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affrecaThe standard amount of dyed wool is sold is 4 ounces (sometimes called bumps). While that's enough for sock or a cowl, that's not enough for a sweater. My basic raglan long sleeve pullover in fingering weight merino takes a bit less than a pound for me. My comfy big cardigan in three ply DK BFL took 2.5 pounds. TI use that as my end points. I have done more of the first, so I'm usually making plans for 4 bumps.
1) The easiest way to deal with that is four separate stripes. The first pattern that I made that I really liked is Jen , which works well for me as it is four thick stripes. If you want less distinct stripes, you can do a fade in between the stripes. I like to use the color blending method from Amy King's Less is More, which is alternating stripes of each color, with the stripes of the first color getting thinner as the stripes of the second get thicker. For either of these, I'd recommend fractal so you have blendy stripes.
2) Another method that takes less planning and is more flexible in amounts, but takes more prep time is to blend together a number of bumps. This way is great to use up odd scraps. If the colors are spread around the color wheel, you do have the chance of making mud. On the other hand, I love heather yarns.
3) You can try successive plying. I learned this technique in Jillian Moreno's Maidens All In a Row class at Plyaway a couple of years ago. The simplest method to make three 2 ply yarns from three bumps (A, B, and C). Yarn 1 is A +B, Yarn 2 is B+C, and Yarn 3 is A+C. You can make it more complicated by adding more bumps. The nice thing is that each color blends itself to the one before and the one after.
4) It seemed like last year, everyone I knew was doing combo spins. Take your pile of bumps, and strip them into skinny lengths. Make them into a pile of nestlets, and randomly grab one. There's ways to make them more organized so that the you get "even" randomness, but you don't have to.
5) I love combo drafting, especially if you have a couple of 100 gram bumps. Strip two bumps into finger width bits, and draft both at the same time. If you have four bumps, you can do two for each of 2 plies.
6) Break them apart. Make piles of each color, and have a lot of semisolid stripes.
Or you can combine any of these ideas. You can have solid ply that is carried with either successive plying or with a ply from each bump. You can combo draft and combo spin. Sky is the limit.
1) The easiest way to deal with that is four separate stripes. The first pattern that I made that I really liked is Jen , which works well for me as it is four thick stripes. If you want less distinct stripes, you can do a fade in between the stripes. I like to use the color blending method from Amy King's Less is More, which is alternating stripes of each color, with the stripes of the first color getting thinner as the stripes of the second get thicker. For either of these, I'd recommend fractal so you have blendy stripes.
2) Another method that takes less planning and is more flexible in amounts, but takes more prep time is to blend together a number of bumps. This way is great to use up odd scraps. If the colors are spread around the color wheel, you do have the chance of making mud. On the other hand, I love heather yarns.
3) You can try successive plying. I learned this technique in Jillian Moreno's Maidens All In a Row class at Plyaway a couple of years ago. The simplest method to make three 2 ply yarns from three bumps (A, B, and C). Yarn 1 is A +B, Yarn 2 is B+C, and Yarn 3 is A+C. You can make it more complicated by adding more bumps. The nice thing is that each color blends itself to the one before and the one after.
4) It seemed like last year, everyone I knew was doing combo spins. Take your pile of bumps, and strip them into skinny lengths. Make them into a pile of nestlets, and randomly grab one. There's ways to make them more organized so that the you get "even" randomness, but you don't have to.
5) I love combo drafting, especially if you have a couple of 100 gram bumps. Strip two bumps into finger width bits, and draft both at the same time. If you have four bumps, you can do two for each of 2 plies.
6) Break them apart. Make piles of each color, and have a lot of semisolid stripes.
Or you can combine any of these ideas. You can have solid ply that is carried with either successive plying or with a ply from each bump. You can combo draft and combo spin. Sky is the limit.
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Date: 2020-08-11 03:47 pm (UTC)