Hand-Dyed Yarn Guide

Everyone here at Jimmy Beans Wool is simply head over heels for hand-dyed yarns. We love the exquisite beauty and delicate care with which each skein is dyed by hand, and delight in the unique, one-of-a-kind-ness each skein lends to our knit and crochet wears.

However, individuality can be frustrating when we're using more than one skein for our projects, or the colors aren't playing nice with a pattern. Thus, we created this little page for you to use as your personal guide to hand-dyed yarns!

Please feel free to browse our list of hand-dyed yarns that we carry and our personal tips and techniques in our instructional videos which will help you master the art of knitting and crocheting with hand-dyed yarns.

And don't forget to use our attributes search feature! This lets you search by type of dye method used in coloring the yarn so you can find that perfect shade(s) for your next project!

Tonal

Characteristics: yarns have a more tonal variation, with multiple shades of the same or similar colors blending together in the yarn
Pros: easy on the eye; "watercolor" effect adds visual interest without being overwhelming
Challenges: each skein is unique, so there can be much variation between skeins of the same colorway
Other tonal favorites: Malabrigo Chunky, Manos Del Uruguay Fino

Hand-Painted

Characteristics: dye is applied by hand, so each skein has subtle variations; the dyer completely controls color application and can create truly unique combinations and effects
Pros: instantly recognizable as hand-crafted; very artistic look
Challenges: larger projects can be difficult due to variation between skeins
Other hand-painted favorites: Urth Yarns Uneek Worsted, Koigu KPM Solid

Kettle-dyed

Characteristics: a soft-blend effect between multiple colors of yarn on the same skein, achieved by adding different-colored dyes to the dye pot at the same time
Pros: even high-contrast colors are able to intermingle beautifully for a unified effect
Challenges: colors are placed at irregular intervals on the skein, so it can be difficult to tell exactly what it will look like when knit up

Speckled

Characteristics: speckles and splashes of color, achieved by flinging or spraying dye directly onto the yarn
Pros: super-fun, one-of-a-kind, stippled effect
Challenges: like other hand-paints, skeins can vary greatly
Speckled favorites: Madelinetosh Tosh Vintage Yarn

Long-striping/Ombre Effect

Characteristics: yarn is dyed in very long color runs, so your knitted project has color shifts that gradually blend from one to the next
Pros: you can create gorgeous, ombre-effect knitting without switching between skeins of different colors
Challenges: choosing the right project to show off this uniquely-dyed yarn