The first option is to limit yourself to skeins composed of colors that mix into similarly bright colors. Colors that are within 60 degrees of each other on the color wheel (two steps apart, in the color wheel below) will mix into colors that are almost equally bright.
Colors between 60 and 120 degrees (2-4 steps) away from each other will become duller.
Colors that are more than 120 degrees (5-6 steps) away from each other on the color wheel will mix into much duller colors.
This skein has colors that are 60 degrees apart (blue and magenta), so even though all the colors mix together when woven in a plain weave swatch, the colors remain relatively bright.
Option Two: Keep the colors from mixing.
If the colors in your skein don’t follow the Two Primary Rule, though, all is not lost! The key now is to keep the colors from mixing with each other. To do that, you either need to separate the colors from each other so they don’t blur together, or get them to “pool” – line up the color changes so they form large blocks of color.
Separating the colors from each other can be as simple as adding a single shot of a different color in between. See how separating the shots of weft yarn makes the colors stand out more?
I used black here because it is a neutral color (won’t shift the hue) and a dark color, so it doesn’t attract attention to itself. But other dark, dull colors would also be good candidates – sample to see what works!
Another option is to line up the color changes in the yarn so they “pool” together. Here’s a swatch that shows pooling:
It’s not really practical to do this in the weft because it wastes a lot of yarn (that’s an entire bobbin’s worth of yarn in that teeny-tiny swatch!), but it can be done very effectively in the warp without a great deal of yarn waste. Syne Mitchell explains how to do it in this WeaveZine article.
And that’s it! I get a lot of requests for help with hand-painted yarns, especially hand-painted knitting yarns, so hopefully you’ll find this useful.
Happy weaving,
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I may have actually squeaked with excitement when I saw what your topic was! I had asked in a FB weavers group about this and was quickly told that there was no way other than trying them to know what they would look like woven. I knew this wasn't true, it should be possible to know. I was even told that if I didn't have the money to spend on experimenting a lot, I should just stick to solid colors.
But you've uncovered the mysteries of how to look at hand dyed yarn and figure out how to weave it beautifully. Thank you sooooo very much for this post!!
You’re welcome! Glad it was helpful for you.
I just cut through a skein of wool and then put it on the loom as warp faced. Then just use tread to weave it and you can see all the beauty in the dyed skein. Like ikat weaving.
Tien, thank you for a very informative article. The color wheel example really makes it crystal clear why and how the colors "play" together. I am a knitter who took up weaving just 2 years ago, and immediately discovered that colors work very differently in woven fabric but wasn't sure why. You've solved the mystery!
Glad to hear you found it helpful! 🙂
Tien, I really enjoyed your blog on the painted yarns. I have a friend that gave me a skein of dyed silk noil. I used black tencel to weave a scarf and it turned out lovely. I had some left over and wove it with white rayon chenille. Not good!!
I belong to a weaving guild and would like to be able to share your information with them. Can I make copies of your article to give them? I won't be offended if you say no. Thanks, June
Absolutely! Go right ahead.
This is great information, I want to learn more and this makes total sense.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for this clear explanation. I am a weaver who always succumbs to the hand painted skeins.
Kathy
Oh my! Why have I never considered the shot of a solid in between to break up the colors? I incorporate that theory all the time in my knitting and I never even considered it for my weaving.
Thank you so much!
Excellent article. Thanks Tien. Looking forward to your class in August
I have a skein of painted yarn that now has a hope of becoming fabric now!
Excellent explanation, looking forward to trying it with the numerous handpainted yarns just sitting in my stash! Thanks so much for sharing this.