Crochet Secrets, Inspiration

Color and Your Mood

Hello, crafter! Welcome to my color and mood post, inspired by the abundance of emerging crochet mood blankets. Enjoy this article full of color theory and the profound influence it has on our mood.

Click here to sign up for my Creative Art Blanket Course! I discuss loads of color theory and how it relates to yarny endeavors.

The Original Mood Predictor

My interest in how color and mood are related began long ago when I put a quarter in a machine, turned the knob, and out popped the ring that would turn my finger green for weeks to come: the mood ring. So mysterious! So accurate! So… adjustable!

Unfortunately, about the only thing the mood ring is good for is telling you if you’re hot or cold. A mood ring contains liquid crystals that change color depending on the temperature.

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Read more about your favorite 70s fad on wikipedia, at retroland.com, or buy a dozen for yourself and all your friends here!

Color and Psychology

Below, you can see my favorite online visual for colors and the moods commonly associated with them. It is from Carey Jolliffe Graphic Arts, and you can read a very detailed related article on the fabulous TheUltraLinx.com here. I love how there are so many colors, which is especially useful for yarn artists or painters!

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Moody Colors

Here is another pretty graphic outlining some color moods. If you want to convey one of these moods, you can try using colors in the nearby color family. This will be helpful for marketing, or even designing a new project.

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The Emergence of the Crochet Mood Blanket

In the beginning of 2014, a big chunk of the online crochet community paid special attention to the relationship between mood and color, because of a wonderful project started by Instagram user @Mummy_Stacey.

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Crochet Mood Blanket Project and More Links

Here are some links related to the “Crochet Mood Blanket 2014” project:

And a few more links with information on mood and color:


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Dig Deeper

With 7 billion people on the planet, sometimes it feels like there are 7 billion different personalities… As it turns out though, as speculated by Carl Jung, there are just 16 unique personality types, and once you figure out which personality type you are, your life will make a lot more sense.

Have you ever felt… different? I actually believe that every single person has felt different than those around them on some level at some point (introverts and extroverts alike), but knowing your Jung Personality Type unlocks key information about yourself that you were unable to fully understand before.

My Jung journey started when I was shocked to see that my Crochet Mood Blanket had very serious colors – pales and darks – instead of the tropical rainbow bright hues that I generally consider my “soul colors” (or colors with which I feel most comfortable).

It seemed that while I dress in bright colors, and I work with mostly brights, my insides are seriously lacking in saturation… What a total shock to me! What was that about? Four hours and an epiphany later, and I’m a completely changed person.

What’s your personality type?

Step 1 (optional research): Head to the Wikipedia article on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. This will tell you about all of the 16 types in general and give you some history behind the theory.

Step 2: Take this short online Jung Typology Test to figure out which 4-letter personality type you are

Step 3: Read the short profile and check out these great links to more information about your type!

  • 16personalities.com (This website has a test also, but it has a scale of strongly agree to strongly disagree, and I feel like it is infinitely harder to answer a question like that rather than just saying yes or no… If you want to take both and compare, go ahead!)
  • personalitypage.com (This site has a ton of information – including some VERY insightful info on children’s personality types that will help you learn more about your child if your personality type is very different from his or hers.
  • mypersonality.info (A very clear and concise site with a fun section with famous people of your same personality type)

There are a lot more links if you start making the Internet search journey, but the three links above are very comprehensive. Also helpful may be the forums that you can stumble upon, but sometimes they are more entertaining than informative..

Step 4: Now that you feel like you have successfully unlocked your character in the game of life, see how your loved ones and friends relate to you! There is so much out there regarding the pairing of two different personality types. Figure out the type of your kids, your partner, your parents, your best friend – soon you’ll be wanting to type everyone 🙂

The Creative Mind: How does your personality type relate to your creative capacity?

These two articles shed some light on the personality of creatives.

psychology.com: “The Creative Personality” – An article that doesn’t mention any Jung Typology, but is thorough and insightful.

mypersonality.info: The Creators Temperament – Incidentally I am in the “Intellectuals Temperament (I’m INTJ),” yet I create bright and vibrant fiber art that people respond to as if I were a creative type. This is due to the fact that I analyze a creative project just like I would any other task… logically and systematically.

