Create your own unique looks with the different yarn types in the Friends range.

Have you seen our new collection of yarns called Friends? This range of yarns consists of exquisite materials that can be combined in countless ways in your knit or crocheted projects. And the best thing about it - the color numbers match across all the different yarn types. So cool and practical!

In this blog post, I will show you how you can combine the yarns to get the PERFECT look to ignite your creative yarn heart ❤️

I got my sweet Hobbii colleagues to help me make some knit swatches - and even a crocheted swatch, too!

What is Friends? Read more about the new Friends range here.

Match yarn types in the same color

The best thing about the new Friends collection is, of course, that the color numbers match across all the yarn types in the Friends family. And what does that mean, exactly? It means that Friends Wool in color no. 07 was dyed using the same color as Friends Extra Fine Merino and Friends Kid Silk in color no. 07.

As mentioned, we knit some swatches to help you see how well these yarns match.

Here, you see Friends Extra Fine Merino paired with Friends Kid Silk. Both are shown in color no. 105 - a gorgeous green color that instantly makes you want to knit a sweater that can light up the darkness during the colder months! Green is, after all, the color of hope, right?

👆 The swatch is made on a 4,5 mm (US 7/G) needle in Friends Extra Fine Merino (no. 105) and Friends Kid Silk (no. 105).

Please note … the yarn types absorb the dyes differently. This means that the colors may vary every so slightly, but - as you can see here - it’s easy to achieve a uniform look 😉

If you prefer working with a classic wool yarn like Friends Wool, then you can combine this with Friends Kid Silk to add a nice and fluffy feel to it. Here, you see a swatch made with Friends Wool versus a swatch made with Friends Wool and Friends Kid Silk:

👆 Friends Kid Silk (no. 70) adds a fluffy look to your sweaters, hats, and scarves when paired with Friends Wool (no. 70). And just look at this stunning purple color!

Create a mottled look with different colors

You could also choose colors that vary slightly to create a mottled effect. Here, we’ve paired Friends Extra Fine Merino in color no. 114 with Friends Kid Silk in color no. 112. The result is a slightly mottled look:

👆 Suuuuuuch a beautiful play of colors! Friends Extra Fine Merino (no. 114) knit together with Friends Kid Silk (no. 112) on a 4 mm needle (US 6/G).

The more similar the colors, the less visible the mottled effect will be. We’ve illustrated it here in a swatch with Friends Wool in color no. 28 and Friends Kid Silk in color no. 13. The two colors almost melt together in beautiful mustard-yellow harmony:

👆 Friends Wool (no. 28) knit together with Friends Kid Silk (no. 13) on a 5,5 mm needle (US 9/I).

Unleash your creativity

One of the best things about knitting and crocheting is that you can create whatever you want.

You can follow a pattern when you want to know what the end result will look like in advance, but you can also try your hand at creating your own, unique projects, where the only limit is your imagination.

You could, for example, have fun with the colors and combine them in new and interesting ways. Like an ombre effect where darker colors fade into lighter shades:

👆 This swatch makes me think of icebergs and freezing water. It’s knit using a base of Friends Extra Fine Merino (no. 02). Then we added some Friends Kid Silk in various shades to achieve this beautiful effect (no. 96, 89, 95, and 77). The Friends Kid Silk colors overlap in a single row to help the colors blend seamlessly together. The swatch was knit using a 3,5 mm needle (US 4/E).

I’ve talked a lot about colors and color-play, but you could also get creative with the combinations of fibers to create a cool look.

Here, we switched between Friends Extra Fine Merino and Friends Kid Silk:

👆 The rows in Friends Kid Silk (no. 42) look light and airy next to the rows of Friends Extra Fine Merino (no. 42). Knit on a 4,5 mm needle (US 7/G).

You can also mix and match when you crochet

But what about crocheting with multiple yarn types, you may ask?

There’s not as big of a tradition of combining yarn types in crocheted projects, but you can actually achieve some quite wonderful results by doing so.

Just look at this swatch where we’ve crocheted Friends Wool together with Friends Cotton 8/4:

👆 This swatch is light and soft. I can definitely imagine snuggling up and taking a nap under a nice blanket made with this combination! It’s crocheted in Friends Wool (no. 114) and Friends Cotton 8/4 (no. 114) on a 4,5 mm hook (US 7/G).

I hope I inspired you to combine different yarn types in your next project.

Happy knitting and crocheting 💜