How to Apply Dye Colour in Sections Across your Yarn Skein + Achieve Repeatable Results Every Time!
The Palette Parlour
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This month’s colourway, Nowhere to Neon, began with a surreal moment — a silent drive through Western Australia’s red dirt roads, when a glowing carnival suddenly appeared in the dark. It was a burst of colour in the middle of nowhere — pinks, yellows, and blues dancing against warm brown earth.
Behind the magic is math. In this newsletter and video, I’m walking you through how to calculate dye amounts to bring your colour-way ideas to life — whether you’re recreating a memory, a photo, or a sudden spark of inspiration. With a few simple formulas, you can get the exact colours
you imagined, right there in the yarn.
How to create repeatable yarn colourways from inspirational images:
Step 1. Colour Matching is Key (and you need a reference point)
The first step in recreating colour inspiration onto your yarn is to colour match. Colour matching is not so simple but it's how I began the Palette Parlour. I needed a specific colour to match the specific dream colour visions that I had. I wanted a sweater in Bubblegum pink. But Dharma didn't offer that perfect pink. How could I do this without any colour samples as a reference? Did I need to mix two colours together to achieve my perfect colour? What about the shade? And did I want it in pastel and a vintage version?
If you want to re-create colour inspiration, you first need to make a colour book. This way, you will have a large selection of colours to match from. Mixing dyes and creating shades will allow you to get that colour exactly right.
I spent a lot of time doing this the opposite way: Trying to test all pink dye colours to match my inspirational image. It was painful, adjusting the dye amount, then it's not right, another adjustment, until I had a tall pile of wet samples that didn't match and more wasted yarn.
Tip: If you do decide to go this route, record all of these newly found recipes, you might find a large book of samples gradually developing that will be very useful to you later on. Enjoy the process. I didn't, so I decided to create a huge book of colours to choose from.
I highly recommend creating your own dye samples and recipes using your favourite dyes and dye colours. But, if you don't want to spend time doing this, I have shared my entire library of Dharma acid dye colours recipes: Available in Muffs Etsy Shop.
The best way to match colours to your inspirational image using these digital recipes is to choose the yarn colour dot that best matches your image, then test that colour on actual yarn to be sure. It should be close. Change to a colour up or down to get it exactly right. It may need to be warmer or cooler. You might want to add a tiny amount more black, brown, yellow, blue or pink, more of this or more of that. I spent a lot of time adjusting the screen colours to closely match the actual yarn colour and will continue working on this as Muffs dye recipe photography develops.
So first, you need a selection of colours to choose from. Once you have that, you can choose the colours for your palette or collection that match your inspirational image. Then, I highly recommend testing the colours to be sure they match. Or, go about it freely and simply use those colours as a guide. Using already made palettes, or even nature photography as guide can help automatically choose complimenting colours, instead of pulling a palette out of nowhere.
I like to use colour palette from Jessica Colaluca
@designseeds on Instagram
I also like to use text to create inspirational AI images on the
Wombo Dream App Apple
Wombo Dream App Google
Step 2. Dyeing Solids & Creating Colourways
Step one is the most challenging, exciting, long and important part of the process of using inspiration to colour match. Once you have your recipes, and your dye colour samples, you can simply begin dyeing that colour on your yarn.
If you want to split the colours into sections on one yarn skein, I have created a video on how to do this and you can watch it here:
How to Calculate Colourway Sections:
Watch on YouTube
Join the Palette Parlour Facebook Group
I’d love for you to join the Palette Parlour Facebook Group and share your dyeing results! It’s a welcoming, supportive space for asking questions and sharing your creative journey. Seeing your finished yarn is so exciting, but the true magic lies in the process of experimenting and discovering new techniques.
I want to share everything I know with you, so you can hone in, save time formulating, cut the confusion and enjoy the process and fibre art part of it more. Thank you to all of those who have supported Muffs development and continue to cheer me on.
Have you seen the video series? Watch on YouTube:
How to Prepare your Yarn for Full Dye Absorption
How to Make Dye Solutions and What are they for?
Happy Dyeing!
Kindly, Lori from Muffs Merino
www.muffs.co.nz
www.etsy.com/nz/shop/MuffsMerino
@muffsmerino on Instagram
