presents

Going Beyond
the Rainbow
A C OLOR GUI DE F O R CO N SCI EN TI OU S M AKE RS
Personal name
Lymm, Emily, author.

Main title
Going Beyond the Rainbow : A Color Guide

Going Beyond
for Conscientious Makers / Emily Lymm ;
photography by Amaren Colosi.

Edition
First U.S. edition: November 2021.

Published/Produced
Portland, Oregon : Wool & Palette,
the Rainbow
[2021] A C O LO R G UI DE FOR CONSCI ENTI OUS M AK ER S
BY EM I LY LY M M OF WOOL & PAL ETTE
Description
15 pages : illustrations & photography ;
28 cm

LC Subjects
Color in knitting
Knitting
Color Theory

Copyright © 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this book
may be reproduced in any form without
written permission from the author.

Design and art direction: Emily Lymm

Studio photography: Amaren Colosi
Star motif design: Jessica McDonald
Designs

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 Reaching for that perfect color
I’m Emily, and I help conscientious makers build a
symbiotic relationship with their craft by creating a
hand-dyed yarn that exclusively extracts colors from
nature. This yarn is responsibly sourced and dyed
in small batches to provide the highest quality with
the deepest color. Together, we engage in conscious
change, ensuring that the journey of the fiber is
sustainably created.

Before I became a natural dyer, I spent 16 years as

a graphic designer and art director. One of the best
parts of my job was creating color palettes. It was an
obsession. Honestly, it would be futile to calculate
the number of hours I poured over Pantone swatch-
es to find the PERFECT shade. I’m passionate about
going beyond the standard 12-step color wheel to
discover the colors in between colors. To see what’s
beyond the rainbow.

Natural dyeing is a feat in logistics and experimenta-

tion that relies on plants, bugs, and minerals as part
of an intricate process. And it’s fun. I’m constantly
tweaking, always pushing to make that orange a tiny
bit more red or that blue a little bit more gray. My
biggest challenge is determining the color that will
make it into your wardrobe and stay there.

When you’re creating a beloved garment for a

capsule wardrobe, consider a different path. Push
yourself past your go-to color palette to create some-
thing magical. That’s why I created this guide. Let’s
discover a new combination beyond the rainbow.

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 How to use this guide
Choosing cohesive color combinations is a blend of
art and science. In this guide, you will learn some
fundamental color theories. By using the color wheel
and some basic formulas, choosing appealing com-
binations will no longer feel like a mystery. You’ll be
able to discover color harmonies.

COLOR WHEEL

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COLOR HARMONIES
Color harmonies are essential be-
cause, without them, your palettes
can appear bland, or on the oppo-
site end, chaotic and busy.
Next is saturation. It refers to the
intensity and vibrancy of a hue. A
desaturated color is muted, while a
saturated color is rich and robust.
ANALOGOUS
This scheme uses two to five col-
ors next to each other on the color
of some colors, you can get dramatic
results.
wheel. By rearranging the intensity

Early on, we are taught that the
primary colors are red, blue, and
yellow. When mixed, they make
orange, green, and purple, or as you
know them – secondary colors. If
you go one step further and com-
bine the secondary colors, you will
find the tertiary colors: orange-red,
blue-purple, and so on. I like to hang
out in this zone and refer to them as
the colors in between colors.
Each color in the wheel possess-
es four main qualities. The first is
the hue. This is the color position
around the wheel and the brightest,
purest version of each color.
The darkness or lightness of a color
is its value. We can create shades
of color by adding black, tints of our
color by adding white, or tones by
adding gray.
Finally, there is temperature. The
color wheel splits into two parts,
warm colors and cool colors. When
you consider these four principles,
you can see there are countless COMPLEMENTARY
possibilities. So, to simplify the This uses two colors from opposite yellow and purple. This type of color
choices at hand, we can use for- sides of the color wheel like red scheme is excellent for creating
mulas or color harmonies to create and green, orange and blue, and contrast.
balanced, appealing combinations.
There are six.

MONOCHROMATIC
This takes one base color or hue and
uses different shades, tones, or tints
to create a group of colors. Natural
dyeing easily lends itself to this color
harmony. The first dye bath will show
the darkest, most saturated color,
and each successive bath will contin-
ue to lighten as less pigment remains
in the pot, leaving behind a gradient
of colors.
SPLIT COMPLEMENTARY
This is similar to a complementary
scheme, except one of the colors
splits into two nearby colors, keeping
the high contrast of the complemen-
tary while adding more variety. The
result is more subtlety and complex-
ity.

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TRIADIC
This uses three evenly spaced colors
to form a triangle. The result is often
bold and vibrant.
TETRADIC
These are colors in a rectangle or
square shape of two sets of comple-
mentary colors. These palettes work
best when you focus on one primary
color and use the others as contrast-
This guide wouldn’t be complete
without mentioning neutrals. In col-
lege, I took several oil painting class-
es as a part of my BFA. I kid you not;
I spent two weeks making neutrals
with oil paint to complete a chart like
the one on the next page, only much
more robust. Until I finished this with
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ing accents. This can be the trickiest
palette to get right. To avoid a circus
of conflicting hues, include some
neutral tones. And use the support-
ing colors in smaller amounts.
complete accuracy, I was not allowed
to presume any other projects. That’s
how important it was to nail this con-
cept of understanding mixing paints
thoroughly. Do you need to master
this concept in any capacity - Nope!
But I find this rarely covered, and it
is so crucial to understanding the
fundamentals. At least now you can
wow your friends at dinner with your
“brown” knowledge.
HELPFUL TIPS
In reality, not every palette is going to
fall perfectly within the color harmo-
ny rules. There’s a bit of nuance that
comes into play. Here are some tips
for navigating your way through the
spectrum.
First, pick one dominant color. Which-
ever color harmony you use, choosing
one dominant color and the others
as accents for more minor details will
create a sense of balance in your
design.
Next, use just a few shades. For
example, the star motifs on page 11
all contain three hues. They follow a
NEUTRALS
Neutrals occur when complementary
colors mix. Below is an illustration
of how each original hue mixes with
its complement in equal steps until it
formula: one dominant color, one con-
trasting color, and one neutral color
to tie them all together.
Third, consider your medium. Learn-
ing the components of color theory
can help you know what works well
together, but context is crucial. This
guide is geared toward yarn and
building a capsule wardrobe. That’s
why I’ve provided inspirational pal-
ettes on pages 10-12 that will more
closely represent attractive, wearable
wardrobe options.
Besides Pinterest, another excellent
color source of inspiration is
color.adobe.com. This site allows
you to push and pull hue levers and
adjust your base color to get harmo-
nious combinations. Use the explore
tab to find already composed pal-
ettes.
reaches its perfect neutral. The pri-
mary browns are sienna from red and
green, ochre from yellow and purple,
and umber from orange and blue.
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INSPIRED PALETTES
It’s time to put everything into con-
text. On the following pages, you will
find a sea of palettes. Feel free to use
12
Capsule wardrobe color formula: one dominant color, one contrasting color,
and one neutral color. This star motif was inspired by Jessica McDonald’s
Ruska sweater design.
any of these to influence your next
project.
13
THE COLORS IN BETWEEN COLORS
Remember at the beginning where are some of my favorite color combi-
I referenced the colors in between nations because of their subtlety and
colors? This is what I meant. These nuance.

42 yarn colors and counting

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