazel Knits Lively DK in Giddy Up, Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in In the Navy, OOAK, and Mint to Be, Moonstruck Sport Weight 2-ply in Dark Spruce.
Dark option 2
Hazel Knits Lively DK in Giddy Up, Palmer Yarn Co OOAK 2-ply Sock mini, Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in OOAK and Mint to Be, Moonstruck Sport Weight 2-ply in Dark Spruce.
Dark option 3
Palmer Yarn Co OOAK 2-ply Sock mini, Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in OOAK and Mint to Be, Moonstruck Sport Weight 2-ply in Dark Spruce.
Dark option 4
Silly Goose Fibers Plump Fingering in Iris, Ice Ice Baby, Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in Mint to Be and OOAK, Moonstruck Sport Weight 2-ply in Dark Spruce.
Dark option 5
Blue Sky FIbers Woolstok North in Thermal Spring, Blue Sky Fibers Woolstok Worsted in Morning Frost, October Sky, Midnight Sea, Audine Wools Sleek in Unwind.
Dark option 6
Blue Sky FIbers Woolstok North in Thermal Spring, Blue Sky Fibers Woolstok Worsted in Morning Frost, October Sky, Midnight Sea, Audine Wools Twinkle DK in Knit Yorker.
Variegated/Marled Options
Don’t want to work with multiple yarns? You can always buy a yarn that combines these colors and does the work for you. Each of these yarns combines many of the same colors to achieve different results.
Yarns shown: Salty Blonde Fibers 2-ply Sock in Apollo, Spincycle Yarns Dyed in the Wool in Pop-Click, and Geektastic Fibers Superhero Sock in Lumity.
Want to buy something closer to the palette recommendations? I pulled together some options from Blue Sky Fibers and Knit Picks, both of which have a fantastic range of colors in reasonable prices:
Blue Sky Fibers Woolstok Worsted in colors: Deep Velvet, Pressed Grapes, October Sky, Earth Ivy, Golden Meadow, Midnight Sea
Knit Picks Palette in colors: Regal, French Lavender, Delta, Sagebrush, Alfalfa, Midnight Heather
Nature is such a great place to look when trying to come up with a color palette. If you ever get stumped when picking yarn colors, just try to think back to something in nature that brings you joy. Typically, it will relate to colors you often gravitate towards subconsciously!
