carding for colour · carding for colour how to blend beautiful, vibrant colour in your spinning...

CARDING FOR COLOURhow to blend beautiful, vibrant colour in your spinning fibre

2 CARDING FOR COLOUR // KATRINA STEWART // SCHOOL OF SWEETGEORGIACOPYRIGHT © 2019 FELICIA LO, SWEETGEORGIA YARNS INC. THESE NOTES ARE COMPILED BY KATRINA STEWART. PLEASE DO NOT REPRODUCE.

COURSE OVERVIEW

1COLOUR

COLOUR THEORY In order to blend the colours we want, we first need to go over the basics of Colour Theory

3TOOLS

TOOLS There are many kinds of tools you can use to card fibres and each has their own set of advantages and disadvantages

5DEMOS

DEMOS Use the series of demonstration videos to see Katrina’s demonstrations of how to use a drum carder, blending board, and hand carders.

2FIBRES

FIBRES Learning the characteristics of different kinds of fibres can ultimately help you create the kind of fabric you want to end up with

4FORMAT

WHAT CAN I MAKE? Batts, roving... what does it all mean? In this section, we will discuss the different forms you can make your fibre into.

CARDING FOR COLOUR // KATRINA STEWART // SCHOOL OF SWEETGEORGIA 3COPYRIGHT © 2019 FELICIA LO, SWEETGEORGIA YARNS INC. THESE NOTES ARE COMPILED BY KATRINA STEWART. PLEASE DO NOT REPRODUCE.

We’ve all seen the standard colour wheel, with our primary colours (red, yellow, blue), secondary (orange, green, and violet) and tertiary colours. It is a basic representation of how colour is typically perceived.

Colours on the right side of this wheel are considered cool tones. Colours on the left side of this wheel are considered warm tones. Warm colours are vivid and energetic and tend to advance in space. Cool colours give an impression of calm and create a more soothing atmosphere.

The other words that are often used in the colour world are Hue, Saturation, and Brightness. Hue is defined as the actual colour you are seeing. Saturation is defined as the intensity or purity of hue. When a colour is fully saturated, the colour is considered to be in purest form. Brightness is the relative lightness or darkness of a colour and is creating by mixing white or black with a hue. In the dyeing world, Brightness is often referred to as Depth of Shade. This is because there is no white dye, so you control this factor by changing the amount of dye added.

COLOUR THEORY

redPRIMARY

greenSECONDARY

red-oran

ge

TERTIA

RY

blue-green

TERTIARY

orange

SECO

NDARY

bluePRIM

ARY

yellow-orange

TERTIARY

blue-violetTERTIARY

yellow

PRIMARY

violet

SECONDARY

yellow-g

reen TERTIA

RY

red-violetTERTIARY

VERY PURE

IMPURE

SATURATION

BRIGHTNESS

ADD BLACK

ADD WHITE


BLENDING PRIMARY HUES

COLOUR WHEEL #1 This colour wheel is blended from just three primary colours — red, blue, and yellow. All the intermediate hues are created by blending percentages of each of these three hues together.

For example, the red-orange is blended from 75% red and 25% yellow.


BLENDING PRIMARY + SECONDARY

COLOUR WHEEL #2 This colour wheel is blended from three primary colours (red, blue, and yellow) as well as three secondary hues (orange, purple, green). The tertiary hues are created by blending 50% of the adjacent hues together.

For example, the red-orange is blended from 50% red and 50% orange fibre.


We can also further divide the wheel into different colour schemes, such as Analogous, Complementary, Triadic, Split Complementary, Tetradic and Square.

COLOUR THEORY

COMPLEMENTARY COLOUR SCHEMES

Colours that are directly opposite of each other on the colour wheel are considered to be complementary. (Ex: Red and Green) The high contrast of complementary colours creates a vibrant look, especially when used at full saturation. When these colours are mixed together, they often produce a duller colour, such as brown or grey.

ANALOGOUS COLOUR SCHEMES

Analogous colour schemes are defined as groups of three colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel. Analogous colour schemes create a rich, monochromatic look. They are often found in nature and are harmonious and pleasing to the eye.

TRIADIC COLOUR SCHEMES

A triadic colour scheme uses colours that are evenly spaced around the colour wheel. They tend to be quite vibrant, even if you are using pale or unsaturated versions of your hues.


