Monday, October 26, 2009

Desert colours

Some time ago, I was able to get some nice Corridale rovings. You may have read about my troubles in dyeing it. That has now been done, but there is still more roving that I will dye later.

I have been spinning up some of it, and I really like the way it is coming out. Some of the sections are quite short in the roving, but because I am spinning so fine (of course), I can get good separation of colours. There is a lot of blending as well, and it's really exciting to see what shade I am going to get next. It's all really fun!
Now comes the time to ply. I am having some problems here with deciding what to do. It is fine, so I was thinking I may have to do a 3-ply. I was only hoping to do a 2-ply, but I see some difficulties already.

I like the way the colours show up now, in the singles. But when I ply, I am going to get that barber-pole effect, which I definitely do not like! I've seen many others post pics in their blogs of the barber poles they have created, and everyone says how wonderful the colours look -- and they clearly are not. But that is only my opinion, so I will keep it to myself.
I have thought about using the major rusty shade that is more prevalent and using that as a single with which I can ply these other colours. I was able to separate most of that shade and spin up a couple cops. I am hoping that will sort of tie it all together, so it appears to be one cohesive whole. But I will be getting some barber poling (is that a word?) when I come to the pale shades or the green. And that may be alright too.

I have also thought of doing some Navajo plying as a way to preserve some of the distinct colouring. That certainly would do it, and I would have a lot more control of how the colours blend together. It also means I am not going to get as much yardage this way, and that may be alright too.

Really, I liked the colours as they are in the roving. I guess I should dye the finished yarn instead, and then I won't have to worry about any barber pole happening then! Hm....

5 comments:

Mel said...

I kind of like marled yarns, at least for some projects. The colours are lovely. Hope we get to see pics of the finished product.

Dave said...

You could do a 2-ply for the weight of yarn you wanted and then over-dye it. I think it would come out nicely semi-shaded. I've never done it myself, so I'm just supposing.

May Frances C. McCay said...

I plied with a fine tussah when I wanted to 'preserve' the yardage in an 'injection' dyed ball of roving. The tussah bended into the background and my 2 ply did not bias in knitting. If affordabe, choose a coordinating or neutral color of fine silk which will blend with all colors in your single.

willyg said...

I think I can hear your angst. Don't forget that barberpoling is mostly in the unknit yarn, and when you knit it up it takes on yet another form. I love the ideas of keeping colors separate on the yarn, but I don't always like the swatches afterward.

I'm a fan of your thought to ply with the rusty color.

Der Geezer von Tampadorf said...

Looks lovely, TG! Plow ahead. Glad to see you're still forging anew on the dyeing and blending scene.

Am thinking about moving up your way in the future so you might be VERY AFRAID about a fellow spinner/knitter being in the same neighborhood. Mwaaahaaa haaa haaaa!

Hugs,
~Mike in Tampa