I also have a great relationship with color and have had plenty of practice with the skill of colorwork to be able to “feel it out” when it comes to planning and organizing a piece. Just as my INTJ type outlines for me, I research color and design using every possible resource in order to continuously improve.

All that is to say it is possible to “Create” or “Produce Creations” and not be “A Creator” or “Creative Type” – I would not consider myself a particularly creative person. In fact, as a teenager when it interested me, I possessed great skill in drawing, but could only copy something that was put in front of me.

While I could copy a picture with impeccable detail, I could not “invent” a drawing from my mind. This trait is explained by the fact that when INTJs get interested in something, they research, study, and practice it to great lengths until it no longer matters whether or not it “came naturally.”

I can’t speak for the other 15 types, but please read more about “The Creator” and see where your curiosity leads you! I encourage you to read as much as you can about your personality type and use it to evaluate yourself and your current relationships. Reading about INTJ answered all of my questions about why I have behaved a certain way my whole life. You will feel validated and empowered!

Crochet Mood Blanket Pattern for You!

Layout, square pattern, and joining info:

When I saw that the Crochet Mood Blanket 2014 project was circulating around Instagram, I felt its strong gravitational pull. Now, there are over 700 people who have signed up to make a blanket that reflects their changing moods through the year.

What a wonderful idea this has been! Thank you IG user @mummy_stacey for your work organizing this project. For more information on how color relates to mood (lots of links!), and to join up with the daily mood blanket group, please check out my previous post “Color and Your Mood.”

Essentially, for this project I will be creating a square each day with a yarn color that represents my mood. I’ll be joining them to make a big blanket with 365 squares, and at the end, I’ll marvel at the way that my fluctuating mood is visually represented in my warm and personal piece. All of that sweet emotion of creativity sort of mellowed out when I started to think logistics…

What would my layout look like? How could I make it obvious what this project was about? I knew I wanted to somehow represent a calendar-like display, so that I could easily determine my mood phases and even recall important events over the year and how they made me feel.

After a lot of thought, I decided on the layout below which I created in Excel. I will have 30 days per month (lending January 31 and March 1 to February to complete the 30), which means I’ll have 360 squares – 5 days of “vacation” from the project. Each month, I will join squares as I go, then join the months together with a white border.

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Now to choose a square pattern. I initially wanted to go for a traditional granny square patchwork blanket, but my thoughts very quickly started moving toward something closer to a makeup palette box like this one sold on AliExpress.com

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So, I got to work on my idea! Below is my first attempt. I used DK weight yarn and a size H 5mm hook. It came out a bit too thick, and I was worried that if I had any DK yarn brand that was a little heavier, I would be in trouble with a super thick square. I ended up going to an I 5.5mm hook – much better!

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Here is the pattern that I used. It is based on my free Trampoline Block pattern (BabyLoveBrand.net). I used only the first two rounds of the solid square in my selected mood color.

Solid Granny Square pattern (no holes)

Rnd1: Magic Loop and work 1sc, ch2, 3dc, (1tr, 3dc) 3 times, join with ss in second ch of the round.

Rnd2: (1sc, ch2, 2dc) all in joining st, 1dc in every st to corner tr, * (2dc, 1tr, 2dc) in corner st, 1dc in every st to corner st, repeat from * 3 times, 2dc in corner tr to complete first corner, and join with ss in second ch of round, cut yarn and weave ends.

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Switch to your background color and join with a slip stitch in the back loop of any corner tr.

Rnd3: (1sc, ch1, 2hdc) all in corner st, 1hdc in each dc across, working through back loop only, * (2hdc, 1dc, 2hdc) in corner 1tr, 1hdc in each dc across to corner st, repeat from * 3 times, 2dc in beginning corner tr to complete first corner, and join in second ch of the round, cut yarn and weave ends.

Please scroll further for joining instructions!

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Joining your Squares with my PLT Join

Here is a link to a full tutorial on my PLT Join maneuver.

I prefer to join the squares as I go, because I feel like they will get out of order or lost if I don’t. I also work in the ends as I go, that way I don’t have the daunting task of weaving hundreds of ends at the end, which would undoubtedly lead to this project becoming an unfinished WIP… I will be using my BabyLove Brand “Mini-Twist Join” I use this variations of this join in my Geometric Lace and Gumball blanket patterns.

