Why do yarn shades get discontinued? (2024)

It’s never fun when something you want is unavailable. You might be asking, why would we discontinue a yarn shade? Good question, fellow makers.

While it’s common in the industry for suppliers to stop selling a product or a particular shade of yarn, we want to dig a little deeper and tell you the thinking behind these decisions. So here’s an insight into why, and a heads up on which yarn shades we’ll be discontinuing.

Keep things fresh

Nothing in life is permanent, said some wise owl. Knitting trends change and so do people’s tastes. We might stop selling a shade that is no longer as popular as it once was. The reason? We want to keep our palettes current and fresh, and make room (literally) for new yarns. We work with designers and yarn manufacturers so we can introduce exciting new shades and new yarn lines every season. (Take a look at the story behind Piper, a new yarn line from Debbie Bliss to hear how we come up with a new range.)

Give you more of what you love

We’re super proud of our yarn stash, we have over 50,000 to choose from after all! To make sure we stock the ones you want (and we have enough balls, when you need them), we keep a close eye on the yarns you’re loving, and which ones you’re not loving so much.

Offer you the best price

To give you the best price for your yarns, we need to factor in how much it costs to produce the product. Market prices change, which sometimes means discontinuing yarns when costs don’t add up. The good thing is, when we discontinue yarns that are no longer workable, we have more resources to keep a bigger (and better!) stock of your favorite brands and colors. Yesss.

What’s being dropped?

As we look forward to introducing new yarns this year (watch this space!), we’re saying a fond farewell to these yarns and shades. Questions? Our Smiles team are on hand to help and offer alternatives if you need them.

MillaMia

• MillaMia Naturally Soft Cotton: Baby Elephant, Bright Purple, Bright Green, Baby Blue , Candy Pink, Tomato
• MillaMia Naturally Soft Super Chunky: Indian Pink
• MillaMia Naturally Soft Merino Yarn: Sable, Denim, Haze Grey, Sky Blue
• Millamia Naturally Soft Aran: Ultramarine, Sky Blue, Haze

Paintbox

• Paintbox Yarns - all Simply, Wool Mix and Cotton lines: Bright Peach, Neon Green, Neon Orange, Neon Yellow, Neon Pink, Mandarin Orange, Rich Mauve, Tomato Red, Seville Orange, Sky Blue, Evergreen
• Paintbox Yarns Baby DK: Evergreen, Seafoam Blue
• Paintbox Yarns Socks Zebra: Violette, Sweetheart, Camo, Popsicle, Lagoon
• Paintbox Yarns Socks Pixel: Glacier, Bonbons
• Paintbox Yarns Socks Stripes: Cappuccino, Shadow, Strawberries & Cream

The Yarn Collective

• The Yarn Collective Pembroke Worsted: ALL shades

Debbie Bliss

• Debbie Bliss Paloma: Coral, Apple, Mint, Rust, Mauve, Chocolate, Tangerine, French Navy, Jade
• Debbie Bliss Paloma Tweed: Emerald, Amethyst