Tips for Using Hand Dyed Weaving Wefts

To keep a "pure" color sequence wind the skeins off in the same direction, i.e., berry, coral, lavender, blue - not one, one direction and the other the opposite. Don't wind as above and on next skein wind the opposite - blue, lavender, coral, berry. It's a matter of turning the skein over. Tip: Lay them on top of each other matching the colorway and put them on the skeiner (one at a time) going the same direction. And, wind off in the same direction, clockwise or counter-clockwise.

Wind all your bobbins at one time from the center and number sequentially starting at 1 for the last bobbin wound, then 2, 3, etc. back to the first bobbin wound. If you run out of a bobbin in the middle of the shawl, pull the end to the underside by about an inch. Overlap the beginning of the next bobbin by 4 or 5 warp threads and pull the end to the underside by about an inch.

With this method you can almost predict how a chosen color will "track" by the width of your warp. To accent a color within the hand dyed yarn, follow these steps: measure the length of the color you desire to accent. Measure the length of the entire colorway from start to finish. If your accent color is 15-1/2" long, the entire length of the colorway is 62" and the width in the reed is 31", you may have a column effect. If you would like a shift in color, offset your warp by a couple of inches either way, i.e., 29" or 32".

Or, you may just decide you like the random, unplanned look. Either way is a pretty effect.