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Who gets excited about brown?
Pamela K. Schultz4 min read
Every year, secret committees of designers and color forecasters meet to choose the color of the year. Before the year is half over, paint companies, clothing companies, and online retailers have already declared the next year’s ultimate color, one that will define all the trends. Above them all, Pantone watches and waits, then declares their color of the year in early December.
This year, coffee in hand, I hit refresh on my browser repeatedly, waiting for the color to be announced. It took a little bit of patience to discover that Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2025 is “Mocha Mousse,” a muted brown in the red-orange family. When I saw the screen fill with shades of brown and a decidedly unappetizing bowl of brown pudding, I was a little disappointed. But then I looked down at my creamy cup of coffee, and the brown sweater with colorwork in shades of cream and tan that I’d chosen for the day. Maybe Pantone was on to something!
Mocha Mousse is meant to evoke a sense of calm and connection to the earth in a world that feels increasingly unstable. As spinners, we know that holding fiber in our hands is the best way to relax and reconnect with ourselves and the earth.
For decades, spinners, shepherds, and cotton growers have been getting excited about natural shades of brown. I dove into my stash to discover where I might find my own Mocha Mousse.
Shetland sheep come in eleven different colors and thirty different marking patterns. Moorit is a rich brown color that works beautifully as a background or main color in Shetland haps or stranded colorwork.
Read more about these amazing sheep in Martha Owen’s article about raising them, then find inspiration for your next hap in the Gallery of Haps.
Moorit Shetland wool is the perfect backdrop for stranded colorwork, haps, and more. Photos by Pamela K. Schultz
With its sunburned tips and rich orangey brown, this Manx Loaghtan fleece sample I received from Amy Ross Manko of the Ross Farm is a beautiful match for Pantone’s Mocha Mousse. It’s a little bit softer and more richly colored than some of the commercial Manx Loaghtan top in my stash, and a reminder of the joys of working with individual fleeces—you get to know the unique characteristics of each sheep, even if you never get to meet them in the field!
Learn more about this rare breed from the Isle of Man and see the beautiful boot socks Ann Budd knit with their wool in this post.
Working with individual fleeces lets you discover a sheep's individual characteristics, even from half a world away.
Alpacas come in a beautiful rainbow of colors, including a coppery brown that's a beautiful match for Pantone’s Mocha Mousse. Soft, warm, and drapey, it would make a lovely scarf or blanket.
Master Spinning Alpaca Fiber in Our Free eBook and meet Alepio Melo to get a herder's view of the Andean Highlands.
Handspun alpaca singles in a rich coppery color.
Long treated as worthless, Sally Fox has spent her career cultivating colorful cotton. I've had some in my stash for years. This might just be the year to spin it!
Listen to the Podcast episode with Sally Fox then build your charkha confidence with Kate Larson.
Add color to your cotton spinning without dye!
Several years ago, I set out to blend yarn to replace a shawl that existed only in my memory. I’d lost it on my honeymoon, somewhere between Pisa and Florence. I combed ten ounces of Bluefaced Leicester Greenwood Fiber Works’ colorways of Mallard and Outlaw. Both have rich red-orange hues that are a great match for Pantone’s Mocha Mousse.
Learn more about blending to get the color you want.
Blend a touch of Mocha Mousse into your next project.
Perhaps the best match for Pantone’s Mocha Mousse in my stash was a small skein of cotton yarn that I dyed over the summer. A natural yellow from weeds, dipped in a post-dyeing iron bath, then overdyed with madder, this yarn has an alluring mystery to it. Almost bronze, but with a little gray, it’s sure to blend well with any color I put it next to.
Learn more about natural dyeing in our Easy Peasy Natural Dyeing eBook.
A progression of color: Yellow from weeds (top), dipped in iron (right), overdyed with madder (center).
Your stash probably looks a little different than mine! These fibers are just a sampling of possibilities. Many other breeds come in a wide range of colors, and there's so much to choose from. While Mocha Mousse might be a trend that comes and goes with the new year, one predicition I feel confident making is that spinners, shepherds, and farmers will continue to adore the possibilities that natural color brings for many years to come.
Pamela K. Schultz is the content editor for Spin Off. She knits, spins, weaves, and gardens in coastal North Carolina.
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