Colourways on different yarn bases April 25 2018, 0 Comments

The way different yarn bases take the same colourway is a constant source of fascination. I thought I'd share on my perceptions as a dyer to maybe give you some insights while you're knitting or choosing yarn.

Here's Salvage on 6 different bases.

Salvage uses 7 colours of dye and is turned in the pots twice.

Floof : Oasis Grande : Wriggle : Lustrous : Crush : Crush DK

Floof - 72% mohair 28% silk - shows the rich, blended depths of colour with the rusty tones working particularly well. It's hard to get a speckle on this base, so I'm aiming for rich, blended tones.

Oasis Grande - 50% camel 50% silk - this starts out on a camel-coloured base, rather than white, so the colour differences tend to be a bit more subtle. But the smooth, silky nature of the yarn makes it a stunning base to work with.

Wriggle - 100% merino singles - the Queen of absorbing dye in exactly the way the dyer intends. The rusty colour glows and where it meets the dark charcoal - that's where the magic happens.

Lustrous - 50% merino  50% silk - probably the lightest of the yarn types as the the silver shines from the silk giving a whole new dimension to the colourway. Definitely the most glowing. 

Crush - 75% merino 25% nylon - like the Wriggle, the dye doesn't stray too far from what you want it to do. Intense rust with proper speckles of charcoal, with all 7 colours put in to creating the colourway visible.

Crush DK - 75% merino 25% nylon - this thicker yarn takes the dye slightly differently again. Colours are more blended but there's a different vibrancy to the other yarn types. The picture below shows a swatch of how the colourway knits up and what it's like crocheted.