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The Magic (and Madness) of Color Pooling Yarn: Featuring It’s Time For Yarn

Color Pooling


If you’ve ever worked with variegated yarn, you might have stumbled upon something surprising: accidental patterns appearing in your project—like stripes, zigzags, or even argyle-style prints. Welcome to the mesmerizing world of color pooling in crochet.

Color pooling happens when the colors in a skein of variegated yarn align just right, forming a repeatable pattern as you stitch. It’s like your crochet hook and yarn are conspiring to create art. But let’s be honest—sometimes it feels more like a test of patience than a creative journey.

Planned vs. Accidental Color Pooling

There are two types of crocheters in the world: those who stumble into color pooling by accident and those who obsessively plan for it. Either way, it takes a combination of yarn, tension, stitch selection, and sometimes a bit of yarn wizardry to make it happen.

If you've ever wondered how to control the chaos, one of the best resources out there is the YouTube channel It’s Time For Yarn, hosted by Erica.

Why You Should Check Out It’s Time For Yarn

This channel, hosted by the talented and endlessly encouraging Erica, is a go-to destination for crocheters who want to dive deep into this technique, tips, and project inspiration. 

In one of her standout videos, Erica walks you through how to identify a yarn that’s good for pooling and how to manipulate your stitches to make the colors fall exactly where you want them. They even tackle the common struggles like what to do when the pattern shifts mid-project or how to fix a color that’s just slightly too long or short. Check out this AMAZING VIDEO HERE.

Beyond tutorials, the channel is filled with genuine, approachable content that makes learning new techniques feel achievable (and even fun). Whether you're new to the idea of color pooling or you’ve tried and sworn it off after a few failures, her videos might just convince you to give it another go.

What to Look for in a Color Pooling Yarn

Not all variegated yarns are created equal. If you're chasing the elusive perfect pool, here are a few things to look for:

  • Evenly spaced color repeats: The best pooling happens when each color segment is about the same length.

  • High contrast between colors: This makes the pattern pop.

  • Medium weight yarns: These tend to show off the pooling effect better than very fine or chunky yarns.

A Fun Challenge for the Adventurous Crocheter

If you’re the type of person who enjoys a puzzle or loves seeing instant visual results in your projects, color pooling might be your new obsession. It’s a great way to turn even the simplest stitch—like the granny stitch or moss stitch—into something with serious visual impact.

And if it starts to feel overwhelming, It’s Time For Yarn is there to cheer you on and guide you through the twists and turns (literally) of making color work work. Erica's experience as a patient and caring teacher is evident in all her tutorials. Find her full color pooling PLAYLIST HERE!

An Hour of Fun

I had the opportunity to sit down with Erica and chat all about color pooling yarns, including Red Heart's Granny Square yarn. Did you know you could color pool with that yarn?

Watch the livestream replay here!



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