Crochet Color Palette Generator

Five colors used in equal amounts often look busy. Most good palettes have one or two dominant colors, a couple of supporting colors, and a small amount of accent. The generator suggests a percentage of the total yarn for each color for exactly this reason.

You can use the percentages to work out how much of each color to buy: multiply your total yardage by each color's percentage. For example, a blanket needing 2,250 yards with a color at 30% needs about 675 yards of that color. Our yarn calculator gives the total.

Colors on screen and real yarn never match perfectly. Screens vary, and yarn texture changes how a color looks. Use the hex codes and color names as a guide, then:

• Compare in daylight, holding the balls together.
• Squint at them. It shows whether the colors have enough contrast in lightness, which matters more than hue for stripes and colorwork to show up.
• Photograph them in black and white to check the contrast between colors.
• Make a small striped swatch before committing to a big project.

• Baby blankets: soft pastels or the Nursery Baby style, with one slightly deeper accent so it doesn't look washed out.
• Granny squares: a strong neutral (cream or charcoal) for the final round of every square ties many colors together.
• Temperature blankets: you need a graded range of colors; see the temperature blanket generator.
• Home décor: take one color from the room, such as a cushion or rug, and build around it.