One question I receive all the time concerns which colorways will work well with one another. So many new knit and crochet patterns call for mix-and-match variegated yarns, and it can be overwhelming to try to coordinate multi-color yarns with one another. I get it. I have been to fiber shows and asked the dyer for guidance on which of their colorways might coordinate best with something I have chosen. I mean, who would know better than the dyer?
I considered building color-coordinated kits, which seem to be a popular and convenient way to package harmonizing yarns. But how do you keep up with which patterns are en vogue? What if your customers aren't interested in the patterns you've built the kits around? What if they have something else in mind but the kits aren't in the right quantities for what you need? Sure, they can ask you to split a kit or customize an order (and we totally would do that!), but at a busy show or when online-shopping, that may not be very convenient.
Then it came to me.
I may be showing my age here, but remember that clothing line where you would match items based on animals? The clothes themselves had tags with different animal icons on them and if you picked a pair of pants with a tiger, then you knew any of the shirts with tigers on the tag would match. This is how six-year-old me picked my clothes out for school each day.
Adult me wanted something just as straight forward to help coordinate yarn for my projects. I figured I can't be the only one that wants to avoid the anxiety that might come along with choosing colors and get on with the business of crafting. How could I facilitate that?
Palettes, that’s how!
I can't even begin to tell you how happy this idea has made me. It all just "clicked" in my heart and mind. I have created several colorways; specially mixed colors that all coordinate with one another. Some are variegated, some tonal solids, some striped or speckled. Each yarn is labeled with the colorway name AND the palette name. If you choose any yarn from a given palette, it will coordinate with the others within the same palette. Easy peasy!
Need a contrasting heel/toe/cuff for your socks? Choose a color in the same palette, but not part of your striped or variegated main color. Want to make a fade pattern? Choose multiple variegated yarns within the same palette for the perfect combo. Buy the quantities you need in one, two, or five different colors to make that perfectly wild shawl you've been eyeing, but could never quite figure out how to choose the right colorway combination.
Periodically, I will create 4 new palettes - a warm, cool, omni, and neutral. I may also add to old palettes with new colorways with limited edition or deviant dyes. The first palettes will debut at Delmarva Wool & Fiber Expo in Ocean City, MD this weekend. In the meantime, they will be available on the website as made-to-order. Ready-to-ship will be added to the shop after the show.
February 2018 Palettes are The Rockies (cool), Painted Desert (warm), Coral Reef (omni), and Tundra (neutral).