There are few things that excite spinners more than color. Whether your penchant is for ultra-saturated hues, dusty jewel tones, or sheepy shades, much of our work focuses on creating and using color. And not all of those colors come easily. In fact, I’d say that even the most experienced, color-obsessed spinners I know struggle at times with a dye recipe or how best to use a beautiful handpainted braid. Like any creative journey, it’s sometimes this struggle that leads our work off the beaten path and in exciting new directions.
In this issue, we are celebrating the quest for color! Diné shepherd Nikyle Begay invites us to learn about natural color in Navajo-Churros—brown, blue, and beyond. Eileen Hallman shares her methods for expanding the palette of colors you can get from fresh-leaf indigo, and John Marshall puts indigo through its colorfastness paces.
Eileen Hallman creates a rainbow of pastels, all from Indigo!
Loads of color explorations don’t require a dyepot, and Kim McKenna will show you her method of creating smooth slivers in complex colors using a blending board and diz. Swedish spinner Josefin Waltin pairs natural sheep colors with knitted tuck stitches to create a fantastic shawl known as a heartwarmer or bosom friend. And Linda M. Perry shares her passion for bargello needlework and a stitched tote project for your go-to travel spindle; we hope you are as inspired by her work as we are!
Linda M. Perry stitches bargello samples in lovely shades of blue.
The best way to learn more about color is to use it. Pick up a copy of Spin Off's Spring 2022 issue and join us as we hunt for hues this spring!
Wishing you peace and perfectly filled bobbins,
Kate Larson