The Magic of Speckled Yarn

We get a lot of questions about what kinds of yarn can work in what kind of project. We wanted to take some time and give some of the insight that we have learned in our knitting, crocheting, dyeing, and general fiber craft experiences.

In this spotlight we want to tackle speckled yarn.

Speckled yarn comes in a couple of different looks. There are more than a few techniques used to produce it. A yarn can be heavily speckled, lightly speckled, under-dyed another color before it is speckled, or speckled on top of white or natural colors. Different techniques might produce long, large speckles or short crisp speckles.

In the past few years, speckled yarn has become more and more popular. It is striking and beautiful, and can really stand out among other yarns on the shelf. But, how functional is it really?

Functionality

The answer is; VERY functional. Use it to your advantage in almost any kind of project. Get the striking beauty of a variegated yarn, without having to be quite as cognizant of your colors getting bunched up in odd places (otherwise known as pooling). Because speckles tend to draw the variegation out semi-evenly on the hank of yarn, pooling tends to be a lot less of a problem.

Another thing that it does well is to create interest in a piece. If your yarn has an undertone before it is speckled, you will see a greater depth of color. If it was speckled on top of white or natural colored yarn, you are likely to have colors that really pop.

Because of the reasons stated above, it works pretty well for crochet and weaving projects. The color pooling is a bit more random. As a result, you can just go for a project and not necessarily have to be wary of a giant blue or green pooled spot. Any time you are working with a variegated yarn this can be a problem. However, speckled yarn gives you a little bit less to worry about.

Esther Wheeler's Good to the Last Frost Sweater pattern by Kayla Brandt Yarn is Yarn Fairy and the Pixies London calling colorway

Types of Projects

Honestly, I can't think of a type of project it won't work in. Hats? Stunning. Sweaters? You betcha. Shawls? Drop dead gorgeous. Window curtains? I am sure they can be done beautifully, and now I kind of want to try it. Socks look amazing speckled. In addition, any accessory I can think of would look wonderful using a speckled yarn.

Hug Shot Shawl by Casapinka

The magic of speckled yarn is that it can be used with solid or tonal yarn to create even more depth to . For a cohesive project (as pictured above), use a solid that matches one of the colors in your speckles. If you use a contrasting color, one that is different from any of the speckles in your yarn, you can have a project that really stands out and screams "Look at me!", but in the best way.

Special Considerations with Speckled Yarn

Speckled yarns, like any other type of variegated yarn, can vary widely from one hank to the next. Even for experienced hand-dyers, these hanks are not easy to make perfectly matched. However, you can work this to your advantage if you are making something like a sweater, or a multiple hank project.

Firstly, lay all of your hanks out in a nice light area. Then, try to see if one hank has more or less color than the next. Lastly, decide if you want to have your project go from dark to light, or light to dark. Alternatively, you can alternate hanks every row for in the round projects or every two rows for back-and-forth projects.

Try a Speckled Yarn Today!

In closing, speckled yarn is amazing and versatile. If you haven't had a chance to try one, now might be a good time to try. We are having a knit along and special event for "International Hug Your Pet Weekend" Check all the details out here!