hi there-
quick questions about describing specialty yarns… what is the difference between handpainted and hand dyed? Is it technique? color placement?
similarly between varigated and self striping- is it because varigated bits of color are shorter along the yarn length and the self striping ones are longer? then there’s ombre’s…
I have some wool from an individual spinner/dyer described as Luster Spun- does that describe the weight or the method of spinning it? I forgot to ask her when I bought it…
sorry if these questions are a little dense… :rollseyes:
That’s probably just the name they decided to give that particular yarn; it doesn’t seem to describe it much. You’re right, variegated yarn has shorter color changes than handpainted. I don’t know the difference between handpainted and handdyed, though.
I think handdyed could mean solid colors whereas handpainted is usually applied to yarns with sections of different colors.
Self striping is usually applied to yarns that have long enough runs of color to make definite stripes assuming you’re knitting at a particular gauge. It’s most often applied to sock yarns. But if you make a shawl instead of socks you may not get the self-striping effect because it’s designed to work with the number of stitches you would use with a sock.
Hand dyed means the color was applied manually rather than in bulk by machines. Any times this is done by dipping the whole hank or just sections of the yarn in pots containing the dye. To me it also means I should expect the dye lots will be in smaller batches, but I may be able to get more than one hank that will match.
Hand painted is where a device-(squirt bottle, brush, sponge etc is used to paint individual strands or sections of yarn. I expect hand painted yarns to vary between each hank of yarn.
Self striping has long runs of each color so that when its knit up in the recommended gauge you get stripes of that color.
Varigated means that there are differnt colors in the yarn but they are not necessarily meant to produce a pattern inthe finished product. Of course they can, but they don’t have to as opposed to self striping which you assume (in a perfect world) will produce stripes.
Also, I was reading an article referring to spinning and how you can create a sheen or luster on yarn by spinning wet. Now, being a VERY new spinner I wouldn’t know but I imagine it helps the fibers stay “tucked in” as they are being spun there by eliminating halo and encouraging the fibers to all lay flat in one direction.
Having said all that, we live relatively close together and I know Kiparoo Farm has a yarn they market as Luster Spun.
Thank you everyone- I think I get it now!! And Chel- you are right on- it is wool I got from Kiparoo, and I wasn’t sure if it was just her name for it, or whether it meant something else!! I love how knowledgeable everyone is here…
(ps I got lost on my way to Waldorf- d*mned Mapquest- I definitely want to try to meet up next time. it would be a really nice treat! Is it every month?)