The Henning Cowl - Playing with Color

When I design something for a magazine, I usually get to work with the editor a little bit on yarn choice and the overall design. I might visualize the finished object a particular way, but the editor has a much bigger picture to keep in mind, including colour trends, advertisers' needs, and the pattern range being presented in the issue. 

Originally, I had swatched for Henning Cowl in a subdued palette of greys and muted blue. But when the editor for Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2012 needed to go with green, I was pleased to play around with the greens available in Filatura's Zara. They've got a really nice colour palette, which includes heather and overdyed melange options.

There's a lot of colourplay in Henning because of the stripes, and the slipped stitches, and also the visible reverse stockinette, where the contrast colour bumps add a new visual element.

I've been playing around in Photoshop with the photo I have of Henning on a mannequin, trying out some different combinations. On the left, I added a dense burnt orange filter, and got a great coppery Henning. On the right, I used the Hue shifter to move the greens all the way to blue-green.

I'll post a few more of these virtual colour transformations. I really want to see Henning in taupe...