Handspun techniques & effects!

Solid: uniformly dyed with a single dye

Blended: multiple dyed colors combed together, you can pick out the different component colors when you look closely

Marled: multiple colors held together while spinning- colors appear in distinct patches

Twisted: single threads of different colors twisted together for a striped effect

Gradient: smoothly transitions from one color to the next.
– This one is special, because I need to spin from fiber that’s already dyed in a gradient pattern!

Wool: lovely, soft fibers from a sheep! Different varieties of sheep have different textures and lengths of wool.
– Merino: extra long and soft fibers
– Corriedale: crinkly, holds together easily

Silk: fibers from the cocoon of a silk moth!
– Mulberry: super long, pure white fibers
– Tussah: durable, sandy golden fiber
– Eri: shorter fiber, vegetarian!

Cotton: short, fine, durable fiber from the cotton plant!
There are different varieties and colors (white, green, brown) but tbh I don’t have a lot of experience with them. Spinning cotton by hand is hard.

Viscose: cellulose-based, human-made fiber! Process variations and cellulose sources lend different qualities to the finished fiber.
– Tencel (eucalyptus): pure white when undyed, available in lots of dyed colors
– Rose: bright white and shiny
– Mint: light beige color, lovely and soft

Firestar: fine, shimmery nylon fiber! usually mixed into wool or other fibers to add strength and shine.

Angelina: fiber made of thin shreds of polyester that adds glitter-like sparkle! “Flash” is the shiny color effect that appears when the fiber catches the light.
– Metallic: flash is colorless/white
– Iridescent: flash is a different color from the base fiber or a gradient of several hues
– Holographic: flash is a whole rainbow

A note about sparkles: usually, sparkly strings that i make will have a variety of shiny fibers in them! Starting with wool, I add Tencel, Firestar, and Angelina in different amounts based on what I want in the end product.
– Tencel:
pros: adds a rich, silk-like sheen
cons: very smooth fibers feel nice but don’t hold together well
– Firestar:
pros: adds a makeup-like shimmery effect, adds strength, wavy/curly fiber texture helps hold the yarn together
cons: none! if it came in iridescent colors it would be perfect
– Angelina:
pros: adds a glitter-like punchy sparkle, lots of gorgeous colors and optical effects
cons: coarse, straight fibers can give a slightly frizzy effect to finished strings