Start with your finished square, all ends woven in.

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Join your background yarn with a slip stitch to any corner, through back loop only. Below, I show you where to put your hook for the corner stitch, so that the back loop doesn’t get too stretched out (since you will be making 5 stitches in that one loop for the corner).

You can see that the hook is through the back loop, but also through an additional loop that lies just below at the back. Feel free to crochet into both of these loops for all stitches around, but I really feel it’s only necessary to do it in the corners.

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Here is what your square will look like with the background yarn joined on with a slip stitch.

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(1sc, ch2, 2hdc) all in corner loops, (1hdc in all dc across to corner tr, (2hdc, 1dc, 1hdc) in next corner loops. Release the loop from the hook. In the picture below, I have not yet worked the final hdc in this step.

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Insert your hook through both loops of the first hdc of the completed piece.. This stitch is indicated below where the hook is. You can also see that the I have put the loop back on the hook at this point because next you need to pull that loop through the stitch.

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Once you pull that loop through, you will make 2hdc and repeat the join by releasing the loop, inserting the hook in the corresponding stitch on the completed motif, placing the loop back on the hook, pulling the loop through, and continuing on.

Please join on every second Hdc across to the Tr corner stitch. Below, you can see where I have joined because there is a little diagonal stitch running across both pieces. This join resembles a little twist.

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Weave ends and Ta-da! 🙂

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Crochet Mood Blanket, Continued

More photos and the progress on my small blanket.

January 7th:

First week complete! I didn’t join the last four squares at this point because I am switching my joining method to a continuous join-as-you-go. (Why didn’t I think of that sooner?! Facepalm..)

January 14th:

I haven’t updated this post in a little while, although I’ve been making my squares along the way.

Changes that I Made to My Original Idea

1) I am not necessarily adhering to the color chart that I linked in the main project post, because it felt too much like I was trying to pigeon-hole myself into a certain mood color.. as in, I was reading the moods and sort of selecting one from a menu rather than really picking a color from my gut. PS: YES that is a metallic shiny GOLD on my birthday January 13th – haha! Who doesn’t feel like a rock star on her birthday?!

2) I am joining continuously (here is a link to my tutorial page on that). I did stray from my tutorial pattern in that I am using a mini-twist join, which is the one that I demonstrate in my Gumball and Geometric Lace patterns. Also, at the place where four corners meet, I did a little shell design. It’s dinky, but I like it! 🙂

Were You Surprised by Your Mood?

Okay, now I don’t know how the CrochetMoodBlanket2014 has affected you guys, but it kind of shook me up a little bit. I took a step back from my blanket today, and I was a bit surprised, because the colors are so serious. These are not what I would call my “soul colors” at all, and it got me thinking…

Why? Introspection breeds somber moods? Does the very act of evaluating your mood get you down? Would I choose brights if I were in a bright mood? Yes, I think I would. Am I all brights on the outside and dulls on the inside? (No, I don’t think I am necessarily brights on the outside although brights are what I think speaks to my soul the most.) Is it more simple than all that? Is it just the chilly, grey weather? Why is my mood blanket so serious?

Well, so much thought went into this line of internal questioning that I decided to take a version of the Jung Typology Test to read a little more about my personality type and maybe gain some insight. Folks, I strongly recommend that you take this test. 

Once you have your four-letter type, you can read a slew of articles via Internet search that will give you insight into how people with your type function in life. Parenting, Careers, Relationships, Marriage, and more – examine some of the largest social constructs through clearer lenses. At least, this was my experience.

The discovery that I am in the INTJ personality type opened my eyes! All of the characteristic descriptions were spot on for me, save a couple here and there. If you find that you are also INTJ, you will see what I mean when I say that it answers a lot of questions and doubts.

Go take the test and then research your type. Then make your partner take the test too, and research information on your type pairing. So cool! You won’t regret it!

 

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Thank you for reading this post, and I hope you learned a lot of creatives, and how our mood and colors influence each other!

As always, happy crafting!

Rachele C.