One of the most fascinating things about knitting and crocheting garments is how colour shapes the final piece.

The same pattern can feel completely different depending on the palette you choose.

A sweater worked in soft neutrals might feel timeless and understated. The very same design in a rich colour or bold tone suddenly becomes a statement piece.

Many knitters discover over time that they're naturally drawn to certain colours again and again.

These colours often become the foundation of a handmade wardrobe.

They're the shades that seem to go with everything. The ones that feel easy to wear and comfortable year after year.

But that doesn't mean there isn't room for something brighter.

Sometimes a single vibrant shawl or colourful sweater can bring energy and personality to an entire wardrobe.

The joy of knitting and crocheting our own garments is that we can choose colours that truly reflect our own style.

There are no trends we have to follow, no palettes we must adopt.

Just the colours we love.

If you're not sure which colours feel most like you, a good place to begin is by looking at the pieces you already wear often. Not the clothes you wish you wore, or the colours you admire on other people, but the garments you naturally reach for in everyday life.

What colours appear again and again? Are they warm or cool? Soft or clear? Light or deep? Quiet or bold?

Your favourite worn pieces can often tell you a lot about the colours that already feel comfortable and easy in your wardrobe.

It can also help to notice the colours you are drawn to outside of knitting. The colours in your home, the landscapes you love, the flowers you photograph, the fabric or artwork you keep coming back to.  These little clues can reveal a palette that feels personal, rather than trend-led.For wearable projects, it can be useful to ask a few simple questions before choosing yarn:

Will this colour work with pieces I already own?

Do I like wearing this colour close to my face?

Would I reach for this shade on an ordinary day?

Does it feel like a colour I love now, but will also enjoy in a year or two?

Sometimes the most useful colours are not always the most exciting in the skein. A quiet neutral, a soft mid-tone, or a familiar favourite may become the sweater you wear constantly. And sometimes the opposite is true: a colour that feels a little unexpected can become the piece that brings everything else to life.

If you're drawn to colour but feel unsure where to begin, shawls, scarves, socks, and smaller accessories can be a lovely way to experiment. They allow you to try a brighter shade, a higher contrast pairing, or a colour outside your usual palette without committing to an entire garment.

One helpful idea can be to keep a small knitting notebook — a place to collect colour ideas and notice the shades you return to again and again.

It doesn't need to be anything elaborate. It might simply be a notebook where you tape in yarn snippets, jot down colour combinations you love, or make note of projects and garments that feel especially wearable.

Some makers even like to keep little colour swatches or palette cards inside their notebooks, so that when it comes time to choose yarn for a new project, they already have a visual reference for the shades they're naturally drawn to.

Over time, this kind of notebook can become a very personal guide. It helps you notice patterns in your own taste, the colours you love near your face, the tones that fit easily into your wardrobe, and the combinations that feel most like you.

Rather than starting from scratch each time, you begin to build your own quiet reference point, one that makes choosing yarn feel more intuitive, personal, and enjoyable.

Over time, you may begin to notice your own colour language forming. A handful of shades you return to. A few colours that make your wardrobe feel more like you. A balance of quiet staples and special pieces that bring a little energy, softness, depth, or joy.

And perhaps that's why handmade pieces often remain favourites for so many years: they were created in colours that felt right from the very beginning.

What colours are you most drawn to in your handmade wardrobe?