New Stylecraft Special Colours

I've been soooooooooooo excited about sharing this post with you, honestly, it's been a devil of a job for me to sit on this fabulous colour news since waaay back in August last year. Yes, my silence has been required for that long, the wait has been ridiculously tough! But finally I'm allowed to unzip myself and tell you all about it, hooooray for that, I've been fit to burst!! 

So as you can see from the above photo, next month Stylecraft will be adding three new colours to their already gorgeous range of Special DK. There are currently 74 colours in the Special DK range so we are already spoilt for choice, but in my opinion there will always be room for a few more. Always.

I've been crocheting with this yarn for almost seven years now (yes, my Granny Stripe blanket will be seven years old in May!), so as you might imagine I am very familiar with the colours. I keep this bowl of Yarn Pegs on the table in my studio and find myself constantly faffing around with them. 

I tip them out, arrange them, line them up in rows, create colours wheels with them and photograph the proceedings. Almost every month my photo archives contain images of these pegs arranged to capture an idea/feeling/memory/colour story that might at some point in the future translate into a colour palette for a crochet project. It's one of my absolute favourite giddy pleasures, I can't tell you how much I love playing with these pegs! 

I thought it would be fun to chat about the three new Stylecraft colours {Buttermilk, Vintage Peach and Mushroom} and take a little look at how they fit in with the existing colours. I did this same thing a few years ago when Sage, Storm Blue and Parma Violet were newbies and I know many of you found it helpful.

First up, lets look at the Buttermilk. This is a delightful shade of soft yellow which is quite close to Lemon, although it's just a bit warmer looking (more butter and less citrus!) I'm not a huge fan of yellow and tend to keep it in very small doses in my colour palettes (if I include it at all), but I do really like the new Buttermilk colour. 

Ahhhh Vintage Peach, you are a beauty! There is a bit of a story behind this colour, as it was actually a choice that was put forward to Stylecraft by a certain Attic dwelling, crochet loving colour-junkie......know anyone who fits that description? This certain person felt that there was a gap that needed filling, a soft and gentle warmth that would sit in between the Apricot and the Shrimp. A sort of a blush, a sort of a peach, not too candy coloured, not too pastel, something slightly earthy and vintage inspired she said.

Sometimes the idea of a colour is insanely difficult to capture in real life, and between the Attic dweller and the yarn maker, there were many back and forth discussions and deliberations. In the end they managed to capture the vintage vibe of a rather  lovely old fashioned colour and bring it to life. I love the warmth of the Vintage Peach, and it really does work beautifully with a good many of the existing colours.

Now finally lets look at the Mushroom. This is one of those colours that is devilishly hard to photograph in that it changes a lot depending on the light and the colours you put it next to. It's very similar to Parma Violet in that respect, and it's a colour that you perhaps need to see in real life before you make your mind up about it. 

When you see Mushroom on it's own it can look rather lavender-ish, but as soon as you place it near the pale purple shades it changes completely and shows it's pretty pink side.

But really, I think this colour does best if you consider it as a very lovely warm neutral. It holds it's own amongst the warmer Stone/Parchment neutrals as well as the cooler Silver/Grey neutrals.

All three of the new colours fall into the softer, lighter part of the Stylecraft colour palette. They each have a slight "grey" element which in colour theory terms is known as a "Tonal" colour - this is often associated with vintage inspired colour palettes and makes these colours very easy on the eye. Tonal colours are different to "Tinted" colours which have white added to them - these are often referred to as pastel colours.

When I was an art student in my late teens I studied colour theory in depth, but (rather unsurprisingly) I've forgotten much of the theory and tend to rely on my instinct instead. I found a very good (and easy to grasp) explanation of basic colour theory to do with hues, tints and shades {HERE} if you are interested in colours and perhaps might like to have a bit of theory tucked under your belt.

Oh I LOVE the above collection of colours - such a pretty row of pegs!! Wouldn't they make a fabulous blanket? 

Speaking of blankets, I'm absolutely loving the stripes of my Hydrangea blanket which is flying off my hook at the moment. I've got two of the new Stylecraft colours in my Hydrangea palette....

....would you like a peek?

I'll be chatting a lot more about my Hydrangea blanket next week - the yarn pack and new blanket pattern will be available from Friday 7th April. You'll also be able to buy the three new Stylecraft Special DK shades from 7th April onwards. It's a colour date for your diaries!

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ps  just to let you know, this is not a sponsored post.

 

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Comments

[Susan]

As a massive fan of hydrangeas generally (I have five large shrubs of them in my tiny garden!), I am loving the new colour pack, and am thinking that might be my next big blanket project. I cannot crochet (only granny squares!), but I love to knit and the knitted feather and fan (otherwise known as shale) pattern is very similar to your lovely ripple pattern. Bring it on! Thank you for keeping us inspired. x

[Aly]

Oh dear! I will be buying the kit for the hydrangea blanket. It will look good with the cupcake, cottage and coast! I gave the moorland one to my daughter who greatly admired it! I am seriously addicted to crochet blankets! But I thank you for introducing me to them!

