[B]If the yarn is for something to make for me. I choose colors that look good on me.
If it’s for a certain room in our house, I get a color that goes with that room.
If it’s for a friend or relative, I go with what looks good on them, or one they like.
OR, you can with what YOU SIMPLY LIKE. 
Hope it helped.
Then there is always the YEARS COLOR. This years seems to be DARK BROWN - Very Faded Pink/rose. - Dark Hunter Green. (Almost black.)[/B]
Well, if it’s for someone, then i choose the colors that person likes (for example, i’m about to start a pink shrug for my sister and i hate pink!). For myself, i have the colors i don’t like and will not knit myself something in that colour and there are also combinations i don’t like. for instance, i probably won’t use Noro too much, because they combine so many colors in one yarn and i don’t always like the outcome (though i love the things other knit with that!). HTH
I’m definitely an impulse buyer. If I see yarn I like in colors I like, I’ll buy 2-3 skeins and then find something to make with it. Or, if I have a pattern I want to make, then I’ll hit the online stores and find a color I like and order the correct qty. I am really drawn to bright pinks/blues/purples and greens so all my yarn is in those color ranges.
How funny, after the malabrigo sale thread, I was going to post this same topic. I had such a hard time choosing!!! And I was afraid colors were going to sell out while I was deciding 
I finally went with Sunset and Verdes (cleaned those two out), and 2 skeins of lime blue. I would have taken more lime blue instead of one of the other colors, but there wasn’t enough for a sweater. I always buy enough for a sweater, especially at that price!
If I just picked the first color I always like first, I would make everything some variation of purple. I just always like purple. I make myself branch out though. I try to get a color I don’t already have, something unique and interesting … which often leads me to colors I end up hating. For example, right now I have a bunch of Atacama in color #501 but now I think I hate it. I also have a sweater’s worth of Reynolds Odyssey in Orange Mix and I am a bit concerned that I hate that too.
But maybe I don’t hate them after all? Maybe I just need to knit them up - I even have patterns for them! Maybe if they were in FO form I wouldn’t hate them. This has happened in the past, lol.
[COLOR=Purple][SIZE=6]YAY PURPLE! :woot:[COLOR=Black]
[SIZE=2]v.[/SIZE]
[/COLOR][/SIZE][/COLOR][SIZE=6][COLOR=Purple][SIZE=2][/SIZE][/COLOR][/SIZE]
The yarn I’m considering is LB Cotton Ease. I’m working on my third project with that stuff, and I 
it. I want to make a sweatshirt-type sweater… or maybe [B]Bluebell[/B] from [I]Fitted Knits. [/I](Sorry I don’t know how to link to the pattern.)
OK so maybe I’m just an indecisive person…:??
I know! I’ll write each color on a card, close my eyes, and pick! Or maybe… make DH pick.:yay:
The funny thing is, I’m organizing my Christmas knitting and I didn’t have such a difficulty choosing color for other people.:shrug:
Bip - You described what has been going on in my head, LOL. Just replace Purple with Blue. :clink:
When knitting a sweater for yourself, the best thing to think would be “Which color would I wear the most?”
There are many luscious colors I’m drawn to, but wouldn’t actually wear. I don’t wear much purple, for instance, so even though I’m often drawn to purples, it would be silly for me to spend the time knitting a purple sweater.
I tend to pick similar colors that I like (usually variations on blue/aquamarine/teal/navy/slate/grey), but I’m trying to branch out more.
I really like the two articles linked below (from Knitty). The second article is especially good because it talks about color values and how to select complementary colors that aren’t too close together in value.
On color theory: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall04/FEATcolor.html
Cheating at color theory: http://www.knitty.com/issuewinter06/FEATcolortheory.html
Thanks for those links! They are super helpful. Much better than my close-my-eyes-and-pick idea. 
Lol, guess what? I ordered the Malabrigo in verdes, but she e-mailed me that she didn’t have it. Guess what she had? Purple mystery! Can’t argue with fate :)!!!
I choose colors based on A) what colors I like B) what colors go with what is already in my wardrobe (doesn’t make sense to make a raspberry colored top if the only thing I can wear with it is jeans) or C) what strikes me at the moment - which can totally cancel out A and B which means I would have a raspberry top regardless of what I have to go with it!
I rarely every go by the color(s) that are called for in the project. My son wanted an Animal Crackers hat (from Charmed Knits) to complete his Ron costume. I did make that one per colors suggested for the hat (although a different brand), but then when I made it the next three times (seems as though everyone wanted one) I used the colors but in different orders. So one is mostly black and one is mostly white and one is mostly green and one is mostly pink.
LOL!
bip, I find that the more I resist the purple (for the sake of diversity of my wardrobe), the more the purple comes back to me! You definitely can’t argue with fate. 
v.