Roving Reporter: How to Spin A Gradient Yarn from Your Fiber Scraps

First, dig out your leftover fiber. Photos by Kate Larson

Part 1: Turn Your Fiber Dregs into Fab Gradient Batts with Drumcarding

What do you do with fiber dregs? You know what I mean—those little stray bits of silk, wool, and colorful locks that were left behind in the bottom of a basket or were tangled just enough to create lumps and bumps in our yarns. Since my early spinning days, I’ve been saving these bits and pieces for drumcarding into batts. Read more...

Gradient batts are a great way to use a batch of odd bits.

Part 2: Carding Leftovers for Colorful Gradient Batts

Most spinners have cache of forlorn fibers tucked into spinning bags or languishing in our stash. Last week I started a series of posts following a tangled multicolored mess through a sorting, carding, and spinning process to make a gradient cowl. We’ve talked about how to create a colorway and begin carding. Now, let’s assemble a gradient batt! Read more...

Follow Kate’s steps to make a gradient yarn.

Part 3: Reduce, Reuse, Recard! Spinning Gradient Yarn from Leftovers

Saving and recarding lovely leftover fibers is like finding a $20 bill in the pocket of a coat you seldom wear. We can give these bits and bobs new life and make something new. In the spirit of spring, we have sorted our leftovers into colorways, carded them into batts, and now we dive right into spinning gradient yarn for a knitted cowl. Read more...