New Milburn 4ply/DK colourway reveal: Buttermilk
It’s late June 2026 and we’ve just had a particularly mega heatwave, so what better time to release a brand new colourway of Milburn 4ply™️ and Milburn DK™️?!
The timing wasn’t deliberate - I had to wait to run out (or almost) of one of the two discontinued colours before replacing it with a new one, and the turnaround time on these yarns is approximately 10-12 weeks, so I have to accept that it just arrives whenever it arrives. In an ideal world I’d get samples and knit and crochet things up with them ahead of the release day, but I’m a small business and it just doesn’t work like that. So.. the yarn lands when it lands, I get excited, and then want to knit and crochet alllll the things in it!
Why Buttermilk?
Well, we have a palette of a maximum of 20 colours to work with. I can’t really afford to stock more than 20 - both in terms of money and space - so that forces me to discontinue and replace, rather than keep adding more and more. It’s probably a good thing!
Dave and I spent absolutely ages pondering over colours. And I spent even longer before asking for his thoughts on it, so it’s been a long process! What I did was take a set of bobbins (the little card ones) of the colours and mull over what I felt was missing, and I eventually decided that I actually wanted another neutral, but a nice warm one. I have Dulux Buttermilk throughout the house and I couldn’t get it out of my head that this would lend a gorgeous warmth to the palette. We spent a while deciding how saturated it should be and exactly what tone it should be - I hand dyed loads of samples and we sat them alongside the rest of the colours, gradually narrowing it down before landing on the one that I liked (confirmed as ok by Dave).
Then it was a case of sending off my hand dyed version for the dyer to match. They are exceptionally good at this, which I am most grateful for! They sent back a number of samples and I chose the one I was happiest with. Not too pale, not too saturated, not too yellowy, not to browny, etc etc etc. Yes, I am extremely picky!!
From then on there was the long wait! It was about 12 weeks in the end, with me growing gradually more and more impatient despite trying very hard to not be! In the meantime we sold the remaining stock of 4ply Azalea, 4ply Night Sky, almost all of the DK Night Sky, and at time of writing there are just a few packs of DK Azalea left. It’s not that I don’t like these colours, of course I do, but I have to be a bit ruthless if I want to bring in new colours so I chose the ones that have consistently sold the least over the past few years.
Funnily enough the yarn arrived the morning we left for The Cumbrian Wool Gathering - about an hour before we had to set off! So that was exciting as it meant we could take it with us and display it straight away.
I’m absolutely chuffed to bits with this colourway. I know that ‘cream’ sounds a bit uninspiring but honestly it’s not a boring cream, it’s got a beautiful warm shimmery glow to it that brings warmth and a lift to any palette, but is beautiful and classy on its own as well. I think the silk in the yarn and the lustre of the British Bluefaced Leicester wool helps as well to be honest. And actually.. although releasing a new wool yarn in the height of summer sounds a bit daft, I now realise that it’s a really summery colour. It’s got that soft morning sunshine feel to it, or like in late summer when there’s lots of golden dried grasses and crops around and they whisper in the breeze. Heading into autumn this colourway really lends itself to the russets and browns that we associate with that time of year. Over winter it will bring a really cosy gentle warmth, and I have visions of it being used held double with soft fluffy yarns in similar shades to create the most classy and cosy winter woollens. Then heading into spring we’re back into florals and it will go so beautifully with pastels, bright petal colours, and fresh spring greens.
If this doesn’t inspire you I hope it at least gives you a window into how my brain works!!
As we were away when I initially got my hands on the yarn, and I had DPNs with me from my previous travel project, I raided my Ravelry queue for some fingerless mitts to cast on straight away. I just couldn’t resist. I ended up making Agatha fingerless mitts by Susan Crawford, and the colours I used are: Buttermilk, Thyme, Catmint, and Black Tulip. I was really spoilt for choice for colour combinations so decided to go for something similar to what Susan’s mitts looked like, just to help me narrow down my options.
I have quite narrow hands and wrists so I made size small (and they’re still a bit baggy on me - should have used smaller needles), and I also don’t like fingerless mitts too long or bunched up (again - picky!) so I made mine a LOT shorter than the pattern. They are a total of two repeats long instead of five. I know, that’s quite a big difference. I could have added another half a repeat to the length of the hands if I’m honest, but that’s hindsight for you. As they are, I’m really pleased with them. I think the colours work beautifully and they’ll be gorgeous to wear this autumn/winter/next spring (I run cold!).
Other things that are on my mind for this colourway are things like:
Elton by Joji - maybe with different coloured mohair stripes?
Love Note using this held double with a gently variegated fluffy yarn
Willow Shawl/hat/fingerless mitts by me for a set of lovely spring accessories
More colourwork! Kismet by Rachel Illsley would be amazing, but any of hers would tbh - I’d love to see one made with Rust as the main colour and Buttermilk as the contrast.
Magic Circles by Jane Crowfoot using this as one of the main colours, maybe replacing Autumn Fields which I’d discontinued at the time of pattern release - I didn’t know she was designing with it and she didn’t know I’d discontinued it so it was just bad timing! (We generally check with each other about these things now!)
Have you any other ideas/thoughts about this? Let me know in the comments!