COLOUR THEORY

SPLIT COMPLEMENTARY COLOUR SCHEMES

The split complementary colour scheme is a variation on the standard complementary colour schemes. It uses a base colour and the two colours adjacent to its complement. This colour scheme has the same strong visual contrast as a complementary colour scheme, but with less tension.

SQUARE COLOUR SCHEMES

The square colour scheme is similar to the rectangle, but with all four colours evenly spaced around the wheel. Again, like the rectangle, it works best if you allow one colour to be dominant.

RECTANGLE OR TETRADIC COLOUR SCHEMES

This colour scheme uses four colours arranged into two complementary pairs. This is a rich colour scheme that offers plently of possibilities for variation and they work best if you let one colour be dominant.


When it comes to fibres, you have five basic types. Wool, Hair, Silk, Cellulose and Manufactured. Here’s a little breakdown of their characteristics.

FIBRES

WOOL

• Only produced by sheep• Can felt, however Down breeds are less likely to felt• Warm, naturally fire-resistant• Hygroscopic meaning it can absorb up to 30% it’s weight in

moisture and not feel damp or clammy• Made of keratin• Fibre has a solid core

HAIR

• Comes from mammals such as Alpacas, Llamas, Goats, Rabbits, Yaks, Bison, Musk Ox, Cats and Dogs

• Tends to have a lot of crimp to it and it therefore more slippery to spin

• Can be extremely warm• Does not felt• Also made of keratin, but has a hollow core• Takes dye less easily than wool

SILK

• Comes from a silkworm cocoon• Finest of all the natural spinnable fibres• Has a beautiful sheen and luster• Dyes very well


FIBRES

CELLULOSE FIBRES

• Derived from plants including Flax, Hemp, Ramie and Cotton

• Does not accept acid dyes• Does not felt• Has no natural crimp or bounce

BLENDING

When it comes to blending any of these fibres together, you’re truly only limited by your imagination. If you are carding slippery fibres, such as silk, I recommend “painting” them on over the top of the carder, rather than through the feed tray or sandwiching them between two layers of wool. The beautiful thing about carding, is that you can create wonderfully unique combinations that you can’t find anywhere else! I do recommend when blending fibres together like wool, and say alpaca, that you know the characteristics of these fibres and your final intended project. For instance, I wouldn’t blend a batt of 100% alpaca in varying shades, with the intention to spin it for socks. Yes, they would be warm and soft, but not very durable. Knowing what your fibres are good for is very important.

MANUFACTURED

• Can be generated from natural sources such as bamboo, soy, corn and milk using a chemical process

• Includes nylon and acrylic fibres


TOOLS OF THE TRADE

For carding you need the following tools:

• fibre• hand cards or• a blending board or• a drum carder• scale (if you want to keep track of weights/percentages of

fibre and colours you are using)

HAND CARDS

Hand cards are a relatively inexpensive investment in terms of material costs, but it takes a lot longer to blend colours or have enough fibre to spin for a sweater or larger project. They are a great tool to get started with when blending or processing a small amount of fibre.

BLENDING BOARD

A blending board is good for creating layers of fibre and colour. Colours are laid onto the board in stripes and are then rolled off the board, making a rolag. They are more expensive than hand carders, but not as much as a drum carder.

DRUM CARDER

Drum carders require a more significant investment up front, but are able to increase your productivity and the amount of fibre you can process. For example, you can process 100g of fibre on a drum carder in 15 minutes, while you’d only get 10g of fibre processed in the same time using hand carders. Carders come in teeth per inch (TPI), the higher the number, the finer the fibre you can card without creating knots and entanglements (also known as neps).


Caring for your hand cards is quite simple. Clean them after each use and store them in a fashion that your pins will not get bent. Once you have too many bent pins, your hand cards are ineffective.

When using a drum carder, it is recommended that you clean the carder before starting a new project. For instance, if you are carding 2 pounds of fleece, you can finish that entire 2 pounds before cleaning the carder. However, if you are blending a rainbow gradient batt, followed by a natural coloured batt, you will need to clean your carder in between those two sessions. Carders are cleaned with a doffer brush. The fibres that you pull off your carder can be saved and used again to create a beautiful mixed up batt at a future date!

It is also very important to note: you should only card fibres that have been washed and are relatively free of veggie matter. Carding will remove some of the veggie matter that is often found in fleeces, but it may also imbed it further. Fleeces that have not been washed can damage your carding cloth by introducing lanolin to the cloth. If you have fibres that are slightly (or very) felted, you can card them to open them up, but it’s important to tease them first. There is only so much work the drum carder can do on its own!

