Hunting for orange

Glibly a few weeks ago I said I was off to order orange and yellow yarn for my granny squares. It didn't occur to me for a second that would be a challenge. 

The base yarn for the blanket was some Wendy Mode from Kemps bought a long old time ago. It struck me as a perfect blanket yarn 50/50 wool acrylic so easy to wash and great value at £1.39 a 50g ball. I got a cream, a white, a navy and a red. A classic palette but a little too restrained for my first granny square extravaganza. So then there was the souvenir yarn from Easter camping, van green and purple. Good strong clear colours that I knew would blend in nicely. That stuff is Jarol Heritage 55% wool, 25% acrylic and 20% nylon. Then I may have pillaged a light blue and a black Patons Diploma Gold DK from a set meant for this little cardigan. Plenty of colours to play with but definitely calling out for a bright yellow and orange to add a little warmth and balance.

I thought it would be an easy mission as I just wanted a basic DK wool/acrylic blend. After lots of hunting it seems strong yellows and oranges are not much favoured. Modern Knitting did me proud with a great washable 100% wool for the yellow - King Cole merino blend - and at £2.75 per 50g that sounds pretty good value to me for 100% wool. I made more of a leap with the orange having not found anything that looked quite right and I'm not too happy with what I've got. As you can see above it's really more of a terracotta, a sort of washed out baked bean shade - called either tangerine or honey depending on which text on the site I trust - hmmm some creative licence taken in that naming whichever - you'd have to be having a very bad day as either a tangerine or a pot of honey if you were this colour! It's also a 100% acrylic which I wasn't too sure about but if it were the right colour its texture is perfectly fine. Ironically least loved colour, no wool content and it's my priciest yarn at £3 for 50g! So I might put that one at the bottom of the pile and see if it either grows on me or if I manage to find a nicer orange in the meantime. Any recommendations of a good real orange (ideally in a nice wool/acrylic blend) happily received!

Comments

Hi Sarah..I've also had problems finding orange so I will be interested to see if anyone out there has had any luck xx
marycatharine said…
Orange DK is sure hard to find... do people just not knit much orange? Your squares are looking great, perfect orange or not.
WildflowerWool said…
Hmmm, I wouldn't have thought orange would be so hard to find. It would look nice with the rest of your colours. Good luck!
Sea said…
There's a stall on the market nearby, has loads of different shades, but they are all acrylic. It depends how much you need. Have you tried texere? Or what about dying your own? I have just received a copy of The Gentle Art of Knitting, and the author sggests using tapestry wool for accents, as DMC has a range of over 300 colours, and Anchor has over 400. BUT they are pure wool, and it would work out very expensive if you needed a large quantity. I'd love to know if you find the colour you are looking for.
Lyndsey-Jane said…
Sirdar Calico does an orange but as I am not at home I can't go look to see exactly what shade it is but from memory it is what I would call a 'candy' orange. I bought it to go with bright mint green, bright baby blue and banana yellow. I think calico is a 50/50 cotton/acrylic. It's soft and washable. Hope this helps.
Lynne said…
Hmm, tastes in England must be different to Australia as there is an abundance of brightly coloured acrylics here, some could even be described as "safety colours"! I can buy 100g for $2AUS; however, the cost of postage must also be considered.
Gidgetknits said…
I know - it's really hard to find good oranges and yellows! Bendigo Woollen Mills has a great orange (called orange!) Biggan also has some nice brights http://www.biggandesign.com/
Sea said…
I have slept on this and remembered that Dalegasrn has some good strong colours. So I looked on Dragon Yarns under DK weight, and they have a pure wool burnt orange and a wool/silk mix that is probably the exact shade you want, tiz called orange zest. I've used quite a bit of Dalegarn's wools and it is lovely to knit with.
Littlelou said…
gulp at £3 for 50g of acrylic..lol. For a bright orange I use FabDK (again acrylic but only about £1 for 100g).
BTW..squares look great, wish I could crochet
Modelwidow said…
Lovely squares you have mastered this crochet lark really quickly - and yes orange is a difficult colour to find, good luck in your search.
Anonymous said…
oh i think youre right about the bright strong orange. i hate those insipid tangerines and limes that are in vouge at the moment. but beautiful squares regardless.
Rose Red said…
I actually don't mind that tangerine with the rest of your colours, but it looks like you've got some good leads on a brighter shade!
Anonymous said…
hi sarah, your squares are fantastic. x
T. said…
I love orange and do have a hard time finding good vibrant colours- sorry no thoughts on what to recommend.

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