The Story of ColourSpun: How a Love of Colour Became Something More
It’s the colour. All the colours under the sun, literally, that led to ColourSpun – and to a life built around hand dyed yarn. If you’ve ever struggled to choose a palette yourself, our guide to finding colour combinations you’ll love can help.
As far back as I can remember, colour is what makes my memories vivid. I can still see myself finger painting at nursery school, covered in a bright yellow plastic apron. My hands like little rainbows, splashing colour onto large sheets of paper. I painted and coloured my way through childhood, and when I learned to knit in 1977, that deep love of colour transferred itself to hand dyed yarn.
A Stash That Grew (and Grew)
My yarn stash of every colour soon outgrew my ability to knit it up. That was fine, because I liked just having it to look at. When my boys were little there wasn’t much time to knit, though I managed at least a few rows a day for most of my knitting life. The stash grew quietly in the background, and I was always on the lookout for that one new colour I didn’t yet own.
When my boys were teenagers and I could knit more, I found myself constantly searching for colours that simply didn’t exist in the shops. So I decided to make them myself. My adventure with hand dyed yarn began!
The Early Experiments
My first attempts were hand dyed yarn with general purpose dye bought from the local pharmacy. I was trying to dye acrylic yarn – it was all that was widely available – and the results were far from satisfying. There were no books on the subject that I could find, and there was certainly no internet to turn to. I had no choice but to keep experimenting, keep trying, keep failing forward.
It got frustrating enough that I stopped for a while. And then I met Hazel Hele, and everything changed.
Hazel opened up a whole new world for me. I learned an enormous amount from her about natural fibres, dyeing and spinning. Soon I had a large stash of yarn I had dyed myself. Each skein was unique, and it made a real difference to my knitting. Friends started noticing and wanting some for themselves, and before long I was sharing my yarn with them. My friend Rose gave them a nickname: Odd Balls. For a while, that name stuck.
From Hobby to Small Hand Dyed Yarn Business
I started selling yarn at local quilting guild meetings and designing patterns to go with it. By 2002 I had become a regular contributor to Craftwise magazine. In 2007 I took on the role of Consulting Editor: Textiles for Stitches magazine, a position I held for many years. Both publications have since closed, but those were extraordinary creative chapters, and the demand for my yarn kept growing steadily alongside that work.
Through it all, the dyeing continued. What had started in 1998 as a personal project to find colours that didn’t exist in the shops had slowly, quietly become something much more. By the early 2000s the small amounts had grown substantially, and it was clear this was no longer just a hobby – it needed to become a proper small business.
The Name That Almost Wasn’t
Around 2004, I decided it was time for a website. I sat down to search for Odd Balls – and got a page full of results that were, let’s say, not at all what I had in mind.
So the name had to go. I thought carefully about what the business was really about: colour, movement, energy, the spin of the yarn. ColourSpun was born, and it has felt like exactly the right name ever since.
Earth Friendly, From the Beginning
As ColourSpun grew, I made a conscious decision to keep it as earth friendly as possible. All my hand dyed yarn and fibres are locally grown natural fibres – merino wool, kid mohair and cotton – grown and coloured right here in South Africa with earth-friendly dyes. I developed a process that uses the minimum amount of water, heating it with a gas geyser and using sun stoves to cook the yarn. It’s a small studio in South Africa, but one I feel good about – and it’s where every skein of ColourSpun hand dyed yarn begins its life.
The ColourSpun Hand Dyed Yarn Range Today.
What started with a few skeins of hand dyed merino has grown into something I could never have imagined in those early pharmacy dye days.
Today the ColourSpun range includes:
- Yarns – merino wool (hand spun and mill spun) in a wide range of weights, kid mohair and 100% cotton in multiple weights, all hand-dyed in our signature colours
- Fabric – pure cotton fabric in a range of weights, hand dyed to complement the yarn range
- Embroidery threads – hand dyed cotton threads for embroidery and cross stitch
- Colour packs – curated colour collections for specific projects
- Project kits – everything you need to make a specific design, all in one box
- Patterns – original ColourSpun designs for knitting, crochet and embroidery
- Accessories – the little things that make crafting better
Across all of these, over 500 colours are available – and every skein, square and thread is still dyed right here in my studio.
Knitted Knockers South Africa
One of the things I’m most proud of is ColourSpun’s role in Knitted Knockers South Africa. It’s a registered NPC charity, partnered with CANSA, that I co-founded in 2014. Volunteer knitters and crocheters across South Africa hand make free, soft breast prostheses for mastectomy and lumpectomy survivors. Every kit used by those volunteers is made right here at ColourSpun, using our 100% cotton yarn.
It’s a reminder of why this work matters – not just as a creative business, but as something that genuinely touches people’s lives.
Every Day’s a Happy Day
I now spend most of my time in my studio, which is adjoined to our home, doing all the things I love. The finger painting nursery school child, the teenager who fell in love with yarn, the frustrated dyer who nearly gave up – they all led here.
I hope ColourSpun’s colours fill your days with a little of the same happiness they give me.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did ColourSpun start?
Dana Biddle began hand dyeing yarn in 1998, initially as a personal creative project to find colours that simply did not exist in the shops. What started as a hobby grew steadily into a small business, and the ColourSpun name was born around 2004.
Where is ColourSpun based?
ColourSpun is a small hand dyeing studio based in Heidelberg, Gauteng, South Africa. Every skein of yarn, length of fabric and bundle of embroidery thread is dyed right here in the studio.
What fibres does ColourSpun use?
ColourSpun works exclusively with locally grown natural fibres, including merino wool, kid mohair and 100% cotton. All are grown and dyed in South Africa using earth friendly, certified dyes.
How many colours does ColourSpun offer?
Over 500 colours are available across the full ColourSpun range, from yarns and fabrics to embroidery threads and colour packs.
What is Knitted Knockers South Africa?
Knitted Knockers South Africa is a registered NPC charity co-founded by Dana in 2014, partnered with CANSA. Volunteer knitters and crocheters hand make free, soft breast prostheses for mastectomy and lumpectomy survivors across South Africa. Every kit used by volunteers is made at ColourSpun using 100% cotton yarn and Pure Merino Superwash filling.
Are ColourSpun dyes environmentally friendly?
Yes. ColourSpun uses certified earth friendly dyes and a low water dyeing process. The studio uses a gas geyser and sun stoves, keeping the environmental footprint as small as possible.
