Thursday, April 17, 2014

Color in Spinning

Color in Spinning by Deb Menz is what I would call a comprehensive spinning book!  Just from looking at the table of contents I'm in awe.

The Chapters:
  • Understanding color principles most useful to spinners - Color theory!  There are some great examples shown on yarn in addition to using the color wheel.  The examples of complementary colors, warm and cool tones etc on yarn are PHENOMENAL.
  • Step-by-step immersion dyeing - Now you might think I'm an expert on dyeing, but my experience is based on food coloring, not commercial Sabraset dyes.  There are instructions here on commercial dyes and how to mix them to get different colors.  What an AMAZING resource. 
  • Painting Rovings for mulitcolored yarns - There are instructions for both painting protein and cotton based fibers, combining painted rovings and spinning yarn from painted rovings.  I want to combine strips of yarn to get more blended twists of color.  I'm excited to try this out! 
  • Blending colors and fibers with a drum carder - I did not look at this section closely because I do not want to want a drum carder yet.  I need to wait until we have a house! 
  • Drum carding for multicolored yarns
  • Producing multicolored yarns with combing techniques - Oh no, now I want to try combing, too.  The illustrations and instructions are fantastic and have me thinking, "I can do that!"
  • Spinning and plying multicolored preparations - The book discussed the pros and cons of plying, and shows examples of choosing color specifically for multi-plied yarns. 
  • A Gallery of finished pieces - After all, you have to knit with what you created! There are no patterns here, it really is just a photo gallery but it is fun to see some stunning color combinations from unique handspun yarns. 

This book is absolutely incredible, and is on my wish list now.  This book has the BEST chapter on color theory for fiber crafters that I've ever seen.