Hand Dyed Yarn Colorway Types

Semisolid? Tonal? Variegated Colorway?  What's that?

If you have been shopping for hand dyed yarn for long, you've most likely heard these descriptors and wondered what they mean - especially since some indie dyers have different definitions of what makes something like a tonal colorway, a tonal.

Here's a quick rundown of how I define the various colorway styles, to help you on your shopping journey with me.

Knit and crochet swatches of hand dyed pink and purple merino wool yarn.

 

Skeins of hand dyed copper brown merino wool yarn

Semisolid

Semisolid hand dyed yarn consists of one color, but because of the nature of hand-dyeing you will see subtle variation in intensity throughout the hank of yarn. For some colors you might get very slight color shifts, but from a distance the color will read as a solid - or maybe a solid with a bit of depth. Cider and Black Pine are two examples of my semisolid colorways.

A skein of bulky weight hand dyed variegated yellow and gold wool yarn.

Tonal

Tonal colorways are all designed around a color family - they share the same tones. A green tonal colorway might include some pronounced light and dark shades of the same color, or perhaps warm and cool variations of the color.  This lends a dappled or heathered effect. The Slightly Crunchy Leaves colorway is a great example - it includes many shades of yellow and gold, from butter yellow to mustard and brassy gold.  But it's all gold!  My tonal colorways will all work well for colorwork.

Skeins of pink and red hand dye merino wool yarn arranged with flowers.

Variegated

Variegated yarn has more contrast than semisolid or tonal yarn, and could contain anywhere from two to a dozen different colors within a single skein. 

Some variegated yarn has a completely random application of the color, while others repeat the colors regularly throughout the skein and might end up with a bit of flashing or pooling depending on your stitch count and pattern. Variegated yarn is lots of fun for socks and small projects like hats and cowls. 

Dahlia and Blackberry are two popular subtle variegated colorways in the shop.



A skein and knit swatch of pale blue and yellow hand dyed merino wool yarn designed for assigned pooling.

Assigned Pooling Yarn

Assigned Pooling yarn is designed specifically for assigned pooling projects, but can of course be used for any kind of project if you want!  Assigned Pooling yarn is typically solid colored or tonal, with one end dyed a contrasting color.  You can use a different stitch pattern, like the Floret Stitch, to make this contrast color stand out in your finished project. The Daffodil Field and Mojito colorways would both work great for Assigned Pooling patterns!

Here is a super helpful video by Dawn Barker on how to knit the Floret Cluster Stitch.