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Rainbow Yarn

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by Kat Pong

I love rainbows. My first rainbow yarn was a long gradient. I took rainbow-dyed Three Feet of Sheep braids from Frabjous Fibers, spun them end to end, then chain plied. When I knit a scarf from the yarn, it created long rainbows, big chunks of color gently fading from one to the next. There’s magic in the full spectrum – red to violet, warm to cool. Fire to air to earth to water. A blending of the elements. 

An idea formed in my mind – rainbow yarn, but this time I wanted six strands, one of each color, forming a spiral. I started looking for examples, and I found marled yarns of two or three colors, cabled yarn, fractal yarn, but not 6-strand rainbow yarn. Was it not done because the colors turned to mud? How would a yarn like that look worked up?  

I bought six classic rainbow colors in 100% merino combed top from Paradise Fibers: Scarlet, Clementine, Jonquil, Emerald, Royal, and Violet. I measured off an ounce of each and Z-spun them into worsted singles of about 40 WPI.      

Plying with six singles can get a little tricky; besides tangling and pigtails, proper tension, and all the usual challenges, there’s also all the bobbin-shaped objects and lazy kate space requirements. 

The big secret to multiple plies is that there needs to be constant tension on the singles right up to the moment they start to twist together. Eventually, I built myself a lazy kate that had two columns with multiple bolts going across on each side. If I don’t have enough bobbins, I now wind each single onto an empty toilet paper roll and place each one on the lazy kate spaced as far apart as possible. I string a cotton yarn (Sugar and Cream worsted) so that it is slightly taut in front of all the “bobbins” on both sides to make it a tensioned lazy kate. I string each single in between the cotton yarn’s plies, so that the cotton yarn also acts as an extra set of fingers. I pull all the strands at the same time and keep tension throughout as I build up twist and let the wheel take up the yarn.  

Before I made my lazy kate, I found using the ball winder and then placing each ball in a separate empty tissue box also works pretty well (don’t use the center pull option unless you want six messes). Gravity and the plastic sleeve help keep tension on the singles. 

I place the kate with all the singles on the other side of one hand and distribute the singles between the fingers of that hand, leaving the thumb available to add tension to a specific strand when needed. If I need to pause while plying, I use a piece of tape or a pin to tack down all the singles so no spin enters past that holding hand. The other hand pulls through a length of the singles and then slides down to allow the twist to enter smoothly. I keep the tension from the wheel high and the speed much lower than what I use to spin singles. I over-ply slightly, as a noticeable amount of twist is lost when the yarn winds onto the bobbin. 

That first yarn was about 236 yards, 5.4 oz in total, S-plied, 12 WPI. The yarn is soft, squishy, and pleasantly round. 

I finish my yarn in a warm bath with Dawn soap and a splash of vinegar, then give it a warm rinse and roll it out in a towel, with just a few light snaps to even out the twist. For this yarn, I created samples in knit, crochet, and woven, using it as an accent against a black bamboo handspun. I liked the effect of the yarn in small doses in knit and crochet, and I was pleased with how the rainbow effect is preserved in the woven sample. Later, I also tried a sample of bargello-style embroidery (my own design), paired with crewel wool embroidery thread.  

I also tried cabling two ways: First, S-plying with extra spin 3 x 2-ply (red, orange), (yellow, green), and (blue, purple), then Z-plying those 3 couples. Second, S-plying with extra spin 2 x 3-ply (red, orange, yellow) and (green, blue, purple), and then Z-plying the trios. Both cabled yarns created a different lovely pattern. They were 14 WPI cabled yarns that felt somewhat ropy and firm, not squishy. They seemed more like something that would stand on their own, perhaps as a necklace, or shoelaces.  

The final experiment was to S-ply each color on itself with extra spin, and then Z-ply those six colors together. This created the clearest rainbow yarn where each color was clearly defined, a 12-strand cable, 10 WPI. The yarn was smooth, round, and firm, but not ropy (bumpy) as the other two cabled yarns were. 

Experimenting with rainbow yarns opens up many spinning possibilities for me. I’m looking forward to trying different color combinations. Or maybe wrapping a 6-strand multi-colored yarn in yet another color. Any worries I had about visual tension with so many colors are laid to rest. It turns out, rainbows are beautiful wherever you find them! Happy spinning! 

Kat Pong is a part-time fiber artist living in Maryland with her husband, six-year-old son, and two cats. Crochet, sewing, knitting, and embroidery were passed down through the family, but Kat’s latest passion is spinning. She loves rare sheep breeds and her Spinolution Monarch, and just like her kid, her favorite color is “rainbow.”

wool from different breeds of sheep demonstrating different lengths of fiber
Meagan Condon

The Goldilocks Problem: Staple Length Matters 

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Staple length—the average length of individual fibers in a fiber preparation—is one of the most important characteristics to consider when preparing and spinning fiber by hand with a worsted technique. Whether you’re spinning Merino or a longwool like Wensleydale, understanding staple length helps you to control your drafting technique and create the yarn you intend. 

I consider this the Goldilocks problem of worsted spinning.  The goal is to position your hands to allow you to draft “just right.”   

Whether you use a forward or backward draw when you spin, your hands draft the fibers out into a narrower strand before or while twist is being added. The distance between your hands creates a drafting zone: if your hands are too close together for the staple length of the fiber, the fibers won’t slide past each other easily.  You are essentially holding both ends of the same fiber and I promise the fiber is stronger than you in this tug-of-war match. 

If your hands are too far apart, you may lose control of the draft, especially with short fibers.  You might find that as you draft, the fiber suddenly comes loose and drifts apart, leaving you holding two separate sections of fiber and a whole lot of frustration. 

The ultimate goal is to set your hands at just about the average staple length, so the fibers can move and draft smoothly without pulling apart.  Not too wide, not too narrow, but just right.     

For short-stapled fibers, like cotton or yak, your hands need to be close together—sometimes only an inch or two apart—to control the drafting and prevent the fibers from slipping apart. One of the reasons we often choose a long draw for these fibers is because of how difficult it can be to maintain such a short draft zone.   

Medium-staple fibers, such as Corriedale or Romney, are more forgiving. You can draft them with your hands 4–6 inches apart.  Many spinners find their comfort zone in this range. 

Long-stapled fibers, like Lincoln or silk, require your hands to be farther apart—sometimes MUCH further apart.  If you hold your hands too close, these long fibers won’t draft well; instead, they’ll resist movement or break under the stress.  

Matching your hand placement to staple length is essential for an efficient, consistent, and ergonomically sound draft and to avoid unnecessary frustration. If you are ever fighting your fiber while spinning, stop and ask yourself if your hands are too far apart, too close together, or just right!