It should be stated that there is a great need for a fuller knowledge of the basic principles of colour harmony and contrast in the knitting industry if the artistic qualities of the knitted product are to be enhanced. Colours are too often employed together without due regard being paid to their suitability, and many knitted productions offend the aesthetic sense in a very marked degree. This is easy to explain, because for a long time the knitted industry was chiefly confined to the manufacture of articles used for underwear and as such did not require to be specially suitable in regard to colour selection, the tints were of the most ordinary character such as drabs, greys, naturals and whites. As the scope of the knitted texture became enlarged and outer garments produced, colour became more important, and those who had previously handled the dull shades extended their activities to the more highly-coloured varieties. The use of these garments has now come to assume such an important rÔle that specialists in colour are required if the productions are to take their proper place on the market. The chief defect of these knitted productions has been their incongruous combinations of bright, strong colours with tints delicate in hue; there has also been too little appreciation of the relative weight of colour, strong contrasting colours being used in too great proportion to the more delicate variety.

Colour Theory.—Some useful hints regarding the use of colour in knitted goods may be gleaned by a study of the colour theory if the operator possesses the instinct to extend the theories to cases which do not come strictly under the technical definitions. According to the pigment theory of colour, which is generally recognized as having the closest application to textiles, three primary colours are given, namely, red, yellow and blue. These are taken as basic or elementary colours, which means that by combining these colours with each other in varying proportions and tinting with white or shading with black, all other colours can be produced. The general attributes of these colours may be given as follows—

Red is strong and vivid in its nature and at once arrests attention by its power and striking effect on the retina of the eye. It is symbolical of all the attributes of warmth, heat and agitation of the senses, the red cloth incenses the bull, whilst the red flag has also its associations of stirring character. It is used as a signal for danger, and at the same time is found in colour combinations where it is intended to produce an influence of comfort and warmth, the reds and their derivatives are found largely in articles intended for winter wear as the prevailing aspect is that of warmth.

Yellow.—Yellow as a colour calls up visions of a rather conflicting nature which are sometimes difficult to reconcile. At its worst it is regarded as a symbol of the past and indicates a glory that is faded and gone. When white deteriorates in hue, its place is usually taken by a dirty tone of yellow, whilst the yellow discoloured tinge of wool is the bane of many departments of textile manufacture, necessitating expensive bleaching operations. It is likewise the colour of the fading leaf and denotes decaying life in the vegetable world. In its sense as a primary colour, yellow has an entirely different meaning and denotes brightness and gaiety as prevailing characteristics, it is outstanding in the property of luminosity, it is bright and attractive, and its use on gala days greatly contributes to the festive spirit. Yellow by itself cannot be said to occupy a prominent place in the knitting industry except for the purposes of brightening up otherwise sombre blends, when it is used in a limited quantity according to the character of the ground. The colour in its modified form such as salmon and canary shades prove very attractive for the summer knitted coat and scarf trade; the most brilliant derivatives of yellow have an enormous success in certain years for the height of the summer season, these colours being of a brilliance and gaiety which could never be permitted in other departments of the textile industry. When toned down to make tan shades, it has an extensive use in all branches of the knitting industry.

Blue.—Blue may be considered the great corrective of the other two primary colours, and although inherently useful by itself it is in combination with others that its full value comes to be recognized. It stands in direct antithesis to the two primary colours red and yellow, and in its primary form is indicative of coldness and gloom combined with a certain strength and harshness. On the other hand, when enlivened by a tinting agent such as white, it becomes extremely bright and stands out distinct from all other colours. When toned with black its sombre qualities are intensified, particularly that coldness and aloofness which makes it the recognized official colour for formality and duty. It is by no means a sociable member, and care has to be exercised in bringing it into combination with other colours in a fabric, special regard having to be given to its strength and intensity which in many cases give rise to hardness of colour effect and displeasing results in colour harmony.

