Three Ply Fractal Spinning
By Benjamin Krudwig
After my last post on spinning fractal yarn, I wasn't quite happy with the idea. The premise of the technique is sound, but it isn't truly a fractal in the mathematical or scientific sense of the word. A fractal is a pattern that is self-similar, and repeats itself in different scales.
Image from a thermodynamics article by Alexei Kurakin.
In the traditional fractal spun yarn, you take a braid of fiber, split it in half lengthwise, spin one half of it as is, then split the second half into 2, 3, or 4 sections and spin those end to end onto another bobbin. Then you ply those bobbins together for a 2-ply yarn. That technique produces a stunning variegated yarn, but doesn't really create a true fractal sequence. This 3-ply technique takes the "self similarity across different scales" to heart and creates a truly fractal spun yarn.
Looking at the figure above, we are following just one path on a branch, where it gets smaller and smaller proportionally.
After my last post on spinning fractal yarn, I wasn't quite happy with the idea. The premise of the technique is sound, but it isn't truly a fractal in the mathematical or scientific sense of the word. A fractal is a pattern that is self-similar, and repeats itself in different scales.
Image from a thermodynamics article by Alexei Kurakin.
In the traditional fractal spun yarn, you take a braid of fiber, split it in half lengthwise, spin one half of it as is, then split the second half into 2, 3, or 4 sections and spin those end to end onto another bobbin. Then you ply those bobbins together for a 2-ply yarn. That technique produces a stunning variegated yarn, but doesn't really create a true fractal sequence. This 3-ply technique takes the "self similarity across different scales" to heart and creates a truly fractal spun yarn.
Looking at the figure above, we are following just one path on a branch, where it gets smaller and smaller proportionally.
What You'll Need
Materials and Equipment
- Braid of fiber with bold/distinct sections of color. For this project I used Polwarth fiber from Yarn Hollow. The bright colors in Lime Sky are perfect for this technique.
- spinning wheel or spindle
Directions
Technique
- It's important to orient your fiber so you spin from the same end in each section.
- Split the braid in half lengthwise and spin one half from end to end.
- Split the leftover braid in half and spin it in the same manner as before.
- Continue in this manner until you can no longer feasibly split the fiber in half.
- For this 2 oz braid, I was able to split it a total of four times, giving me five individual lengths of fiber.
- For this example, I Navajo plied to create a 3-ply yarn that keeps the color repeats in sequence. You could leave them as singles as well, but I wanted a slightly more robustly color patterned yarn.
- My finished yarn measured to 134 yards of "sport weight" (16 wpi) yarn.
- With a self striping braid such as this, you will get smaller and smaller stripes as you work with the yarn in your project.
- To use the effect of this yarn to its full potential, knitting, weaving or crocheting something rectangular would be best.
Reeds and Rushes Cowl
- Download the PDF here.
- Cast on 37 stitches using your favorite method on US size 4 (3.5 mm)
- Even rows: knit across
- Row 1: (p, k3) X 9, p
- Row 3: (p, k3) X 9, p
- Row 5: (p, k3) X 9, p
- Row 7: (p, k) X 18, p
- Row 9: (k2, p, k) X 9, p
- Row 11: (k2, p, k) X 9, p
- Row 13: (k2, p, k) X 9, p
- Row 15: (p, k) X 18, p
- Repeat rows 1-15 until you reach your desired length.
- Bind off using a slightly stretchy bind off, then sew the two ends together using a mattress stitch or whip stitch. Do this with a light hand to avoid bunching or puckering in your fabric. Soak and block to finish the piece.
© 2018 Schacht Spindle Company