Ombre Yarn

Ombre yarn changes colour by itself, gradually, along its entire length. You knit or crochet with a single strand, and across a shawl, scarf or blanket the shades flow smoothly into one another with no changing balls and no joining in new colours. Here you will find Alize batik balls, large YarnArt Flowers, Rose Garden and Bouquet yarn cakes, and gradient sock yarns from Austermann, Regia and Gusto Wool. Each range shifts colour in long stretches, not in short flecks like a heathered yarn.

Yarn cake or batik ball: what's the difference?

A yarn cake is wound so that the colour travels from the centre to the outer edge, and a single cake is often enough for a whole shawl. YarnArt Flowers and Rose Garden have 250 g and 1,000 m, Alize Bella Ombre Batik 250 g and 900 m, so on the finished piece the gradient runs from one colour to the next without a break. Alize batik balls weigh 100 g and their colours change in shorter sections; for a bigger project you join several balls and the colour sequence repeats across it.

• Yarn cakes, 225–260 g: YarnArt Flowers, Flowers Alpaca, Flowers Merino, Flowers Moonlight, Rose Garden, Bouquet and Alize Bella Ombre Batik.
• Batik balls, 100 g: Alize Burcum Batik and Diva Batik in acrylic, Angora Gold Batik in wool with acrylic, Cotton Gold Batik in cotton with acrylic, Bella Batik 100 in cotton and Baby Best Batik in acrylic with bamboo.
• Sock yarns and other ranges: Austermann Step 6 Color in a 150 g cake, Regia Virtuoso Color, Gusto Wool Echoes Fingering, plus Schachenmayr Mohair Dream and Pebble Mohair in gradient shades.

What can you make with ombre yarn?

Fine cotton yarns such as Flowers and Rose Garden, worked on 2.5 mm needles, suit summer shawls, crocheted tops and light throws. For winter scarves and hats, reach for wool with acrylic, Angora Gold Batik for example; the chunky Alize Superlana Maxi Batik on 8–10 mm needles grows quickly. If you are planning a blanket, take a look at our blanket yarn as well.

For gradient socks, pick a yarn with added polyamide or nylon, such as Step 6 Color, Regia Virtuoso Color or Echoes Fingering. You will find matching solid-colour ranges, for a contrasting heel and toe for example, among our sock yarns.