Two Colour shawl V1.0

I haven't been doing a huge amount of spinning recently, and I've been missing it hugely. Last weekend, I took some Pollinator Falkland and my IST Turkish spindle along to a workshop I was teaching, and managed to spindle a few yards over the course of the day. That was enough to break up the log jam, and earlier this week I started spinning the first fiber for my Two Color Shawl V1.0, some Clotted Cream on Shetland.

Clotted Cream Shetland underway!

It's a really lovely spin - not too much going on colorwise, so I don't have to worry about color management, but enough to keep me stopping to look at the subtle tones that are coming out in the yarn. I'm using my Hansen miniSpinner to try and reduce any wear and tear on my legs - in case you've missed my Tweets about it, I'm running the London Marathon on 13 April, and am very wary of using my legs any more then is absolutely necessary! To be fair, I'm pretty sure that treadling a spinning wheel is about as low-impact as you can get, but I'm using the running as an excuse to curl up on the couch with my feet tucked under me and spin away mindlessly. Once this bundle is done, I've got some toned-down YFP Shetland to spin up next, and then I'll have to finally commit to a color combination for the second shawl I plan to do.

There's a few pictures over on the SAL Ravelry thread, but if you're coming across this a bit late and want to join in the fun, we'd love to have you! There are more details on the SAL-KAL page, so don't hesitate. 

Happy spinning!

Rachel

Sometimes you just have to chain ply

I'm a big proponent of not having hard and fast rules when it comes to spinning, particularly when talking about color. There's no spinning police that decree how you must spin your variegated top or your naturally colored batt - part of the joy and the fun of spinning colored fiber is seeing how those colors blend and play together in the finished yarn. Sometimes you might have a particular goal in mind, other times not. That's just part of the adventure.

When I sat down to spin up some Quantum Dots samples for this month's Phat Fiber box, I did what I usually do - a 2 ply and a 3-ply. Given that this is a gradient colorway, chain plying seemed like the way to go for the 3-ply, but I was interested in seeing how the 2-ply would come out. My expectation was that it would still be pretty good, if not as clearly colored as the chain ply. Boy was I wrong...

Quantum Dots 2-ply (ugh) and chain ply (hooray!)

So...let's start with the successful part of the experiment: the chain plied sample is, not unexpectedly, a good way to spin this wildly variegated gradient fiber. The rainbow spectrum shines through with the long color repeats being maintained from single to plied yarn. Another option for obtaining this effect would be to split the top lengthwise down the middle and to spin two singles to ply together, matching the colors as you go. You might get a bit of overlap or mixing of the colors at the transition points, but the general color progression would be maintained pretty effectively.

Ick

Now for the unsuccessful part of the sampling process: hello 2-ply mud! I took one length of the repeat and split it in half across the midpoint, so I ended up with one piece of top running from red to yellow-green, and the other running from green to dark blue. I spun the singles from the same ends, ie red to yellow and green to blue, and then plied them the same direction. The result is a fantastic example of what happens when you mix colors that are opposite to each other on the color wheel - you get muddy, boring, bleh yarn.

If I'd done this experiment with a more tonal gradient, the 2-ply probably would have worked much better. But given the highly contrasting hues and values in this top, a straight 2-ply without manipulating the colors appropriately is not the way to go.

So the take-home message? it's a good idea to think about how your colors are going to blend together in your final yarn if you're trying to do a 2-ply. Another important note: the more plies you have in your final yarn, the more blending you'll see of the colors. So if you're looking to get a uniform yarn (no matter what kind of top you start with), do more plies. If you want to kepe the colors more separate and distinct, fewer plies is the way to go.

Happy spinning!

Rachel

SAL/KAL Colour combinations

So...I've been having a lot of fun (perhaps too much fun) thinking about fibery color combinations for the Two Color Shawl SAL/KAL. And a ton of time playing with photo collages. Below are some possiblities for shawl combinations, just in case, you know, you're having trouble...(or need some enabling assistance!)

Some super bright combos:

From left to right (and top to bottom): Parakeet and Yellow Fluorescent Protein, Coomassie Blue and Blue Jay, Exponential Monet and Roses, Salamander and Ethidium Bromide, Pollinator and Oregon Green.

A bit subdued...

Clotted Cream and Hawa Mahal, London Fog and Snow Shadows, Berry Compote and Haematoma, Clotted Cream and Botticelli's Girl.

With a neutral:

Golden Mean and Clotted Cream, The Far Pavillions and London Fog, Golgi and Spice Market, Clotted Cream and Pollinator, Golgi and Flamingo.

You could always combine two semi-solid colors for a really striking shawl. I'm thinking fondly of the combo between the acid chartreuse of YFP and the subtlty of Clotted Cream.  Or Coomassie Blue and Xylene Cyanole for a gorgeous symphony of blues.

Or maybe go seasonal with Holly Walk and Candy Cane together? Or either with Congo Red or Oregon Green? Maybe Turkey Day with Congo Red or Ethidium Bromide? The possibilities are endles.

You can place orders for you custom dyed fibers now, so be sure you're ready to start spinning on 1 March!

Botticelli's Girl

Now that the November edition of the Phat Fiber box has gone on sale, I can share my newest available colourway - Botticelli's Girl.

This colourway was inspired by "Portrait of a Young Woman", circa 1480, by Sandro Botticelli. I chose this painting because I was very drawn to the combination of auburn, russet and brown with the contrast of the blue sky through the window.

The colourway is handpainted in the same colour progress as in the paining, working from top left to bottom right - blue, peach, auburn, red and brown. 

I was so taken with the colours on the test version that I barely gave myself time to take photographs before I spun up a couple of samples and knit some swatches.

From L to R: 2-ply, both samples, chain-ply

The colours in the 2-ply blended together pretty well, even with a bit of marling. To spin this sample, I split the top into about 4 pieces lengthwise, spun them end to end, and plied from both ends using an Andean plying bracelet. So no attempt was made to line up the colours at all. You can see that the warmer colours play very nicely together, with the blue giving a bit of contrast, even though it's been softened a bit by the plying with a warmer colour family.

The chain ply was so squishy and soft that I carried the skein around with my like a pet for a little while. The colours are much purer, and I think they would be great in a pair of socks for someone of the male persuasion, or as a great stocking cap kind of hat, with a tassel at the top. 

I didn't do a true 3-ply sample, but I imagine it would blend the colours even more then the 2-ply. I'll have to try it out and see if it makes a good sweater yarn.

The BFL is, as always, a true delight to spin, and makes a fantastically soft and bouncy yarn for just about any project. If you're interested in this colourway and it's sold out when you look under the BFL listing in the shop, please do contact me and let me know that you'd like some. I'm going to be dyeing this up repeatedly over the next month, so there should be minimal delay in getting your fibre out to you.

Happy spinning everyone!

R xx

Shop update tomorrow - 7 pm London time

Just a quick heads up that there will be a shop update tomorrow night at 7:00 pm London time, including BFL, Wensleydale, and Suffolk, including three new colorways: Snow Shadows, London Fog and Botticelli's Girl.