In my last post, I showed you the finished product from my first skein of the new type of art yarn I just came up with, which I’m naming Dimensional Yarn. The thing that makes this yarn unique is that it goes from thin at one end to super bulky at the other end, which makes it possible to make something that’s warm where it needs to be warm and lacy where it can be lacy. There’s more about this in my last post here: https://www.purplelambfiberarts.com/and-now-for-something-completely-different-dimensional-yarn/

I thought I’d walk you through how to make the yarn, so below you can find a photo tutorial on that.

First, here’s one more photo of the poncho with my daughter modeling it:

It’s not that this is a complicated yarn to make. It just requires a bit of planning. Here’s how I did it:

I started by making batts from mostly merino with some bamboo and mulberry silk as well as a bit of firestar. In the photo below, I’m removing the batt from the drum carder.

I made two batts totaling 4 ounces together. I divided the first batt into 5 sections and the second batt into just 2 sections. The idea was to have approximately the same length of each weight of yarn. I planned to use the first batt for the finer weights of yarn and the second batt for the bulky and super bulky parts of the skein. Here are some of the sections.

Here I was just starting to spin the finest weight of yarn, which was a sport weight at 16 wraps per inch:

And here I am near the end of the first section:

 

As I got near the end of each section, I gradually increased the weight of yarn to the join of the next section.

Though I had intended to wait on the bulky yarn until I got to the second batt, in the end, I had increased the diameter a little more quickly than I planned, so sections 4 and 5 were in the bulky range at 8 and 7 wraps per inch respectively.

That meant that by the time I got to the second batt, I would be spinning super bulky yarn. The 6th section was 5-6 wraps per inch, and the final section was really super bulky at 4-5 wraps per inch. Each of those was a whole ounce.

And here is the yarn spread out on my skein winder:

If you’re wondering what the funky-looking stuff at the bottom is, it’s my teenage son’s creation. He took my skein winder and added a Mindstorm robot too it so it spins on its own. Pretty cool, huh?

Later this week, you can expect to find some new Dimensional Yarn in my Etsy shop here:
http://www.PurpleLamb.Etsy.com

Thanks for looking. Happy fiber artistry!