EQUIPMENT CARE


WHAT CAN I MAKE?

BATTS

Batts are what you create when you fill a drum carder entirely. With a batt like this, I would probably rip strips off of one side or pull it into roving for spinning. While you can spin right from the batt, it is challenging to manage the size of it. I have a double wide carder, so I’m also able to create what I refer to as mini batts. My mini batts are half the size of my large batts and I card them two at a time. Essentially, I leave a space in the middle of my drum, so that I fill either side of the space with a batt and remove those separately.

BATTLINGS

Battlings are an affectionate name I give to small bumps that I take off my carder. I often card two or three at a time and create them by only filling a small section of my carder with the colours I’ve chosen. This is also the method I use with gradient sets. With gradient sets, I measure out each of the bumps with the percentages I need to create the blending effect that I want. For example: if I was carding 10 gram bumps, my first colour would be 100%, then the next would be a blend of 90% one colour and 10% the next colour and so on down the line.


WHAT CAN I MAKE?

ROLAGS

I create rolags by filling my carder half way and then using two long pieces of dowel to roll a small amount of the fibre off at a time. This creates long “tubes” of fibre that spin effortlessly from one end. You might also hear the term Punis from time to time. Traditional punis referred to Cotton and Rolags were a term for wool. However, now they are often a smaller version of Rolags.

ROVING

You can create rovings from your batt by using a diz (or the hole of a button) to pull your batt off the carder in a long rope. This is very similar to the commercial top we are used to seeing, but because the fibres are carded, it is perfect for spinning long draw.

NOTE:

With all the carding I’ve mentioned above, you can run your fibre through the carder more than once. The more times the fibres pass through the carder, the more chance there is for neps to form, however the more thoroughly blended your fibres will be. This also applies when you are blending colours. The more times the colours pass through the carder, the more blended they will become.


COMMUNITY

JOIN OUR SWEETGEORGIA COMMUNITYThere’s nothing like having a community of fellow fibre artists and friends to encourage and inspire you during the learning journey. Whether you love knitting, spinning, dyeing, weaving, crochet, or quilting, we’d love to connect with you about colour inspirations and ideas. You can find our communities here:

INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/schoolofsweetgeorgia Instagram is an app designed for sharing photos and videos, making it ideal for sharing our love for the fibre arts. Post your photos and tag us with the hashtag #schoolofsweetgeorgia so we can see what you’ve been making. Follow our posts @schoolofsweetgeorgia to see what we’re cooking up too!

FACEBOOK: facebook.com/groups/schoolofsweetgeorgia/ Facebook Groups are a great way to stay connected and share photos of your dyed yarns and fibres. Conversations are centered around posts which makes it easy to track and participate.

EXCLUSIVE COMMUNITY FORUMS: www.schoolofsweetgeorgia.com Exclusive for All-Access members of our online School is a separate space where we can chat and discuss the details of learning about colour and craft.

https://www.instagram.com/schoolofsweetgeorgia/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolofsweetgeorgia/

https://www.schoolofsweetgeorgia.com


SCHOOL OF SWEETGEORGIA

SweetGeorgia is building a library of online video-based workshops for knitters, crocheters, spinners, weavers, and dyers and it’s called The School of SweetGeorgia.

DYEING INTENTIONAL COLOURLearning the fundamentals of solid-shade immersion dyeing with intention. Understand the variables that affect acid dyeing and set up your own dye space.

DYEING COMPLEX COLOURManipulate the variables of acid dyeing to get multicoloured yarns and fibres with depth and interest. Explore low-water immersion, handpainting, self-striping yarns and more.

SPINNING FROM SCRATCHSpin your first skein of yarn on a wheel or spindle. For fibre-curious folk who have never touched a wheel before, we start at the beginning to learn to spin.

COLOUR PLAY WORKSHOPLearn the very basics of colour theory and the fundamentals of creating colour combinations.

COLOUR MASTERYWe explore more colour theory essentials as well as the psychology of colour and designing colour stories.

YARNOGRAPHYPhotography for textiles. Learn how to use your DSLR or mobile phone camera to take photographs of your yarn and fibre arts work.

SweetGeorgia Yarns Inc. | passionate + relentless + unapologetic colour110–408 East Kent Avenue South, Vancouver, BC V5X 2X7 | Canada | TEL 604.569.6811

sweetgeorgiayarns.com

carding for colour · carding for colour how to blend beautiful, vibrant colour in your spinning...

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