Humbugs, Barber Poles, and Marls: Understanding How Color Blends in Your Yarn

Free Lesson: Marled Singles

In the fourth lesson of 5 Ways to Prep and Spin a Braid with Kate Larson, we’re exploring marls. (Are you new to the series? Start here.) There are lots of ways to make marled yarn, which we’ll explore in the second part of this post.

To start, check out this quick video, where Kate Larson walks us through how to spin a marled singles.

Exclusive: Untangling Terms

You might hear the word humbug and think it’s too early for a certain holiday story (I do!) and you might also wonder what it has to do with the other odd words in the title of this post. Barber pole, humbug, and marl are all terms for yarn or fiber that has some kind of color blending. Once made into fabric, this yarn creates random bits of color. Lately, most spinners have settled on the word marl as an umbrella term, but the other words also have specific meanings. Here’s what we’re talking about when we discuss marled yarns and some of their relatives.