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

It’s no secret that handspinners love to savor every last morsel of fiber. Here’s Kate’s solution for what to do with the leftover dregs in your stash: spin a gradient yarn.

Kate Larson May 17, 2018 - 2 min read

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

Turn your fiber scraps into a gradient yarn and knit a chic cowl.

Gradient Yarn

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 Yarn

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...

Gradient Yarn

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...

Kate Larson is the editor of Spin Off and spends as many hours as life allows in the barn with her beloved flock of Border Leicesters.

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