Transitions
One thing I have been curious about recently is the transition from one color to the next, from a spinner's perspective. As a spinner, this time, not a dyer, weaver, or knitter, but using the tools of a spinner.
We can card colors together, adding another color to shift the hue, we can use white or gray to shift values of a color, we can ply colors together, we can split dyed tops in many configurations to re-orient colors at will.
These are wool/silk blends, and the photo shows a probable accurate depiction of the relative amount I have of each color. I have several ideas how to spin these for color transitions, a "spinnerly" way to make them work together. Card some? Spin more than one color on a bobbin? Spin them in color order but change the lengths of color? Ply them together? Multiple plies? All of the above? Lots of options.
There are these small braids of dyed Bombyx, a gift from Lynn:
I've had them for a few weeks, giving me the opportunity to daydream about them, alone and together. Then, just as I shot this photo, I remembered these bobbins:
which I spun a few weeks ago, also bombyx, and, thankfully, not plied. Hmmmm. The colors make a nice transition from lights to darks....I may ply for these transitions, but how many plies: two, three, four? The color blending with more plies....that is something to consider.
I muddle over these things, slowly, take my time with deciding, until the moment of spinning comes. A plan is made firm at the turning of fiber into yarn. Since these are not my current projects the fiber sits there, marinating, while I work away:
See why I am thinking of colors, and of color transitions?
These are two lots of carded blends with some silk, some wools, some tencel. There is enough for yarn to make a nice small project and I love the colors together. They are perfectly ready to spin and I am loathe to card them further (carding? not my forte). I may blend them back and forth on the bobbins as I spin, getting random color associations. That's my current thinking anyway.
Transitions are those places that can be smooth and seamless, or glaring and jarring. The glaring and jarring is not necessarily bad, either, just best planned for, like going outside on a hot summer morning:
One has to dress for it. Hat, shades, a purse (formerly an Easter basket), the stroller with two bunnies and a moose, and off we go around the block. Very slowly.
We can card colors together, adding another color to shift the hue, we can use white or gray to shift values of a color, we can ply colors together, we can split dyed tops in many configurations to re-orient colors at will.
These are wool/silk blends, and the photo shows a probable accurate depiction of the relative amount I have of each color. I have several ideas how to spin these for color transitions, a "spinnerly" way to make them work together. Card some? Spin more than one color on a bobbin? Spin them in color order but change the lengths of color? Ply them together? Multiple plies? All of the above? Lots of options.
There are these small braids of dyed Bombyx, a gift from Lynn:
I've had them for a few weeks, giving me the opportunity to daydream about them, alone and together. Then, just as I shot this photo, I remembered these bobbins:
which I spun a few weeks ago, also bombyx, and, thankfully, not plied. Hmmmm. The colors make a nice transition from lights to darks....I may ply for these transitions, but how many plies: two, three, four? The color blending with more plies....that is something to consider.
I muddle over these things, slowly, take my time with deciding, until the moment of spinning comes. A plan is made firm at the turning of fiber into yarn. Since these are not my current projects the fiber sits there, marinating, while I work away:
See why I am thinking of colors, and of color transitions?
These are two lots of carded blends with some silk, some wools, some tencel. There is enough for yarn to make a nice small project and I love the colors together. They are perfectly ready to spin and I am loathe to card them further (carding? not my forte). I may blend them back and forth on the bobbins as I spin, getting random color associations. That's my current thinking anyway.
Transitions are those places that can be smooth and seamless, or glaring and jarring. The glaring and jarring is not necessarily bad, either, just best planned for, like going outside on a hot summer morning:
One has to dress for it. Hat, shades, a purse (formerly an Easter basket), the stroller with two bunnies and a moose, and off we go around the block. Very slowly.
posted by Sara at 11:27 AM
7 Comments:
Lovely colors to work with.
I love that the animals are belted into the stroller. Is she a wild driver? : ) And you've got to love the shades - very cute.
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Your colors are lovely. I've been carding some katmoget Shetland to blend with something. The stash continues to grow. I really like orange/fuschia colors.
It's a bit scary, I do have the same colors of wool/silk in the same colors as in your first picture in my stash. The green and the orange is all spun up by now but that pictures makes me think about getting more of it.
I've been wanting to try what Judith MacKenzie did for the sock project in the Intentional Spinner book where she took three colors and held them next to each other while spinning to create colored yarn. Somehow she explains this better then me.
All of those color combinations would be lovely for something like that.
And then, if you weave with the spun yarn, you can muddle/transition the colors even more with the weft (or - dare I say it? - the weave structure).
Beautiful colors!! I just downloaded your Spinning Silk videos. I'm hoping it will jump start my spinning. It also reminds me of our time at Bucknell!
Love the outfit - just perfect for a stroll on a hot day :-)
You just can't underestimate the importance of accessories!
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