How Do You Spin a Braid?

What’s the best way to spin my braid? This is a question that spinners often ask at fiber festivals, guild meetings, and across social media. The answer is a big, “It depends!” Or perhaps, you might hear, “You Should Sample!” While these can feel like frustrating non-answers, taking the time to sample and understand how colors interact across a braid can help you know how to spin almost any braid that comes your way. That’s why we hope you’ll join us as we explore sampling in our newest course, 5 Ways to Prep and Spin a Braid with Kate Larson.

What Is It?

5 Ways to Prep and Spin a Braid is a video course and spinning experience that will build over the next five months. In addition to learning five different ways to manage color in hand-dyed braids, you’ll also get useful spinning tips like how to spin across a large chunk of fiber while maintaining the color sequence, chain-plying, and more. Spinners who complete all five lessons and share their work will have a chance to win a prize and have their spins featured in an upcoming issue of Spin Off Magazine.

How Do I Get Started?

Simply pick up a braid, divide it into five sections, and start spinning along (watch Kate’s first lesson below for the full instructions)! Through June, a new installment of this course will be released on the first Friday of each month. Or watch all five now with an All Access subscription or purchase this phenomenal new course.

How Many Braids Do I Need?

The best part about this course is that you only need one braid! By separating your braid into five similarly-dyed chunks, you can get a ton of information about five different spinning styles so that you can predict how your next braid will spin with ease.

Arrange your braid so that it is in five equal sections, then break it apart at each bend. You can adjust it somewhat to make sure that each section has similar amounts of colors.

Choosing a Braid

The best braids for this course will have good value contrast between the colors. Take a look at the photo below. The two braids on the left, dyed by editor Pamela K. Schultz, have very low value contrast and no clear color repeats. They’ll spin up to make tonal yarns, and while they’ll be pretty, most of the samples will look similar.

The center braid is Roses by Greenwood Fiberworks. While it’s a monochromatic colorway—all shades of red and pink—it does have good value contrast and clear color repeats. You might not get as much information from this braid as you would from one with lots of color repeats, but you would absolutely be able to gain valuable insights from each lesson in this course.

The two braids on the right are Lake Park by HoneyGold Acres and Nemo’s Reef by Created by Elsie B. Both of these braids have clearly delineated color repeats and several colors, making them perfect options for this course.

Five braids of spinning fiber. Braids dyed like the one in the center and the two on the right will give you the best results in this course. Photo by Pamela K. Schultz