Selecting shades: Maylin, Claire, Kate C

In today’s post, I’ll introduce you to the three very different colourways that my KDD friends selected for their Tonnach cardigans. Please do bear in mind that, due to the unfortunate Hirst shortage I mentioned yesterday, that the Maylin and Claire kits are currently out of stock in the KDD shop, but we do have plenty of stock of individual balls of all of the other shades of Milarrochy Tweed used in these two colourways, so that you can make up your own kit, with substitutions. The gorgeous Kate C colourway does not feature Hirst and is kitted up in the shop, if this palette grabs your fancy.

First up, here’s Maylin, in an appropriate woodland setting.

She says:

“My starting point for the colours was to think of the most summery shade in the palette. For me, that is always Stockiemuir, which is one of the most versatile of Milarrochy Tweed colours . . . “

 “From there, it had to be a brown as that’s my favourite neutral and Horseback Brown pairs so well with Stockiemuir. . . . “

“And then I wanted Hirst as the main colour as most of my cardigans are dark. . . “

“Those three colours immediately suggested a forest and as I hate the heat, I thought a woodsy palette would work nicely, so I experimented with the greens and browns until Gaskin and Chingly won out.”

“I love the finished palette. . . . “

“. . . and I absolutely love my Tonnach!”

“Most of my clothes are plain neutrals and I hang around in jeans most of the time, so this works so well just over a plain white t-shirt or one of the many brown skirts I own.”

Maylin’s different approach to the shade B “pop”- toning things with Chingly’s quieter hue – has made her other shades sing just a little more. I particularly like the way that Horseback Brown plays such a key role in her palette.

Next up, here’s Claire:

 Claire says: “I am really drawn to blue shades, and Outsea is just about my favourite colour of Milarrochy Tweed.”

“Although I often combine my blues with colours on the orange/red spectrum, I did worry about the real ‘pop’ of Asphodel amongst the more subtle colours. . . “

” Foxglove would have a similar effect. . . .”

“When I was swatching my palette, I had to move the shades around a few times, as I found that the contrast between Eyebright and Outsea when knitted next to each other was just not sufficient.”

“. . . I resolved this issue by adding in a slightly darker blue shade – Ardlui”

“I knew that I needed a lighter colour in there, but kept Hirst to a minimum as it’s a colour that doesn’t suit me on its own. I have quite a few clothes in my wardrobe in the teal, blue, and rust range, so this cardigan really works for me – good with denim too!”

I love the breezy, summery feel of Claire’s Tonnach and it may interest you to know that three of the shades in her palette (Hirst, Eyebright, and Ardlui) are exactly the same as those used in my colourway – and yet – our cardigans look completely different. Outsea is such a brilliant framing shade and Asphodel brings something so fresh to the show.

Finally, here’s Kate C in her glorious Tonnach – a satisfyingly Hirst-free zone!

She says: “I wasn’t sure what colours to choose for my Tonnach so when Kate asked me to knit up some swatches I took that opportunity to mix up my usual colour selections and go for something different.”

“I like Cranachan but being more of a blue person it was never high up my list of favourites. . . “

“But that all changed when I paired it with Birkin. The grey made the pink glow and I knew that I had to explore that colour combo further. “

“There are so many great Milarrochy Tweed colours that could compliment my new Birkin/Cranachan combo — I almost included some greens to create the perfect Scottish summer berry picking cardigan — but something (maybe the fine weather we had at the time or maybe my spring/summer soundtrack of Funkadelic) pushed me towards Asphodel and Foxglove. . . “

. . . I really like the 70’s feel my combination makes while still keeping it fresh and modern”

“I love the fit which is great with jeans and dresses – my Tonnach is the perfect summer layer in my wardrobe!””

I completely agree, KC, and love this hot funk-fuelled combination!

I should point out that KC’s cardigan uses four shades, rather than the five which feature in Claire’s and Maylin’s colourways, as well as mine. KC’s use of three, tonally proximate, hot colours – Cranachan, Asphodel and Foxglove – against the backdrop of Birkin’s much cooler neutral has created a garment with an allover gradient which, when knitted up in Tonnach’s undulating zigzags, really does shimmer.

If you’d like to knit Claire or Maylin’s colourway, or experiment with an innovative four-shade palette, just like KC, the Tonnach pattern includes separate charts and yarn quantities for all the cardigans illustrated here, as well as the one I’m wearing.

And just to reiterate, we have sadly sold out of our Hirst shade, but you can easily build your own palette with individual balls of Milarrochy Tweed or any other yarn of your choice that knits to gauge. And, in my final shade-selector post tomorrow, I’ll introduce you to several different Hirst-free palettes which I hope you’ll find inspiring.

There’s further inspiration in the KDD Ravelry group, where more gorgeous Tonnach swatches are appearing every day. Do pop over and take a look!

Happy shade selecting!