[Maria João Machado]

So, so pretty colors!!

[mrs. smythe]

Still trying to wrap my head around mushroom and how it changes so much depending on its setting. Fascinating color! I'd love to see you write a bit about acrylic vs. wool and your preferences for fiber. It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on the subject.

[Jenny]

Lovely Lucy thank you love Jenny from Cornwall xx

[Julie Caisey]

I use to work in a craft shop that sold the Stylecraft Special DK. Our wool shelves were square boxes in which nine balls could be on show, and and so often in a spare moment I would re-arrange the colours, which gave others ideas of what went well together

Julie

[ailsa busby]

Thank you for your wonderful post. Your posts are always something to look forward to and are becoming one of my favourite reads.
Although I don't crochet (I know, please forgive) I find your use of colour inspiring.

[DeLynn]

Lucy--this is maybe a silly question, but have you told us before how you do your pegs? I always enjoy seeing them but have never tried creating them! :)

[Susan Oliver]

Love all the colours Lucy I cant wait to see your new Hydrangeas Blanket when it is finished. You have a wonderful eye for colour matching I just love the colours of my cosy stripe blanket.

[Cathy Frye]

Thank you for showing us how the new colors compare mixed in with the current colors. It helps a lot to see them side by side!

[Sierra]

The new colors look fabulous! Thanks for showing us how they fit in with the existing colors!

[Eleonora from Coastal Crochet]

Oooh, such nice colours! Gorgeous colour filled post- thank you 😊❤❤❤

[Katie]

What is needed is a proper pretty pink that has some depth while not being garish or so faded it is insipid. Not so sweet that is is sickly either. The greens are still not right either, which as one of my favourite colours is disappointing. The range has many colours but mostly they are not quite 'nice' enough. Which is a great shame and very frustrating really. When they are all jumbled up together they do become acceptable and some get either toned down or enlivened by their more upbeat neighbours.

Yellow is a lovely colour but very hard to dye up apparently. The buttermilk is lovely and my favourite of the new range. I have seen the colours already on another blog post and the peach seemed a little more subtle in the picture there. I quite like it though. I am not sure why it takes so long to add colours to the range. They should also remove a few in my opinion. The eggshell blue was disappointing and very washed out looking, a shame as I was looking forward to it.

I generally find the range of colours in yarn just not there. I think it is because mostly producers cater for knitters and looking at podcasts etc., they seem to favour really rather sombre and limited colours of neutrals and naturals while eschewing more colourful options. Hopefully with the popularity of crochet on the rise that is changing. Embroidery floss offers several hundred colours by comparison.

[Susan Smith]

Lovely colours & well done for keeping Mum for so long. I love looking at colour palettes & when a big hardware chain was closing down,(in Oz) I picked up a wonderful lot of paint colour charts & now wished I'd also grabbed the single paint chips as well, so I could play. The hydrangea blanket is looking good. Thanks for the sneak peek. I've more hydrangea fabric I'm hoping to use soon. Take care.

[Anne Kennerley]

The new colours are pretty and the Hydrangea blanket is tempting. I've just finished Moorland Blanket no.2 and about to start a third with the left-overs.Kind regards from Staffordshire.

[Angela-Southern USA]

Wonderful colors! Just in time for spring/ Easter. The blanket is coming along beautifully.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[CJ]

Gorgeous new colours, I love how you've put them together with the existing ones. I'd spend a lot of time playing with them too I think if I had all the pegs. So much possibility! CJ xx

[Patricia Carini]

So beautifull! As all what you do..
Thanks for all your posts ...
Patricia (France)

[Rowena Corlett]

Really like the new clolouis especially the buttermilk. Unlike you Lucy I adore yellows. My husband has asked were the yellow for the gorse is in the moorland blanket! As I am so loving doing the moorland perhaps I will do a second and include a bit of yellow! Look forward to seeing the new colours in the flesh, although you have done a great job with your peg combos!

[Candace]

So excited to start hooking this one. Beautiful colors (as always), and the pattern looks squishy soft.

[Charlotte.]

Beautiful new colors. Admire your ability to keep quiet about this. Very glad your advice convinced me to try this yarn. Looking forward to new blanket. Between you and Christine (Winwick Mum) I stay very busy.

[Sheery]

The new colors are gorgeous! So is your hydrangea blanket! Oh my, it's incredibly tranquil and happy looking. I love the textured look of the blanket, too.

[tinke]

Oh, my, you've been quit since august? I deeply respect you from now on, 8 months of silence, wow. Love all three though I don't like acryl as much as I love cotton. On to next week!

[Cathy B]

I love your new blanket!
Really like the new colours, esp vintage peach :)
Can you persuade Stylecraft to offer these pretty colours in a wool mix yarn???

[Holly]

Really liking the mushroom colour ❤️ Great blanket too!