These are beautiful, rich colours moving from deep burgundy through orange-red to gold (very sunset-y). I haven't wound them yet so I can't speak to whether there are any knots (I may have seen one on one skein). The yarn itself is really soft and touchable. The KnitPicks customer service is terrific. I had a question about another item and called instead of fumbling around with emails. The agent was really friendly and knowledgeable. My order arrived exactly as I expected.