Pre-drafting Colored Fiber, part 1
Perhaps Adrian was thinking of the Blue Hen Chicken when she dyed this colorway as part of my gift order last year. It's mostly reds: brick and brownish and pinkish reds; some smudges of green; flashes of brilliant blue. I wish you could see this up close, as the spun-up yarn is a tantalizing palette of faded, but at the same time still achingly vibrant, colors.
I firmly believe in pre-drafting. When I first started spindling, pre-drafting was just a formality; the spinning was what made yarn! Well, yes, but pre-drafting holds the key to a lofty, consistent single. By not attenuating the fibers, you don't encourage air to flow in and out, your fibers remain compressed, and when you spin, those compressed fibers clump up. My first few handspuns were clumpy; there's a market for that, but my goal was consistency.
At a meetup, I had the pleasure of pre-drafting roving for Julia and Lori while they spun on my wheel. Julia told Marnie, and Marnie emailed me and.... Well, nothing happened for a while. If you think about all the different ways of coloring fiber, either through dyeing or carding, it's apparent that there isn't one solid way to pre-draft to get the results you're looking for in a final handspun. So with this entry I start my series on how I pre-draft colored fiber. Please feel free to add your thoughts at the end of this!
Yarn in three stages: as unspun roving, singles on the bobbins, and plied and skeined yarn. Whenever I spin, I divide my fiber into manageable quantities that I can easily remember. Therefore, you see one ounce of roving. Two ounces of singles, one on each bobbin. Four ounces, or four single-ounce skeins of yarn.
It also depends on what weight you're planning on spinning. I'm still doing my exercise on spinning for softness, so thick and thin yarn will fill up a bobbin much faster than laceweight or sportweight. I've been able to get 4 ounces of merino/tussah singles on one bobbin.
Assess your fiber: This particular colorway that Adrian dyed for me is made of short blocks of color. You *could* just pre-draft this ounce from end to end, which would give you one long, non-repeating sequence of color. Or, you could split the fiber and get lots of color blocks, which is what I did.
Splitting the fiber also lessens the chance of getting long, muddy mixes of color. I sampled a purple and olive green mix for a future project and it came out... bronze. You bet I'm splitting that one! Narrower strips of fiber have shorter muddy mixes, sometimes in barberpole fashion, which can be really attractive if kept as a single.
Open up your fiber: Freshly-carded fiber comes as a wide batt that gets rolled up in some dyeing processes. Unroll, or open, your fiber. Here, you see the outside (top) and inside (bottom). You'll see that it's not necessarily one wide strip, but several narrow strips along which you'll split your fiber.
Splitting: Tear the strips along natural lines. Don't aim for equal amounts because you'll end up splitting some of those natural lines. I like to have mine in varying widths, so that with pre-drafting, the color blocks are longer in some strips. Note that the bottom strip still needs to be split again.
Another thing I like to do is to spin all my pre-drafted strips in the same color sequence, which is why I lined up all my strips to begin with. I *could* just mix up the strips and spin whatever I pick up, and from whatever end of the strip. However, keep in mind that the scales on wool are aligned in one direction, and you'll maintain a consistency in spinning fiber in one direction, as opposed to all over the place. Thoughts on this, anyone?
Pre pre-drafting I could just be a little obsessive about this. Or is this an actual step in the process? I like to further open up my fiber by fanning it out between my fingers.
Fanned versus unfanned fiber: Fanning the fiber makes pre-drafting easier. No clumps in the fiber. I've found that I can get a more consistent single in this fashion.
Side by side comparisons: Eight strips of condensed fiber versus one strip of open, pre-drafted fiber. Of course, you see that pre-drafting stretches those color blocks and even visually mutes their intensity. Spinning draws the fibers (and air) back into each other, in effect reviving the colors.
Make balls! Roll your strips into balls. Spin to your heart's content!
Yummy singles, waiting to be plied.
you are a pre-drafting queen. i think that being taught by you has implanted the idea of how important the pre-drafting is - colored or solid - fiber. i look forward to the next installment.
