Sun and Rain (continued)

One of the core principles in traditional Fair Isle is the practice of maintaining approximately constant levels of contrast throughout the pattern.  While value is not the only factor contributing to contrast, it is a very useful place to start. 

The greyscale function is a great way to analyze value, independent of the confounding variables of warmth and saturation :

The palettes rearranged in order of value:

Starting with the ribbing, I chose to anchor the bottom of the pattern with the darkest values, graduating upward to the lightest.  Here's where some eyeballing and judgement comes into play - I kept the sequence intact, but strategically repeated certain colours in order to control the level of contrast.

I tried a blues-on-copper pattern, again keeping the sequence but strategically playing with proportions to keep the contrasts similar throughout.  Occasionally, when the saturation of a particular colour made it too prominent regardless of proportions, I simply omitted it from that sequence.  Conversely, when there wasn't enough contrast, I skipped forward to a more intense hue, and continued the sequence from there.

I kept the motif very simple, in keeping with the original photo.  Copper-on-blue:

One possibility for putting it together:

This is perhaps the simplest of an infinite array of possibilities, and missing many of the design elements of traditional Fair Isle, but it does illustrate some useful concepts in juxtaposing colours for two-stranded knitting.

Comments

[Christene]

Nothing practical to comment on or add, really, other than that I am enjoying the color series immensely! Thank you!

[--Deb]

Okay, that's just gorgeous. I LOVE watching you play with color!!

[becky]

It feels like you have a magic wand- do this, this and this, and voila. It's amazing to think about and has me mesmerized.

[Bead Knitter]

Very kewl!