In this particular case, the colorway was inspired by a yarn my mother had purchased and described to me over the phone. That yarn had a colorway name of "newsprint" if memory serves, and I found myself immediately inspired by the romantic idea of the peaceful scene around your morning newspaper and coffee.
I dyed this yarn in my roasting pans using a high acid solution soak and my scribble dyeing technique in which I apply dye to the yarn in random patterns using condiment bottles. For this colorway I incorporated a black, silver and coffee brown tone. What I created captured the warm yellow brown tones left behind by coffee rings on the varying intensities of print found on your morning paper. This colorway makes me feel all warm and relaxed and peaceful; triggers all the feelings of that newspaper and coffee experience.
This experience/emotional triggering is often my goal when creating colorways. I want to surround myself/my knitting customers in warm, happy, memory drenched familiarity.
If you are looking to create a colorway and need inspiration, look to your favorite activities. Look at the colors of the environment that holds that activity for you. Whether it's the color of the tile at your favorite spa, the seats and drapes of your local theater, or as simple as the color of your fuzzy slippers, a yarn dyeing in these colors will provide you a gateway to re-experiencing this happy place for the duration of the project you knit with it, and the life of the product you produce.
After I finish reading the paper over a cup of coffee, I have a cowl to knit that will remind me of that morning quiet time for years to come.
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