Colourways - Random mixed hues

Colourways - Semi-solids (S)

Colourways- impact of yarn style, content and dye method on final outcome read more....

Colourway Families: Our most popular LD colourways are grouped below into families, to assist in the selection of colours that will blend well together. You may choose to use these families to select a variety of fibres and fabrics to make into a single artwork eg some silk top , silk fabric, mohair curls and merino wool top in each of the four members of a single family. We hope this is a useful tool.

The Jewel family contains Blue Satin 55, Jade12S, Jewel 71B & Tree Hug 76S

The Lush family contains Eco 95, Lush 75, Wistful 66S & Damson 41S

The Forest family contains Brown coal 74S, Nature 30, Sherbrooke 89S (a deep green) & Siena 139

The Artful family contains Dazzle 59, Damson 41S, Artful 161 & Blueberry 11S

The Africa family contains Charcoal 81S, Africa 96, Terracotta 103S & Sophisticat 13S (deep brown)

The Fire Family contains Firebird 62, Tomato 132S, Rich Earth 44 & Red Rock 22S

The Sunset" family contains Aussie Sunset 23, Rust 258S, Lavender 49S & Extremity 157.

The Rockpool family contains Rockpool 28, Electric Blue 26, Seagreen 58B & Cobalt 18S

The Outback family contains Outback 21, Royal Blue 60S, Drama 106 & Irises 238

The Eco family contains Eco 95, Gold'nMyrrh 163, Moss 16S & Shady 45S

The Earthy family contains Strata 136, Palamino 34, Truffle 244 & Gold 29S

The Shimmer family contains Shimmer 25, Purple Fusion 68, Wild Thing 35 & Yum 114

The Blues family contains Winter in Fitzroy 82, Ethereal 53, Cottage Garden 10 & Indigo 86S

Colourways - Random mixed hues

These charts have been created using a mixture of Lara Downs yarns, but they are applicable to all Lara Downs hand dyed yarns, fibres & fabrics eg tops, lap, curls, lengths of silk etc. When selecting your preferred colourway to order, please note that the appearance and depth of colour may vary a little from those shown below, depending on your choice of yarn/fibre eg pure wool will give deeper shades than silk and silk will give deeper shades than mohair using the same dye bath. Some swatches have both silk and wool or silk and mohair to give both shiny and matt finishes in the same swatch. Others combine boucle and smooth yarns. You can copy these effects by ordering several different yarns and knitting (or weaving or crocheting) them together or sequentially. Actual samples of the Lara Downs colourways in our different yarns, can be purchased (see .

Please nominate both the hue/shade name as well as its number when ordering. With hand dyeing, the dye batches will always vary a little from each other, so please try to order the full quantity needed for any project before you start.

This chart provides only an overview of our range, rather than a complete listing. If you would like to order another shade seen elsewhere on this web site, please enquire about its availability. We are also prepared to try and match a favourite colour seen elsewhere, but no promises about an exact match. Extra charges apply for this matching service.

All of these colourways are unique to Lara Downs and are copyright ©

Colourways - Semi-solids (S)

Impact of fibre content and style and dye method on colour

The following images show Colourways 1-20 in a selection of different fibres and yarns to indicate that not all fibres emerge from a dye bath looking the same. This is because some fibres absorb the dye more than others.

The technique used to dye the yarns will also impact on the outcome. Random dyeing means just that - colours applied in a random way. The semi-solid colours are achieved by blending all the constituent dyes in a colourway together before applying to the yarn.

Colourways 1-20 Random (1-10) and Semi solid (11-20) using the same base dyes as for 1-10

Random Mixed Shades 1-10 counting from the left (nb: 7 & 8 reversed)	Semi-Solid Shades 11-20 (echoing shades 1-10) counting from the left
Click on shade icons to display larger images in a mix of yarns	Click on shade icons to display larger images in a mix of yarns
Random Mixed Shades 21-31 counting from the left

The colourways of Rio No 4 (& 14ss) , Sophisticat No 3 (& 13ss) & Jade No 2 (& 12ss) shown below in four of Lara Downs' luxury natural fibre yarns.

Shade 'Rio' from left to right in Cashmere/silk (14 S - solid), Cashmere(4 - random), Merino (4 - random) & Boucle chunky silk (4 - random)	Shade 'Sophisticat' from left to right in Cashmere/silk (13S - solid), Cashmere(3 - random), Merino (3 - random) & Boucle chunky silk (3 - random)	Shade 'Jade' from left to right in Cashmere/silk (12S - solid), Cashmere in Jade No 2 (random), Merino (2 - random) & Boucle chunky silk (2 - random)

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