Cake Yarn

Cake yarn is yarn that the manufacturer has wound into a flat cylinder resembling a cake. It contains a long, continuous strand (for example, YarnArt Flowers has 1000 m in 250 g), and the colours change in layers within the cake. This lets you knit or crochet from a single cake with a smooth colour transition and fewer joins. Here you’ll find YarnArt Flowers and Rosegarden, Alize Bella Ombre Batik, Austermann Fantasy Colours and Step 6 Color, Himalaya Everyday Batik, and Urth Yarns Uneek Sock Kit sets for a pair of socks.

How does cake yarn differ from a regular ball and ombre yarn?

Cake describes the way the yarn is wound, rather than a colour effect. Most cakes on this page weigh 140 to 260 g, with the colours arranged in layers so you can see their sequence on top of the cake. The sock sets contain two smaller cakes weighing 50 or 30 g each.

A smooth colour transition, known as ombre, can also occur in a regular ball or skein. You’ll find these yarns in the Ombre Yarn category.

Which cake yarn should you choose for a shawl, jumper or socks?

• Shawls and lightweight summer pieces: YarnArt Flowers and Flowers Vivid in cotton and acrylic (250 g / 1000 m), YarnArt Rosegarden in cotton (250 g / 1000 m), and Alize Bella Ombre Batik in cotton (250 g / 900 m) for 2–4 mm knitting needles.
• A subtle shimmer: YarnArt Flowers Moonlight with a metallic thread (260 g / 1000 m) for 3 mm knitting needles.
• Warmer scarves and jumpers: YarnArt Flowers Alpaca with alpaca (250 g / 940 m) and Flowers Merino with wool (225 g / 590 m) for 5 mm knitting needles, and Himalaya Everyday Batik in acrylic (140 g / 350 m) for 4 mm knitting needles.
• Chunky, quick projects: YarnArt Color Wave in wool and acrylic (200 g / 160 m) for 10 mm knitting needles.
• Organic cotton: Austermann Fantasy Colours (250 g / 1000 m) for 3–3.5 mm knitting needles.
• Socks: Urth Yarns Uneek Sock Kit contains two identical cakes in merino and polyamide, so both socks have the same colour transition (2 × 50 g, Mini 2 × 30 g, 2.25–3.25 mm knitting needles). Austermann Step 6 Color is a thicker sock yarn in a 150 g / 410 m cake for 3–4 mm knitting needles.

You’ll find more yarns for socks in the Sock Yarn category, and the full range in the Knitting Yarn category.