New Special DK Shades

Calling all Stylecraft Special fans!

The four brand new shades of Special DK are in my hands (a free gift) and will be making their way into your local yarn shops as we speak, and following into online shops slightly after.  But of course, we can't sit around and wait for that to happen, I don't doubt for a moment, that like me, you'll want the see more right now.

At first glance, you might not realise these shades are new.

While it's true to say that there are similarities in this selection to some already familiar hues in the range, I do think that there are some subtle and welcome differences and additions.

Let's have a closer look...

Top L-R: Stone, Toy, Buttermilk. Bottom L-R: Cream, Apricot, Camel

The first new shade to look at is toy.

Without any other reference to go by, you might guess that this was Stone, but actually, when you see the two colours together, the toy is a clearly and distinctly paler tint.  With maybe even a slight smidge of Apricot warmth added.  It sits perfectly with the stone and could maybe even work well as a beautifully rich and warm cream.

Here it is below with the next two closest shades of Stone and Buttermilk so you can really see the difference.

L-R: Stone, Toy, Buttermilk

Top L-R: Clematis, Powder Pink, Candy Floss.  Bottom L-R: Soft Peach, Pale Rose

Next up, we'll look at Powder Pink.

Again, seen alone, this one might be mistaken for Clematis.  But as you can see from the picture above, it's actually pretty different.  Clematis has a bit of blue in the mix and a lot of this has been toned right down with the new Powder Pink.  It's also more muted and subtle than the brighter pinks. As you can see when it's next to the pale but very bright Candy Floss.

I like this new shade a lot.  Clematis was always too close the purples to fit well with the pinks that I wanted to use and so this version suits me much better.  I've been wanting a shade which sits between the Pale Rose and the Soft Peach for a while and this does the job so very nicely.

L-R: Soft Peach, Powder Pink, Pale Rose

Top L-R: Storm Blue, Cornish Blue, Denim.  Bottom L-R: Aster, Petrol

The next colour to look at is Cornish Blue.

This is a lovely blue colour but for me, it doesn't seem to do so much in the way of adding choices in the range and broadening the options for palettes.  I thought that this was Storm Blue when I saw it, others thought it was Denim.  It is actually slightly different to both of those but you can only really tell when they are next to each other and in good light.

There are a lot of Special DK blues, and this mid-blue range is getting very busy with slightly different mid hues, Bluebell, Aster, Lapis, Lobelia and now Cornish Blue as well.  Beautiful colours in their own right, and can combine in some lovely combinations, but they don't fit tonally so well with many of the other blues.

When I'm making a colour selection, I really appreciate the chance to include hues which that have paler tints or darker tones to create harmony.  Cornish blue looks quite nice with Petrol, but Storm Blue already did that nicely.  I'd much rather have seen the start of something like a french grey/blue selection of shades.  Or even a more subtle navy or a darker denim perhaps.

But on the other hand, it's a pretty colour!

Top L-R: Lincoln, Spearmint, Sage.  Bottom L-R: Duck Egg, Aspen.

Last but not least, let's talk about Spearmint.

This one is my favourite and it's a shade I've been craving, wanting, needing to see in the range since... I don't know, since I found it existed?  I've said before that I really struggle to find greens that I would want to use in Stylecraft yarn, and not just in the Special range.  It's felt like an awfully long wait for some more useable (for me) greens, to start to come though, so it's fab to see more choice with shades like this gorgeous one.

I would describe the Spearmint as a beautiful pale Sage, or maybe a more muted Aspen.  This is the shade I was hoping to see when they launched the Duck Egg back in 2015.  That's a lovely shade too, but I wanted something just a little more saturated and so this really hits the spot for me. 

It sits perfectly with both the paler Duck Egg and the darker Sage and would have been absolutely blooming perfect for my original Painted Roses blanket, all those years ago!  At the time I had to source both my leafy green and the duck egg colour from an alternative brand.  Now, I could make it all from Special DK.

Still, I'm sure this is one that I'll be using plenty of in the future!

Of course, you know me, I tend to have lots to say when it comes to colour and this is most definitely an 'opinion piece' on the subject.  

Hopefully though I've also shown enough for you to get a feel of the new colours for yourself, so question really is - What do you think of them?

S x

♥

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