Planning colour

Colour decides how a piece reads from two metres away, which is the only distance most people ever see it from.

Contrast before hue

Two colours of similar brightness blur into one at a distance, however different they look on the spool. A light against a dark reads clearly even in colours that would not normally be combined.

Pattern cords

Striped, diamond and camo cords carry their own contrast. Pairing two patterned cords usually produces noise; one pattern against one solid does not.

Placement

In a cobra, the two working strands alternate, so the colours appear as a stripe down each edge. In a snake knot they spiral. The same pair of colours produces a completely different result in each knot, which is worth testing on a key ring first.

Buying

Colour ranges including stripes and diamonds are listed here: patterned cord (https://www.123paracord.co.uk/paracord/paracord-550-type-iii/stripes/).