Painter’s Yarn: Yarn inspired by a lifetime of colour

By Signe Hansen | Photos: Painter’s Yarn

Raised in a family where conversations about colour combinations were part of everyday life, Joan Boesen has spent most of her working life thinking about shades, tones and how they work together. When she rediscovered knitting after many years away from it, it ignited a new passion. Through Painter’s Yarn, she now hand-dyes yarn in rich, layered colours that bring depth, character and a sense of individuality to the finished knit.

From its colourful workshop and showroom in Central Jutland, Painter’s Yarn has grown into a small but well-known name in the knitting world. The brand specialises in hand-dyed yarn produced in small batches, with colours that combine vibrancy and subtle depth.

“I like colours that suit people,” Joan explains. “Colours with depth. That is something we often hear about our yarn – that the colours have depth. It comes from my background. I’ve worked with colours all my life, and even though you can’t transfer colours directly from the paint world to yarn, you can use the same principles of what suits people. Colours should complement the skin and work with the mood of the moment.”

Today, painter’s yarn has a strong following amongst experienced knitters, with the yarns sold through selected yarn shops in Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, as well as directly through the company’s web shop and at knitting festivals across Scandinavia.

Photo: Per Bille

From paint to yarn

Although Painter’s Yarn may now appear as a fully-fledged business, it was established step by step after Joan spent nearly 30 years working with colour consultancy within her family’s paint company. In the later years, knitting quietly returned to her life after a long pause. “I had not knitted for about twenty years,” she says. “Then I started again and discovered hand-dyed yarn. I became completely fascinated and curious about how it was made.”

Joan began dyeing yarn for her own projects, but as she was eager to explore all aspects of the process, the skeins quickly accumulated. Through online knitting groups, she started selling small amounts, then set up a modest display in the family paint shop and eventually a web shop. Interest grew steadily, and during COVID, things took off.

“At one point, I was getting up early in the morning to dye yarn in my garage before going to work. In the evening, I packed orders. Eventually, it became too much to combine, and I realised that I had to decide,” she recalls. “I was 55, so it had to be now if I wanted to give it a go, and I knew that I would regret it if I didn’t.”

In 2021, she opened the doors to her showroom and workshop and stepped out of her family’s paint business. Today, she is assisted in the practical aspect by her husband, and her daughter, currently on maternity leave, is also employed in the business.

Painter's Yarn: Yarn inspired by a lifetime of colour

Depth, character and originality define the yarn from Painter’s Yarn.

Yarns with depth and personality

The Painter’s Yarn collection is built around a stable core palette of around 80 colours, complemented by seasonal add-ons and special projects. Joan works with a wide range of fibres – including wool, silk, alpaca, mohair and yak – most of them soft enough to be worn directly against the skin. “I want yarn that feels good to knit with and good to wear,” she says. “If you’re going to spend many hours knitting something, it should be comfortable and last a long time.”

While more dramatic speckled and variegated colours appear in the collection, the most popular shades are often the calmer semi-solid tones that knitters can easily combine. Each colour reflects a genuine fascination with and love for colours. Among them are Deep Blue, a yarn inspired by the famous colour created by artist Yves Klein. “It was incredibly difficult to get the right tone,” Joan explains. “At first, it was too cobalt blue, but gradually I moved it towards a deeper ultramarine shade – some colours keep evolving.”

Painter's Yarn: Yarn inspired by a lifetime of colour

Creativity through choice

While colour remains the heart of Painter’s Yarn, Joan also sees the company as part of a wider knitting community. To support talented Danish designers, the showroom displays models of their patterns, and Joan truly enjoys helping customers create their own individual colour combinations to make the designs come alive. “We spend a lot of time helping people put colours together – it’s an essential part of my work – how shades interact and what suits different people has been part of how I think for my entire life,” she stresses.

In Joan’s view, the renewed popularity of knitting is closely connected to the many talented and creative new Danish designers offering pattern designs that make knitting feel modern again. Hand-dyed yarn, she believes, plays its own role in that development. “Hand-dyed yarn gives knitting more life and depth of colour,” she says and rounds off: “And, of course, we work with it because we love colours – because life is just too short for dull yarn.”

Painter's Yarn: Yarn inspired by a lifetime of colour