That's exactly what I do! Not obsessive at all. I love the results.
I love seeing how other people do their thing. It looks like you and I are very similar in our pre drafting technique. I'm always surprised when people tell me they *never* pre draft, but I suppose that if they are happy with their results, who am I to judge? :)
Thanks!
What a great tutorial/how-to...I'm self taught and still using a spindle but I'm sure this applies too. I am hoping to get started soon on a wheel, hopefully sometime in the next couple months and it's great you have this info with pics and details on the process of spinning. Thank you.
I've pre-drafted from day one, having read the Twisted Sisters' Sock Workbook religiously before spinning anything. But your zeal for pre-drafting was still incredibly impressive to me. (And time-saving!) Like cutting fabric before sewing, I used to look at pre-drafting as a necessary chore. Now, however, I attack it with a bit more gusto, and will often just sit on the couch and pre-draft while watching the tube and not get to the spinning until another night. I find if I pre-draft all the roving at once, I get more consistent results. This was a gorgeous tutorial, and I know it will be really useful for beginning spinners.
P.S. Re: the post below, I'm pretty sure that I have a fiber stash of 4 lbs or less. The difference is that I have no more than 8 ounces of any fiber, and often just an ounce, so I have a bit of variety. It will be interesting to see how I manage to use it all!
I do it the same exact way. Although I might not be as picky with the colors. Whatever way I wind up the little puff balls is the way it gets spun up.
But this is just how I do - down to the balls. Once I found out about pre-drafting, the whole spinning thing clicked. It makes it so easy.
Your photos are beautiful!
I do everything pretty much the same way you do. I split all the fiber at once and mix it up, though, instead of doing smaller bits and keeping everything organized. I always make sure I'm spinning from the correct end. It's usually easy to see (it's more tapered), but if it's not, it's very easy to feel while spinning. If it's the wrong way round, I tear the fiber and flip it and attach it again.
Your little balls are so cute! I wrap it around my hand and make "nests".
I do everything you do except the fanning. But you can bet I will be trying that out the next time I spin some roving.
Pretty singles!
Well, I've only tried spinning once and it didn't work out too well, but I've bookmarked this for the next time. Your yarn is just beautiful.
the colors are intoxicating. long live adrian!
(thanks for the photos)
Gorgeous! Both the yarn and the awesome tutorial! I learned from the best! ;)
my pre-drafting process is similar too, though I pre-draft as I go -- I pre-draft a set of fiber, then spinn it, then pre-draft another set, etc. So I don't create those cute little spinning balls. Maybe I should try pre-drafting everything beforehand -- I bet it would make my spinning seem faster/more productive. Huh.
Love the colors you're working there -- Adrian's colorways are fantastic. :)
wish i could reach into the picture and squish those fluffy predrafted balls of fiber.
i usually spin from the fold and don't predraft in this way, but separating the fibers beforehand is a crucial step for me if they are freshly dyed. dyeing seems to compact the fibers and full them a bit. i usually rub the little bundle i'm about to spin between my fingers to fan it out or pull from both ends and restack repeatedly to get more of a combed/carded consistency.
As a new spinner I really enjoy reading this kind of information. A great resource. Thanks!
oh good point about the scales - that makes absolute sense but i hadn't thought of it before. i tend to be a lazy pre-drafter, though there's always *some* kind of pre-drafting. my favorite part is making the soft little balls - so satisfying! i love setting them in a basket on the kitchen table and just admire them for a day or so.
great pics and looking forward to the rest of the series ;)
I agree - predrafting is key to making nice yarn! Plus you don't get sore hands from pulling and tugging at the fibre as you try to spin it, and you don't overspin the yarn! Hooray!
I tend to like making longer colour runs in my multicoloured dyed tops and then navajo plying them. I love stripes!
My pre-drafting technique varies depending on the fiber, colors, prep, and how it spins. Sometimes I will do just as you did, minus the fanning step. Sometimes I won't predraft at all.