Colorways: Spin Off Spring 2025

I don’t know about you, but when I am perusing an online shop or fiber-fest booth filled with gorgeous tops, batts, or braids, it can be hard to choose. I arrive looking to purchase one or two colors and end up craving a dozen hues that together are greater than the sum of their parts—a colorway.

See how Meagan Condon explores gradient color transitions using handcards by adding neutrals.

I’ve always loved the term colorway. It describes a curated palette of colors, but the word feels dynamic. It echoes the movement of our eyes as we absorb a palette, flitting from one color to the next. Just look at the stunning hand-painted fiber on the cover, created by Kim Russo of Kim Dyes Yarn. What color do you see first, second, and so on? The colorway becomes a path, and I love that it is different for each of us!

Learn how Malynda Allen combined handpainted tops to create a complex palette, then follow her instructions to sew a colorful tote from woven fabric.

This Spring issue of Spin Off is dedicated to colorways, palettes, and the pursuit of that shade you can’t live without. Amanda Buckley shares her marvelous marls, which she honed to create sophisticated knits you’ll want to wrap up in. You’ll see me wearing her Evergreen Marls Hat on page 18—truly my new favorite hat!

See Amanda Buckley's handspun marled yarns, perfect for a knitted beanie!

Becks of Tiny Fibre Studio walks us through a fractal strategy for getting incredible color from blended tops, and Magan Wilson shares two recipes for modifying colors using the ancient chemistry of botanical tannins and iron. Spin Off’s new team member Pamela K. Schultz shares some of her favorite tools for exploring color theory, and you can see Holly Callahan-Kasmala’s adorable Ouessant sheep in her ode to the beauty of the black sheep.

Wishing you peace and perfectly filled bobbins,

—Kate Larson

Ready to explore this issue? Get your copy of Spin Off Spring 2025 by subscribing today or purchasing this issue from our online shop.

Kate Larson, editor of Spin Off, teaches handspinning around the country and spends as many hours as life allows in the barn with her beloved flock of Border Leicesters.