Mixing Things up for a Sweater
words and photos by: Johanna Carter
I always admire those who are able to spin mountains of yarn for a big project, ready to knit a wonderful sweater or cardigan. It is a satisfying feeling when you finish all that work, especially if you started with washing and combing the wool or even raising your own sheep.
Mixing spinning and knitting
The typical way to work through a larger project is to spin all the singles first and ply them in a particular order so you get the yarn even throughout the whole project. I don’t have so many bobbins, but my bigger problem is that I am quite impatient and want to get on with knitting once I have an idea. And normally, my brain is full of ideas for fibre work and the limit is the time, as I am a musician and teacher. I can’t sit at the spinning wheel for a long time if I’m not on holiday, so during the school year I mostly knit, and during the holidays I can dye, spin, use my drum carder, and do lots of fibre work. The only time I was able to produce bigger quantities of yarn before I knitted them up was during the Tour de Fleece in the two years during the pandemic, when we did not go on holiday at the beginning of July.
A highly photogenic collection of naturally dyed fibres.
I like to finish knitting one big project like a sweater or cardigan before I start the next one, or at least until I can’t carry it in my bag easily anymore, so I have an excuse to begin the next one. Sometimes it is good to have a second project on the go – I call it mindless knitting, where I don’t have to look very much – which I can keep my hands busy during Zoom or other meetings, which helps me listen.
Mixing colours and fibres
Usually I dye my yarn with plants which I collect in the woods or get from garden flowers. I also use cochineal and indigo, which I buy, to get lots of different colours. I really love the greens and blues I get from dyeing with indigo. I have lots of dyed wool, and all those colours give me inspiration for further projects.
Beautiful greens and blues dyed by the author using indigo and other natural dyes.
Blending the wool on the drum carder I can get even more shades. I like to blend with fibres like silk, alpaca, or plant fibres, and I love sari silk, to get those little bits of colour in my yarn.
Fibres of different types and colours are blended on a drum carder for elegant results.
When I have an idea for the next sweater, I start carding, and then I can begin to spin. Once I have spun enough yarn – say, for one day – I cast on and start knitting, usually top down, so I don’t have to decide too much in advance about length and width.
An idea for the author’s next sweater in the gathering stages.
When I spin on my wheel, I have to sit at home, but while spinning I can read a book or talk to others during online meetings. I also like to spin on my spindles, and that works on a walk, or a museum visit. I take them on holiday as they don’t need much space, and when I spin for a lace shawl, I don’t even need much wool either. At home there are spindles all over the place; I can spin when I am waiting for the kettle to boil, when the computer is slow, when I am cooking. Like that I can make good use of a short time and the yarn still grows.
Knitting as soon as the yarn is spun helps the author complete sweater projects in a timely manner.
I can take my knitting almost everywhere, which is why I don’t want to wait to get started until I have spun all the yarn for a whole sweater. I knit at home, on the bus or train. The only thing I have to make sure of is to be one step ahead with the yarn.
I love to knit Fair Isle sweaters. My favourite method is to use only one bobbin, which I don’t even fill, because I need smaller quantities of lots of colours. Then I wind a ply ball and ply it on itself. For that I put my thumb through the ball, so I can tension the two singles with my fingers and they don’t get tangled, as long as my thumb (or a cardboard roll or a pencil) stays in the middle. I don’t have any leftovers from plying, and it is quick when I suddenly need more yarn.
Several charming sweaters dyed, spun, and knit by the author.
I have never had problems with the yarn not being consistent enough throughout a project. I just know what yarn I want and my fingers seem to remember what to do. I am sure it is good advice to have a little card tied to the spinning wheel with a bit of the singles you are aiming for, so you can check and make sure you are spinning a consistent yarn.
Mixing breeds
There are so many different breeds, but some of my favourites are Shetland, BFL, and Jämtland – a Swedish breed. After dyeing them, I often forget what I have used, so when I do a new project it often turns out that I have used different breeds and fibres just to get the right colour. For the Fair Isle knitting I want to juggle lots of colours, which is more important to me than making a sweater out of only one breed.
