Gratitude Shawl: Yarn & Color Recommendations

The Gratitude Shawl is designed to evoke the feelings of peaceful, calming contentment that come when I think of the things I am grateful for. The pattern motifs remind me of experiences that I am thankful for: situations that open my mind; paths that don’t go as planned; heart-enlarging experiences; and simple, everyday life. (Learn more about "behind the design" in my Behind the Design: Gratitude Shawl blog post!)

I used Plymouth Yarn Company yarn in Reserve Sport and Reserve Sport Solid for this design (I purchased it at my LYS), but really any sport weight yarn would work perfectly for this design! (In this post I will provide some color suggestions for some affordable yarn options and some indie dyed yarn options!) I think this design would look beautiful as one color, two colors, or three colors (such that each of my purple sections were knit in a different color). I highly recommend knitting with tonal or lightly speckled colorways so you can see the design properly.

Color Suggestions

The colors that I used are Fig and Grey Mix from Plymouth Yarn Company. I believe that this yarn has to be purchased from a vendor/yarn shop. Any of their yarns would be beautiful as a one-color Gratitude Shawl. Some other 2-color recommendations that I have are:

Silver + Teal

Olive + Cork

Naturale + Carbon

A couple of 3-color recommendations:

Olive + Teal + Fig

Saffron+ Olive + Cork

Yarn Recommendations

In this section I've included both hand-dyed and commercially-dyed yarn. I've organized these yarn recommendations from cheapest to most expensive, per gram.

Note: I am not affiliated with any of the yarns that I suggest; I am only providing a reference of suggestions for the knitters who wish to knit my pattern. All photos are from the websites I have linked in this post.

For the sake of comparison:

Plymouth Yarn Company's Reserve Solid Sport base:

Fiber Content: 45% Extra Fine Merino Wool, 35% Mulberry Silk, 20% Bamboo

Weight: 100 grams/348 yards

Cascade Yarns 220 Sport

Fiber Content: 100% Wool

Weight: 50 grams/164 yards

Price: $5.25

Goldenrod

Mystic + Charcoal Gra

Blue Moon + Marmalade

Valley Yarns Granville

Fiber Content: 90% Cotton/10% Wool

Weight: 50 grams/167 yards

Price: $5.49

Raspberry Sorbet

Dark Teal + Coral

Kelp + Mulberry

Malabrigo Arroyo

Fiber Content: 100% Wool

Weight: 100 grams/335 yarnds

Price: $19.20

Purpuras

Diana

Azules + Greenish Blue

Leading Men Fiber Arts

These Illinois-based dyers have a HUGE collection of bright and sassy colors.

Callback base Fiber Content: 100% Wool Weight: 100 grams/328 yards

Price: $25.00

Tainted Love

Achieve Grapeness + London Fog

Gothic Queen + Grapes of Wrath

Six and Seven Fiber

This Colorado-based indie yarn dyer has a fun collection of muted and vibrant colorways - both tonal and variegated!

Alfalfa base

Fiber Content: 80% Wool/10% Cashmere/10% Nylon

Weight: 100 grams/382 yards

Price: $26.00

Verden's Ende

Blossom 006

Arctic + Penelope

Tippy Tree Yarns

This Colorado-based indie yarn dyer has a gorgeous palette of softly variegated and beautiful tonal colors that would be absolutely perfect for the Gratitude Shawl! (Note: This is a fingering weight yarn base, so either you will have a shawl with more drape or a smaller shawl)

Single Ply Super Sock base

Fiber Content: 100% Wool

Weight: 100 grams/415 yards

Price: $26.00

Old-Fashioned Romance

Royal Rose

Olive Branch + Old-Fashioned Romance

Malabrigo Caprino

Fiber Content: 80% Wool/20% Cashmere

Weight: 50 grams/164 yards

Price: $18.00

Arco Iris

Poipu + Teal Feather

Anniversario + Sabiduria

Have you chosen your yarn and color(s)?! I'd love to hear all about it on Instagram, Ravelry, and/or the comments below! Let me know if you found this resource helpful, and tag me in your makes online!

To perform your own search for affordable yarns, here are a couple places to start your search:

Yarn Substitution Website

Knit Picks Website

Webs Website

LoveCrafts Website