Secondary Colours.—To produce the whole range of colours from these three primaries in combination requires attention to certain well-defined principles, and in dealing with the possible combinations of a given number of colours, the total number of permutations should be considered seriatim. If they are selected in a haphazard manner, many of the best colour effects may be overlooked. In regard to the primary colours, only three permutations are possible, and each of these combinations of the ordinary colours are two at a time, namely, red with blue giving purple, red with yellow yielding orange, and blue with yellow giving green. These combinations hold good in various ways when adopted for blending colours in yarns and fabrics. In the case of dyes the primary yellow is blended with the primary blue to give the secondary green, the result being quite clearly defined. When wool dyed with primary red is blended fibre with fibre with wool dyed primary blue, a melange of coloured fibres is obtained which gives a green mixture effect, but there is a decided difference in the quality of the green so produced in comparison with dyes mixed in the dye bath. The general quality of colour resulting is of a less defined character, if the melange be examined at close range, the individual green and yellow fibres may be quite well distinguished, but a little way off the predominant effect is green due to the mixing of the yellow and blue in the eye. The third manner of blending is less satisfactory in result although more readily performed, and that is the twining of two coloured yarns together. A yellow thread folded with a blue will produce a yellow and blue beaded effect in the yarn, but when worked into the knitted fabric the general result is green, provided the twist is not too slack nor the gauge too coarse. The best example of this form of colour blending is to be found in the basses of intermediate colour found in the patterns of clan hosiery used by officers and men of Highland regiments. If, for instance, the ground-coloured basses are yellow and blue, there would appear solid diamond squares of these colours with squares of melanged colour intervening. The two ground colours are given a slight twist on the winding frame by spooling the two yarns together, the twist going on to the yarn when the threads are issuing from the bobbin. The two solid colours twisted together in this way make a result which is predominantly green in aspect, although the marl character is not entirely concealed. This system of colouring provides an explanation of the fundamental harmony of such productions, for the yellow element of the melange answers to the solid yellow diamond and preserves contact with it, whilst the blue element of the ground preserves liaison with the solid blue diamond squares of the patterns. Although these patterns are built with colours of primary or secondary character in strong contrast, the groundwork of marl produced by twining the two bright colours together preserves harmony between the strong ground colours. These Highland patterns are very striking in hue, but the basic harmony of colour here outlined has much to do with their never-failing popularity for military as well as civilian wear.

Qualities of Secondary Colours.—Yellow and red primary colours mixed, blended or marled together give an orange secondary, and it will be seen that a secondary unites the qualities of the two primaries of which it is composed. Orange is a most brilliant colour because it combines the strong and arresting characteristics of red with the luminosity and brilliance of yellow. Orange and a number of its near relations in the colour scale have an important rÔle to perform in knitted goods. Owing to its strength and intensity it has not a large use for the ground of a garment, but employed as a fancy in minute quantities it is distinctly effective. Thus it is employed in collars, rosettes for belts, where the smallest tip of the colour is often sufficient to give brightness and charm to a composition which might otherwise be dull and feeble. With suitable ground shades it may be found in certain seasons as a covering for buttons where the small colour circle in harmonious surroundings gives a very elegant result.

When red and blue are blended together the result is purple, and this is a secondary colour which in many respects possesses an individuality absolutely unique. Recalling the strong and bright qualities of the red and the coldness and strength of the blue, these qualities are effectively fused and blended in the resulting purple. Real secondary purple has a depth, richness, saturation and bloom which cannot be approached by any other colour, the aggressive qualities of the red are effectively subdued by the retiring qualities of the blue, whilst in both is a strength of character which is the basis of the undoubted handsomeness of the purple. There is an air of quiet dignity about purple, qualities are held in reserve which do not strike the eye at first sight, and these undoubtedly form the basis of its use for ceremonial robes, where it is desired to give the fullest expression to dignity, pomp and power. Purple can be used with great effect as a ground colour, but as such is difficult to blend with other colours for good results, it is socially "stand-offish," and its companions have to be carefully selected if harmonious and helpful results are to follow. Purple and its near relations heliotrope, mauve, etc., quickly respond to the brightening effects of a pure white when combined in a garment, and white edging greatly enhances the richness and gives it increased brightness. Used with black it provides an effective mourning combination as the black tones down the whole colour aspect.

Green is also a secondary of considerable utility in the knitted goods trade, and has qualities distinctly suitable for use in an extended capacity. The primal components are yellow with blue, that is, the brightest primary blends its qualities with those of the darkest primary colour and the resultant is distinctly different from either of its components. In examining a purple or an orange secondary, for instance, the component primaries can always be distinguished, but in green it is not always possible to detect the primary components at a glance. The brightness and luminosity of the yellow tone into the strength and coolness of the blue with the result that the secondary green is cool and refreshing in aspect and proves what has been termed a sociable blending colour, it is not difficult to harmonize and is not too fastidious as to its associates. Green is a colour which has to be used very carefully because in itself it is not always suitable for a ground, and is improved in association with other colours. All secondary colours can be varied in quality according as either of the two primary constituents is made to predominate in the blend, and this quality is more marked in the case of green than any other. The quality of the green can be varied from yellowish green which has only a modicum of blue in it, to a blue green where the yellow can only be traced with difficulty. This range of greens is very extensive and undergoes a great change in quality according as one or other of the primary constituents is made to rule.

