Skein #33: Yarn Creating a Special Effect by Fiber Preparation

Image 1: Fiber Sample Image 2: Blended Fiber Image 3: Yarn Skein Image 4: Yarn Detail

Fiber

Wool, lyocell and polyester film

Type

Merino top, Merino/lyocell top, Angelina

Reason for choice of this sample:

The handpainted top was very bright, so I wanted to tone it down but still keep some of the color variation. The Angelina is for just a little bit of sparkle.

Source

Guardians Merino/Tencel painted top (Fire) from Blue Moon Spinnery/Carolina Homespun — San Francisco, California
White 20µm Australian Merino top from Virginia Farm Woolworks — Annangrove, NSW, Australia
Meadowbrook Inventions Crystal AB heat bondable Angelina fiber (Carolina Homespun)

Preparation for spinning

Laid out layers of opened tops with pinches of Angelina between and rolled it back into a sliver. Combed with a wool comb (used as a hackle) and hand pulled many lengths of rough top. They were combined and drawn three times.

Equipment Used

Single row wool combs, flyer spinning wheel

Type of spinning

Short backward draft

Direction of Twist

Z/S

Number of plies

3

Finishing

Washed and dried with light tension

Suggested uses

Knit or crochet for garments and lightweight afghans. The Angelina will melt, so it should not be ironed. This yarn is soft but not fragile and is good for everyday knitting, with some sparkle for interest. The pink sparkly color is good for girls' sweaters.

Notes

Maximum 54 points

Examiner 1: 48

Examiner 2: 43

Examiner 1 comments that this is a "nice simple yarn" that accomplished the stated intent. Examiner 2 thinks it is boring. I tried to describe how I was going for something that has a hint of flash but is still practical. What, exactly, constitutes a "special effect" yarn was something I could find little advice on, everybody seems to assume "I'll know it when I see it." And it appeared to be only visual design: shiny, bumpy, brightly colored and so on. Personally, I think high-twist crepe yarn is a special effect, because when woven it does interesting things like make the fabric elastic. But I don't think I'll get much agreement on that from yarn judges.

The requirement "special effect by fiber preparation" seemed a little odd. This is the blending section, and what is blending but fiber preparation? I did this on the combs in an interesting way because I thought that was something novel about the fiber preparation (as opposed to just tossing it all at a drum carder.)