Choose a dominant mood first
Decide whether the project should feel calm, bright, earthy, soft or high-contrast. This immediately narrows the kinds of color relationships that make sense.
Watch value as well as hue
Two colors can be different hues but very similar in lightness. If a stitch pattern depends on contrast, include enough light-versus-dark difference for the design to read clearly.
Use repetition intentionally
Repeating a dominant color between stronger accents can make a multi-color project feel more unified. Random-looking stripe order often improves when one or two colors create a recurring rhythm.
Add neutrals when the palette feels too busy
Cream, gray, charcoal, tan and other quiet colors can create breathing room between stronger hues.
Work with the yarn you actually have
YarnChooser generates palettes from your saved stash and lets you force or exclude specific yarns, which makes the result more realistic than choosing abstract colors first and shopping afterward.