Colour Harmony.—The question of colour harmony is one which requires a long experience to be efficient in, and rules of theory can never replace the skill in blending colours, which comes as the result of highly-trained natural talent. When one examines the crude combinations of colour which are so often placed on the market by the makers of knitted articles, it is obvious that knowledge of the principles of colour harmony as they are set forth in any book on colour would be instrumental in avoiding many of the glaring defects which have characterized certain branches of the knitting industry in the past. These productions often violate every law of colour harmony and are a grave menace to the prosperity of the industry. The more progressive manufacturers are now becoming fully alive to the importance of this subject, and are taking trouble to engage the services of managers who have received a long and careful training in the blending of colour and the art of garment production. In any branch of the textile industry there is a large and important section of colour effects which depend on the principle of colour analogy, that is, the colours employed are of the same nature in regard to quality and hue, but they differ in strength or intensity, they are lighter or darker in hue. The best-known examples of colour analogy are, of course, the greys, and colour effects are produced by dark grey used along with mid grey, or mid grey employed with light grey and so on. At the upper end of the series the light grey can be graduated into white, whilst at the lower end the dark greys can be graduated into black. These colour combinations are always in favour, and no matter what the prevailing shade may be there is always a certain proportion of trade done in the neutral tints. In the knitted coat trade are found grounds of grey and variety introduced by having the garment bound round the edges with white to brighten or with black to tone down the ground. Another effective method is to have the binding done in black and white striped fabric worked two courses white with two courses black on the ordinary flat knitting machine in a horizontal stripe, and these impart an appearance of considerable smartness to the garment. A large number of pleasing and serviceable articles are made by folding white with black, or light grey with dark grey, and working these together in the knitting machine. If the yarns lend themselves to raising on the teasles of the gig, the individuality of the separate threads is covered up and the final effect is a pleasing grey. In addition to the folding of greys with each other in a twist yarn, suitable contrasts may be obtained by using various tints of lavender for the garments as these harmonize with grey and black and white combinations. What applies to the grey colour blends of analogous effects also applies to the shades and tints of other self colours. Very useful designs are obtained by having various shades of brown in one and the same garment, the edging often being of fawn to brighten up the articles, whilst a garment of fawn ground may be effectively toned down by a dark-brown scheme of colouring for the edges, tops of pockets, belts and cuffs. Greens are not great favourites for analogous colourings, because if an article is too decidedly green it tends to nauseate the wearer in a way which would not happen with brown. A blue garment may be effectively designed with trimmings of darker or lighter blue as the case may be; also mauves, purples and heliotropes may be made the foundation of pleasing colour schemes of analogy.

Colour Contrast.—Most foremen have a fairly good idea of the methods of using colours in articles where the scheme is mono-chromatic or one-coloured, but when it is a matter of blending colours which are entirely different in character and hue the difficulties begin. The most usual faults are combining colours which can never harmonize so as to give results agreeable to the aesthetic sense; colours are combined which vary greatly in relative depth of hue, that is, light, delicate shades are employed indiscriminately with colours which are strong and decided in nature. In regard to colours which should harmonize in a poly-chromatic or a multicoloured combination, the basic principles of harmony as enunciated by the colour theory may be of service in many cases. In this connection it is necessary to define the complimentary pairs of colours to be found in the range of primaries and secondaries which have been already discussed. Whenever two colours are placed together so as to fulfil the condition of complementariness, all three primaries must be present in the combination. Thus we have purple and yellow as a complementary pair, the purple being composed of red and blue with yellow as the remaining primary. When these two colours are employed together the idea is that the harmonic triad is complete and the result is pleasing, because the eye perceives all the chief elements in a perfect colour circle. In the same way red and green are regarded as complementary because green being composed of yellow with blue, the remaining primary is red which is found by combining these two complementary colours together. The remaining complementary pair are orange and blue.

Colour Separation.—The colour theory shows that complementary colours produce an effect pleasing to the eye, and this simple principle may be found quite a useful guide if the worker exercises discrimination in employing colours which are as nearly as possible of the same depth of hue or of the same weight of colour. Heavy, strong colours cannot be employed successfully with colours which are delicate and light in effect, or at least the quantity of the strong vivid colours has to be reduced in proportion to the strength of the light colour. If the relative weight of colour be carefully considered, colours of varying intensity and weight may be employed together with quite good results, but there are members of the colour circle which can never harmonize when placed in juxtaposition. In such cases a harsh and displeasing result may be avoided by a judicious use of black or white as separating agents, and the maker of knitted articles has not sufficiently appreciated the saving grace of these toning and tinting agents. They can be introduced quite simply on the knitting machine by about two courses of black or two courses of white inserted between the offending colours and these have the influence of considerably modifying the harsh effect to the eye of the observer. The result of two colours placed in juxtaposition depends to some extent on the nature of the stitch, colours which show indifferently when appearing in continuous stripes may prove quite attractive when employed in a fancy stitch where the colours intersect in fragments.

Weight of Colour.—The weight of any colour is based on its position in the colour scale as has already been mentioned, any colour may be modified by the addition of white or of black which is carried out either in the dyeing operation or in blending of coloured wools. For any colour a scale of weights may be determined according as it is a tint or a shade of the colour. The tints can be so thin that they almost approximate to white for delicate effects, whilst the shades may be so dark that very little of the ground colour may be discernible, the effect being almost black. When blending colours, whether of the same quality or of different hue, regard must be had to its position in this scale of tints or tones, for fabrics where two colours are combined in equal quantities the best results will be attained by employing them as nearly as possible of the same weight, if one colour predominates over the other in strength or brightness, it should be used in relatively less proportion to prove effective. If colours differ greatly in intensity the more heavily toned colour should, as a rule, be employed in relatively less proportion to the lighter shade.