When we think about items every handweaver who uses commercially spun yarns should keep handy, sample color cards are always near the top of the list. Preferably, those cards include physical samples of all available colors rather than pictures of yarns.
Why are physical samples important? If you’re able to wind a few ends around your fingertip or twist them together into a mini-barber pole, you’ll have a better chance of choosing colors that will work for your next project. A few minutes can give you a quick read on whether they have the right amount of contrast for your draft—and whether particular combinations are pleasing to your eye.
That brief look may not provide enough information to settle on final colors, but it usually narrows the field. If we can’t decide between two options, we buy the smallest available put-ups of each and make some larger yarn wraps before we settle on project colors.
Shopping and Storing
Ready to work on your collection? You’ll find a list of retailers that offer color cards below, but there’s no need to get them all. Start off with the fibers and yarn lines you typically use, and add other cards as you go.
We don’t usually shop for color cards on their own. Whenever we buy weaving yarn online, we browse the retailer’s sample card page and top off our shopping cart with anything we’re missing. Since sample cards can fall out of stock, it’s worth grabbing any that catch your eye right away.
When your new color cards arrive, note the date and source on them and then find an organized way to store them so they're easy to consult (we use binders and boxes). Finally, keep them out of bright light, which can fade yarn colors.
Resources
The following retailers offer cards provided by the manufacturers or assembled from the colors they carry.
Yarn Barn of Kansas has a broad selection (their own Ad Astra and Big Dipper/Little Dipper yarn lines, plus Brassard, UKI Supreme, Bockens, Henry’s Attic, Nature Spun, Blue Mountain, Harrisville Designs, Treenway Silk, American Maid, and more), individually by fiber or as a full set of available cards.
Eugene Textile Center has a selection of manufacturer cards, including UKI Supreme, Bockens, Borgs, Maysville, Dragon Tale, Klippan, Harrisville Designs, Lunatic Fringe, and Brassard.
The Woolery has manufacturer cards for Brassard, Maysville, Bockens, Faro, Bluegrass Mills, Lunatic Fringe, Valley Yarns, Harrisville Designs, Klippan, Rauma, Sandnes Garn, Omega Sinfonia, and Jason Collingwood.
Halcyon Yarn has their own cards for a broad range of knitting and weaving yarns, including UKI Supreme, Brown Sheep, Harrisville Designs, Brassard, and Maysville.
Lofty Fiber has generous samples of their own cotton and Euroflax wound on embroidery floss cards, as well as manufacturer cards from Brassard.
ADVERTISEMENTLunatic Fringe has cards for their own yarns (including Tubular Spectrum, American Maid, Hemp, and Gevolve), as well as manufacturer cards from Brassard.
Jane Stafford Textiles has a selection (including Venne, Harrisville Designs, Quebecoise, and more), individually by fiber or as a full set of available cards.
Lone Star Loom Room has manufacturer cards for Venne, Bockens, Lunatic Fringe, and American Maid.
Vävstuga has generous samples of the yarns they carry, wound on floss cards and packaged in jars by yarn type.
Georgia Yarn Company has cards for their own yarn as well as for other lines that they carry.
WEBS offers individual color cards and a weaving color book for their Valley Yarns line.
Harrisville Designs has a card for their Highland and Shetland yarns. This card is also available from other retailers listed above.
Gist Yarn has cards for their yarns.
Knit Picks offers a color card for their Palette yarn, which is now available on cones.