From print to pattern: Translating colour inspiration into knitting

 

Risograph print images used with kind permission from © Sarah Cliff 

Colour inspiration

I was inspired by Sarah Cliff’s risograph prints from the moment I saw them at Glasgow Print Fair. The vivid floral riso pops just sing against that deliciously deep matt black background - perfection! I didn’t just want one of her prints, I wanted them all, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist translating those colours into knitting.

I’m very into the flowers on a dark background aesthetic at the moment. I just needed to find the right pattern.

The pattern

I was looking for colourwork with floral style motifs. It needed to be clean, simple, and not an all-over pattern; something with a large amount of blank space around the motifs to echo the prints. 

 Around the same time, Susan Crawford’s latest book, A Stitch in Time: Volume 3 was pubished and the Peggy vest immediately caught my eye. Susan was even having a KAL to celebrate her new release. Perfect timing!

Matching the colours

Choosing the background colour was fairly easy. I didn’t want a flat solid black. Instead I went with a Jamieson’s of Shetland limited edition colour called Black Ice. It has a black grey blue blend with a deep heathery texture, similar to the risograph black, which has slight variations to the ink and a visual texture.

I tried to match the colour pops closely, with a lighter tint to further bring the pop forward in the motif. A more literal translation would have had the flower petals with a yellow centre, but I felt that this wouldn’t create the right proportions of colour in the knitted motifs. There is only a teeny yellow centre in the prints, and the centre of the motif covers a few stitches.

For the leaves, I didn’t match the green on purpose. The vivid yellow green works perfectly in the print, whereas I felt a more tonal match would work better in knitting. Placing the balls next to each other, the pink, yellow, and blue colour pops are enough for a garment. I didn’t want the green to be fighting for attention too, especially as I planned to use it in the zigags at the top and bottom of the motifs (the perfect representation of the leaves!)

Choosing a colour and the swatch

One way to see for sure that the colours will work together is to swatch. I knit a narrow tube in the round, cut it open, and blocked it. The original intention was to pick one colour for all three bands, but as soon as I saw them together I knew I wanted to use them all! They worked so beautifully together, just like Sarah’s prints.

I posted my swatches on social media and was amazed by the response. Everyone pretty much confirmed what I was thinking: all three colours looked too good together to exclude any of them. One knitter even told me they’d swapped their grey background for black after seeing mine!

Final thoughts

I'm so happy with how the vest turned out. Not just because the colours sing, but because every time I wear it, I’m reminded of the fun I had with the creative process from print to knitwear.

I hope this encourages you to trust your eye, swatch bravely, and look beyond the yarn shelf for your next colour choice. Who knows? Your next knit might start with a piece of art, a sunset, or even a favourite mug.