Gradients

I'm not usually up on the latest trends, but I hear that gradient yarns are "in" right now. I've made a couple of gradient yarns recently, but it seems more like a coincidence than anything planned on my part. Or maybe I am just seeing gradient roving and top at the fairs, so I jump on a trend unknowingly.

Anyhow, for those who don't know, a gradient yarn is one that shifts gradually from one color to another (to another?), creating gradual changes. Unlike ordinary variegated yarns, which have generally short repeats of the same few colors, a gradient yarn has either much longer repeats, or no repeats at all.

I am not an expert on dyeing, but I suspect it has a lot to do with how and when the fiber is dyed. Ordinary variegated yarns are dyed in the skein, making the parts that line up the same color, and causing repeats. Gradient yarns are either made up of several mini-skeins that are each dyed with different mixtures of two colors (or going from dark to light of the same color), or they are dyed in the wool and spun as a gradient. Because I have never dyed yarn, I will be talking exclusively about the last process.

First, an old project that I have mentioned before:

Single-ply gradient in the skein

I loved the colors on the luxury top that I bought, so I spun it up for a shawl.

Silk-BFL blend, gradient braid

As you can see, the fiber was dyed by painting it various colors in the braid (it's not actually a braid - there is only one strand). This creates a continuous movement of color from one to the next. Moreover, if there are any strong divisions, the process of spinning will generally muddy it, as fiber is drafted from both colors for a little while.

As a spinner, there are a few different ways to maintain that gradient. The first, and easiest, is to keep the strand as a single, which is what I did with this project.

Wingspan Shawl, using single-ply gradient yarn

However, if you want to do a multi-ply yarn, you have a problem. If you do the regular thing and spin from one end to the other of the braid over two or three bobbins, then ply them together, you will mix the colors, getting a barber-pole effect. Not necessarily bad, but often not what you are looking for.

Not from a gradient, but the result of a mixed-color batt plied in the regular way

You can (though I haven't tried it), split your braid of roving or top lengthwise, then spin it separately. If the singles are not exactly even, there will be some barber-poling at the edges of the colors, but it should look like a continuous gradient. Unfortunately, this technique requires planning ahead, which I almost never do.

The third way to do it is to Navajo-Ply. This technique involves making a loose crochet chain stitch with the single and spinning it to get a three-ply yarn that preserves the colors of the singles. The main drawback is that if you have uneven singles, Navajo-plying will tend to enhance them, rather than balance them out like regular plying. This is the technique that I used on my most recently finished spinning project.

For this project, I used roving from The Yarn Mission which I mentioned in another post.

Braided Roving

You can tell that this was dyed before it was braided, and the colors repeat a bit. The roving was probably laid in a zig-zag-like way and painted.

The fun thing about spinning roving like this is that you can see the gradient emerging on your bobbin, but you know that you won't see the entire color progression stretched out until you knit it (or if you make a yarn cake. But I don't have the equipment or the desire for that). I took some pictures as it appeared over time, but this doesn't really do it justice.

I quite enjoy Navajo-Plying, and it goes pretty fast. My 110 grams of fiber made 140 yards of aran to bulky-weight yarn. I haven't yet knit anything, but I am thinking a scarf for my husband. You know I will be sure to post pictures whenever it gets made.

N-Plyed skein on the niddy-noddy

Another view of the finished skein