When a color doesn’t spark joy

When I choose colors for crochet, I don’t rely on the color wheel; instead, I pay attention to what I think of as the “mood” of a color, and I ask myself “how does this color make me feel when it next to this other color?” For this project, if a color doesn’t spark joy, it’s got to go.

So I found myself with a bit of a color conundrum on my hands. I had thought the color choices I made for the first of two granny square blankets I am working on were “good enough”–and they were, up until they weren’t.

As I crocheted the eighteenth round, I found myself liking the blanket less and less.

I kept trying to make the feeling go away, but like so many feelings, it wouldn’t take no for an answer. After too many hours spent thing “should I frog this or not?” frogging finally won out, and I did what one sometimes must do: I performed what I think of as a crochet reset.

I frogged my way back to where I was happy with my progress, and I tried a new set of three colors in two different configurations. After examining the change up close:

I took a step back to see how it looked to me from a distance of a couple of feet:

Then I set it aside so my mind could let the color options percolate, and I resumed work on Pochacco, an amigurumi from the Hello Kitty Crochet collections.

This book has turned out to be much more of a favorite of mine than I had expected it to be. I had thought I would make a couple of the figures and be done with it, but I am now on my fifth figure with at least three more planned.

But today I was focused on my first Pochacco. I am making him to coordinate with the second great granny square blanket and today I got this far with him:

A future light coral, rouge, and pretty 'n pink Pochacco, amigurumi Hello Kitty toy
A future Pochacco

By the time I reached this point I had had a couple of hours to ruminate on my color choices for the giant granny square, and, I went back to the first of two new great granny square blankets I am working on, and got to work.

Using my 5.5 mm hook and Red Heart Super Saver cherry, I frogged the turqua that I had previously used for the sixteenth round and got to work on the new sixteenth round.

As I crocheted a round of cherry red, the relief I felt was palpable, and I stopped and took this photo:

A sixteen round (so far) multicolor granny square blanket that sparks joy

I could have pushed on, but I decided that at least for today, I would enjoy the way the colors now spark joy for me, and tomorrow, or the next day, I will continue to move forward one stitch at a time.

3 thoughts on “When a color doesn’t spark joy

  1. So amazing the colors and our reactions to them! Looks awesome! 🙋💯💗

  2. Your use of yellow really keeps the sequence alive. Love the lite/dark contrast.

  3. As a fine art painter first, and a crocheter second, I have learned the hard way to rely on color theory, sample weaves, and “fingernail paintings“. In the long run it saves so much time and work—especially in painting where “frogging” may mean throwing a canvas in the trashbin! Color mood still plays a part, but color theory teaches why some color combinations work and others just plain clash. It is worth exploring. Love your amigurumi!!!

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