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NaProus
Permanent Resident
1828 Posts |
 Posted - 09/03/2005 : 06:45:01 AM
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I'm not really sure how to describe this, but maybe some of you more experienced yarn consumers will be able to help me focus.
Let me describe two recent yarn experiences, both while knitting Ruffles scarves from Scarf Style. The first one was using Noro Silk Garden. I love it: the colors pass from one to another leaving large patches of color up and down the scarf.
So then I bought what I think is a hand-dyed yarn from Alchemy (I stopped by Webs over the weekend...). It was sold to me in a skein, and the patches of color were evident on the skein. But of course, when I balled it up, the patches of color are now only a few inches long, and thus the pattern of color on the scarf is little itty bit horizontal stripelets that, frankly, look terrible. I think I'm going to frog it.
How does one distinguish one kind of colorway from another verbally? In other words, what do I call this??
And moreoever, does anyone have an idea for a super fun silly scarf (you know, silly like Ruffles is silly!) that I can knit up in less than a week for my sister with two skeins of Alchemy in the colorway She Threw a Brick that will look good with that kind of yarn???
Thanks!
What's a leper bandage? http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/bandages.html
http://www.ghm.org/resources/knitted.htm
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fmarrs
Guardian angel
USA
9776 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2005 : 11:20:04 AM
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Any time you buy yarn that has more than one color,that is the chance you take. You have already identified some of it. Small lengths of color only cover a couple of stitches. Long lengths of color cover more stitches. There is also a phenomenon called pooling where is subsequent rows the colors match up and you get large blotches of colors. There are tricks to help eliminate pooling, one of which is to use 2 skeins of yarn and knit one row with one and then the next row with the other. Some yarns have color lengths equally placed and equally long. Others have random lengths and spacing. After you identify what length of color you prefer, the only way to tell it is to pull several yards off the skein and look at the color placement.
fran |
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chellethinques
Permanent Resident
USA
1431 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2005 : 1:17:41 PM
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I think the vocabulary you are looking for is "long repeats" versus "short repeats." You'll find this in sock yarn, too. Long repeats give you striped socks, and short repeats give you sort of speckled socks, with interesting (?) pools and lightening shapes.
With your current yarn (which I haven't seen) what about a drop stitch scarf? Those are easy - go up a needle size, knit 4 rows, do the next row with double yarn overs, then drop the yo's on the following row. The long runs of yarn where you drop the yo's are really pretty with a hand-dyed yarn, IMO. |
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NaProus
Permanent Resident
1828 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2005 : 4:17:54 PM
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Chelle -- yes, I guess short vs. long repeats IS what I am talking about, though I think it may also be related to the way the yarn is formed. That is, the Noro Silk Garden fiber appears to have been dyed BEFORE it was spun, while the Alchemy appears to have been dyed only once it was spun and formed into a skein. Does that make sense?
I guess I'm realizing that while I love the look of the hand-dyed (or are they hand-painted? what's the difference? yarns when they're in the skein, I like them a lot less once I've started knitting them up. At least in the kinds of projects I've tried so far.
Fran, thanks for your thoughts, too! I can imagine that for people who LIKE the short repeats, the "pooling" would be a downer. I'd probably actually like it, knowing me!
What's a leper bandage? http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/bandages.html
http://www.ghm.org/resources/knitted.htm
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NaProus
Permanent Resident
1828 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2005 : 4:21:30 PM
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Chelle -- thanks, too, for the suggestion of the drop stitch idea, which I do think will work. I think I may do the curvy one out of Barbara Walker, where you first wrap 2, then 3, then 4, then 3, then 2. I did a little one like that out of some variegated Tencel that worked out well. I think that should be silly enough for my sister!
What's a leper bandage? http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/bandages.html
http://www.ghm.org/resources/knitted.htm
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crise
Chatty Knitter
337 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2005 : 5:07:49 PM
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One other thought is that if the length of the repeat is okay, by varying where you cast on in the repeat will influence whether you get little stripes or if the color pools.
Kris
2005 stats: 12 FO, 4 WIP, 6 USO, 1 Frogpond
How is it that my USO & WIP never decrease, no matter how many FO I create?
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chellethinques
Permanent Resident
USA
1431 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2005 : 6:26:52 PM
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| I've been thinking about this thread today...another factor is gauge. I was swatching for a hat from Little Turtle Knits handpainted farm yarns. I worked two swatches in the round and the first pooled terribly - one side of the cylinder was a solid, the other side was splotches of accent colors. I went down ONE NEEDLE size and had the lovely stripey/random look I was looking for. The difference was amazing! I don't think it would matter so much for the scarf, but could affect socks similarly, as they are also in the round. |
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knitloon
Gabber Extraordinaire
524 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2005 : 7:07:38 PM
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| I made a sweater out of SWTC's Karoake. The colourway is similar to Noro Silk Garden (I've been told). It had beautiful, long repeats with subtle color changes. Whenever I started a new skein, however, I had to pull out a length of yarn to find an appropriate place to start, so I wouldn't have an obvious color change. Good thing I had plenty of yarn. |
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