I consider the best end use of the fiber when I decide how to spin yarn. Factoring in color management or color effects can take me still closer. Deborah Held Jul 6, - 4 min read. Was it good fortune or good planning that created this beautiful shawl? Instead, I consider the best end use of the fiber when I decide how to spin yarn.
This shawl had been on my radar for years. When I came across the Cliffs colorway, dyed by JulieSpins for a spinalong, I knew that I had the perfect fiber to suit the pattern. Julie often dyes in what I think of as a bullseye swirl of color, which makes for a fun color repeat. I decided to split the braid in half vertically, spin each half end-to-end onto its own bobbin, then chain-ply each half. I striped one skein against the other in a pseudo-gradient effect, ending with a color crescendo of the most glorious series of blues I had ever seen: deep, tinged with teal, yet somehow summery in tone.
The darker colors would draw the eye to the lace border and looped picot bind off, adding impact. Two matched summery skeins of chain-plied yarn.
Photos by Debbie Held. It all worked perfectly, right up until I got to the setup of the all-important blue lace border, the crowning glory of my shawl. I cut the yarn. This reversed the gradient order from darkest to lightest blues.
Feeling bold, I opted to bind off my picot loops by continuing with this same color sequence rather than switching back to my main color as called for in the pattern directions. I envisioned more elegant and less distracting finish to an already colorful shawl. I took a risk or two and they paid offβthis time. The finished shawl. I was never quite sure that the colors truly worked together until the very end, when it all took shape. Debbie Held is a freelance journalist who chose full-time spinsterhood after an extended illness.
