Volteado: In Color

All photos courtesy of Tanis Lavallee / Tanis Fiber Arts

If you're planning to knit Volteado, I bet you're excited to pick your colors--that's half the fun, isn't it? Imagining all the possible combinations and how they'll look together. Deciding and then changing your mind, and then changing it again until you finally settle on the perfect color combo.

Or maybe not. Maybe choosing colors stresses you out. So much room for error. What if your chosen colors don't work well together--there's not enough contrast or one makes the other look washed out? Too much pressure!

The yarn used in my sample socks comes from Tanis Fiber Arts. Tanis has some of the most gorgeous and unique colorways I've seen, and I can't seem to stop myself from placing a couple orders each year--even though I have to pay for shipping from Canada! It's totally worth it.

No one knows these colors better than Tanis herself, so I asked her if she could suggest some color combos for Volteado, for the color-averse among us. Here are a few of her ideas:

Oh, I love this one. I ogle Lucky Penny every time I'm on her site, trying to decide what I would do with it. I already have a skein of Gold. I might have to just go ahead and grab Lucky Penny and make myself a second pair of socks.

So bright! So fruity! Lemongrass looks fresh and clean, and Grape would be a gorgeous complement.

Another one I LOVE! I also have a skein of Iris. I'd love to see how it would work in these socks.

A more muted palette, I love this combo of blues. This might work for a masculine take on the sock, too (the larger size could work for a gentleman whose feet aren't exceptionally big; you might also try playing with the gauge to make a larger size.).

And for fun, here are two combos I considered when planning my socks:

 Very autumnal and cozy looking.

And in contrast, very bright and spring-y!

Tanis also pointed out that Charcoal, Chris Grey, Natural and Sand are neutrals, so they work with pretty much every color--if you're just dipping your toe into color mixing, you might choose one of these for your contrast color, to make the decision a little less intimidating. You just have to narrow down your main color from this beautiful selection:

(That's just the ones I could fit in a screenshot!)

Incidentally, Tanis also said some very sweet things about the Volteado socks. Isn't that nice? I love fiber people.

I hope this look at color jump starts your planning process for Volteado. Be sure to visit Tanis' site to see all the colors she offers (she also has two other fingering weight yarns that would work for these socks: sparkly Cosmic Blue Label and Purple Label with cashmere!).

And if you are planning to knit a pair, would you be interested in a KAL? I'm consider hosting one in the MediaPeruana Designs group--maybe I could even rustle up a few prizes! But I want to gauge interest before I commit, so if you're interested in KALing, leave a comment here, or visit the Volteado pattern thread, and tell me you'd like to do a KAL!

ETA: The KAL is a go! Join us here!