Recently I made a pullover for my husband using about 12 different breeds and colours, even mixing short and long draw. For me it was a breed experiment and a way to use up lots of smaller quantities of wool I had in my stash. For that sweater I used combed top without blending.
Mixing in knitting during the spinning process is a wonderful way for a spinner to avoid being overwhelmed during a sweater project.
My feeling is that some people don’t dare to start spinning for a bigger project because they get overwhelmed by the quantity they have to spin and then all the knitting there is to do, especially when you want to spin the yarn entirely on spindles. Mixing the spinning and knitting for the same project is more interesting; you get more variety and more freedom to choose what you want to do next as long as you don’t run out of yarn. It breaks the project down into smaller, less daunting parts. The only thing you might want to plan is to have enough fibre at the start, but even that is not necessary, there is always a sheep growing more wool.
Mood Board: Summer 2026 – Purpose
Mood Board: Summer 2026 – Purpose
Proposals due by: June 1, 2025
Final work due by: December 1, 2025
Although spinning up a gorgeous skein of yarn seems like a project in and of itself, ultimately most handspun yarn is used to create something else. So how do you spin with a purpose in mind? We want to hear about it!
What crafts do you use your handspun yarn for? Knitting? Crochet? Weaving? Embroidery? Macrame? Rug making? Mixed media art? Each one can have specific needs for the yarn, and we want to explore those qualities in this issue.
What makes a yarn a good knitting yarn? What are some changes in that yarn to make it better for crochet? Does it make a difference if you’re using knitting needles, working on a knitting loom, or cranking a sock machine? Does Tunisian crochet have the same yarn needs as crochet?
What about weaving? What are the qualities that work best for the warp vs the weft? Do you want to use different yarns if you’re using a rigid heddle loom vs a table loom? What about tablet weaving?
Do you use handspun for embroidery or visible mending? What kinds of yarns work best for those crafts?
When you have a specific project in mind, what kinds of questions do you ask yourself before you start spinning? How do you determine what characteristics a yarn needs? What are those characteristics? From the technical (twist per inch, ply structure, wraps per inch) to the yarn qualities (drape, shine, warmth, sturdiness, loft), how do you know what decisions to make?
What about repurposing? Do you use recycled materials in your spinning? Have you used handspun yarn to upcycle or modify something already made?
Tell us about your spinning community. Do you have a group that spins for a cause or a charity?
What about tools? How have you used something else as a spinning tool or used a spinning tool in an unusual way?
And this issue wouldn’t be complete without some patterns. We’re always looking for knitting, crochet, or weaving patterns, but we’d like to see an embroidery pattern or another craft pattern for our readers to make with their own handspun.
Proposals are due by June 1, 2025. You’ll hear back from us in July 2025, and final articles are due December 1, 2025.
Sneak Peek: Spring 2025 – Hue!
You may have already received your digital or print copy of the Spring 2025 Hue issue! We aren’t going to lie – we got caught up in staring at all the pretty colors, so this is less of a preview and more of a post-view, since you might already have it in your hands. Still, we wanted to share about it!
This issue marks an important milestone for PLY: it’s the first issue produced by our new editor in chief, Karen Robinson. Love the cover? You can thank Karen! Karen has been with PLY for more than a decade, working her magic behind the scenes. Now it is her time to shine! Don’t worry, Jacey isn’t going away. She is stepping up to produce both PLY and WEFT magazines and the PLY Spinners Guild, huge jobs for her as well!
Are you a fan of natural color? Lee Langstaff, the co-chair of the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival, gives us a taste of color genetics. She has spent over twenty years developing a full range of natural colors in her own flock at Shepherd’s Hey Farm and knows a thing or two about what makes a great fleece.
Charan Sachar, who specializes in art yarn and fiber-inspired pottery, shares an experiment with color and texture. With the same dye colors and the same structure, he creates several different yarns which each have a different look and feel. These yarns are simply to dye for.
