Where can I get a really good range of colours for crocheting?

[BaaHumbug]

I have just learned to crochet [openly smug] and I am planning impossibly grand future projects. My usual craft is quilting, and the choice of colours and fabrics is practically endless so I'm a bit stymied by the poor range of colours in yarns. The best that I have found so far is Drops Paris Light and a Rico range, but both of those are cotton/acrylic and I would rather work with a wool mix. I guess it's because most yarn sold is for making into something you would wear, so most colours are muted or muddy to suit skin tones. I would really like to have some clear, bright, vivid tones (not lurid). I've found that colours like green and orange are especially lacking, pinks and blues aren't too bad.

Any recommendations?

What is silk like to crochet with? I know I was planning to use cheap yarn until I was expert, but lordy this is astonishingly beautiful. Hat and matching cowl perhaps? I'm quite drawn to Abagail Ahern's style of interior design at the moment and those colours and texture would make fabulous cushions against a graphite grey sofa.

I've got a blanket on sofa in the process made out of rico. it is to go on a bed and is more decorative.

rico is reasonably priced and you need alot of wool so I think it is a good wool to use if you are not too experienced and you may get fed up with project.

I'm making <a class="break-all" href="http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2009/05/the-square-throw-tadah.htmlattic24.typepad.com/weblog/2009/05/the-square-throw-tadah.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this at the moment from Attic 24's blog. Definitely not muted colours at all and the wool is lovely to work with.

Thanks Thistledown - I shall enjoy having a little explore around your blog

This seems to be a really good value pack of Attic 24 colours.

That a good value pack, but not really my colours. There's a lot of mauve/lilac in it.

I have a few colour schemes in mind at the moment, one of them is three shades of grey (graphite, mid-grey and silver) with acid yellow and lime green, possibly a slightly mustardy yellow too and perhaps small amounts of either a rich, bright plum or a strong, warm pink (more towards red than fuchsia). I'd have to see it together to decide on the exact contrast colour, if I have one at all.

Another scheme that I quite fancy is about 5 or 6 shades of blue-green (from duck egg to teal), with 4 or 5 shades of purple-pink (from pale to raspberry) and a couple of strong browns.

I guess Special DK while I perfect my technique and the pattern, and then hand-dyeing is probably the way to go.

Thanks for all the suggestions though, there is some amazing stuff out there.

If you are going to go down the acrylic route for the moment, I would also recommend James C Brett Top Value yarn - it seems to go together with the stylecraft with no problems, and has a good range of colours too.

Pukous - when I wrote my last post, I was racking my brains, trying to remember KoolAid - I had heard about people using it as a dye in the past, but just couldn't bring the name to mind - thank you!

I am afraid I probably won't be going to felting group this week (I have an 'orrible cold, and am feeling fairly rough), but I can ask about dyes next time, if you want, BaaHumbug.

That would be great, thanks SDTG. I hope you're feeling better soon.

Have you looked at Sirdar Snuggly baby bamboo? I liked the colours :)

I had some baby bamboo left over from a knitting project, but I found it very difficult to crochet with. It's quite slippery which doesn't matter much when knitting, but it kept escaping from my hook when crocheting. (I'm baahumbug btw.)

I find lack of decent greens very frustrating! I have a lovely sublime merino one in a kiwi sort of colour, but it would be expensive for a whole blanket. Sirdar snuggly has a nice apple green, but the rest of the range is a bit limited. Agree that cottons are usually better, but a large blanket in cotton would be very heavy. We need to petition stylecraft for better greens and oranges (and yellows which I also find generally lacking)!