Jessie McKitrick gives us an article about choosing colors for Fair Isle knitting and shares a beautiful pattern called Spring Bloom Mitts.
And there is so much more, but we don’t want to spoil it for you!
If by some strange occurrence (maybe Mercury was in retrograde, we don’t know) you haven’t ordered your issue, you can buy it here.
Rose Gray Alpaca Fiber Study
Rose gray is one of the most mysterious colors present in the alpaca fleece color range. It is a color comprising three shades – light, medium, and dark – which can be imagined as coffee with varying amounts of cream added. The hint of rose is most noticeable in medium rose gray but is a magical characteristic of all three shades. Let’s unravel a bit of this alpaca color mystery with a fiber study!
Light rose gray
Gray predominates in light rose gray. It reminds you of fog or of a ghost, with an otherworldly pink hue. On the animal, it looks like a rusty gray cloud until you open the fleece. When spun into yarn it looks slightly darker, but not in a heavy or unpleasant way.
Medium rose gray
Jaw-droppingly beautiful, medium rose gray is the pinkest shade of rose gray. The pink blush only becomes more pronounced when spun. Alpacas with medium rose gray fiber often have adorable faces with brown eye patches and gray-white bodies frosted with brown. As a yarn, medium rose gray fiber stands out with an ethereal look.
Dark rose gray
Dark rose gray is the moodiest and darkest of the rose grays. It has lots of black fibers with sun-kissed tips. On the alpaca, it reminds you of a chocolate truffle, lightly dusted with powdered chocolate on the outside but a midnight black on the inside. Because of its depth, this fiber likes to be the star of its own show as a yarn.
Prep tips
If you get a whole alpaca fleece, the color is usually not uniform throughout the fleece, and this is especially true of rose gray. Do not be afraid to lay out the entire fleece and break it apart according to like colors. You then have more options on blending those portions for your desired outcome. Furthermore, it should be noted that any of the rose grays are easily confused with dark silver gray, but a true rose gray will have brown, white, and black fibers. Dark silver gray will have gray, black, and white, but no brown fibers.
Can you determine softness by color?
Unfortunately, color does not determine softness. Softness comes from age, genetics, feed, and environmental factors. You cannot trust your eyes when evaluating a fleece for softness. When in doubt, spin a small sample. Test that sample against tender areas of skin, such as wrists or neck. Keep in mind that what may be soft and comfortable for you as yarn may strike someone else differently.
Blending tips
Not only can you blend any or all of the three shades of rose gray together, you can also blend in any other alpaca fiber color to lighten or darken the shade. Because rose grays are so rare, think twice before shifting colors by blending. To brighten your rose gray, add white or brown. To achieve the opposite effect, add gray or black. I always recommend blending in small increments before committing to making a large batch.
Dyeing tips
Of the three shades of rose gray, light and medium are the most suitable for dyeing. The higher percentage of black fibers in dark rose gray causes colors to be absorbed rather than highlighted. The results are dull, muddy shades. In contrast, light and medium rose gray pop with color and richness when dyed due to the presence of white and brown fibers. Imagine jewel tones, and you will understand how dyeing medium rose gray will look.
Spinning tips
It is worth diving into all three of the rose gray shades. As with any handspinning colorway, be sure to buy enough for your project. Even if the rose gray comes from the same farm, the shade will vary from animal to animal and year to year.
Jacqueline Harp is a freelance writer and multimedia fiber artist who spins, felts, weaves, crochets, and knits in every spare moment possible. She is also a former certified Master Sorter of Wool Fibers through the SUNY Cobleskill Sorter-Grader-Classer program. Her Instagram is @foreverfiberarts.
Sending a special thank you to the folks at Camelid Corner, LLC (https://camelidcorner.etsy.com) for providing fiber samples and beautiful rose gray alpaca pictures for this article. Their dedication and care for alpacas is incredible.
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