[Nfb-krafters-korner] Tweeds versus Heathers

[Sarah Sykes]

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoy it. Please do let me know if you'd like
anything else described like this. I love writing and helping people
"bridge the gap" between the visual and nonvisual is one of my
favorite things.... besides knitting .... and shopping for yarn ....
and talking about yarn .... and dreaming up new knitting projects
..... I guess I'm kind of an addict. smile.

Sarah M. Sykes

On Mon, Sep 17, 2012 at 2:01 PM, Zimmer, Cindy
<cindy.zimmer at nebraska.gov> wrote:
> Great info Sarah...Thanks!
>
> Cindy Z.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sarah Sykes
> Sent: Monday, September 17, 2012 12:55 PM
> To: List for blind crafters and artists
> Subject: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Tweeds versus Heathers
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> Someone recently asked for an explanation of the difference between
> heathered yarns and tweed. this was regarding Lionbrand Homespun, but
> it applies to all yarns.
>
> "Heathered" is a description that should not be confused with the
> grayish pale purpleish color derived or inspired by the plant. A
> heathered yarn has a main color with other shades of that same color
> or similar colors mixed in in such a way that the overal effect is
> gently mottled, but the colors are not different from one another in
> an extreme way. if I were to describe this effect in a totally non
> visual way, I'd tell you to imagine you're holding a basketball. Ok,
> ignore the thick grooves that are the seams and just think about the
> texture of the ball. Still with me? Okay. that slightly bumply feeling
> is what a heathered yarn looks like. If it were just a plain colored
> yarn, it would just be smooth. If it were a crazy varigated yarn, the
> bumps would be uneven and sometiems sharper. But that all over evenly
> bumpy feeling is just exactly what heathered yarns do visually.
>
> Why is it so easy to confuse a heathered yarn with the grayish plant
> called heather? Because the yarn is named after the plant. Not after
> one stalk of the plant, nor after the purple-gray color of a single
> flower, but after the visual effect you get when you look at a whole
> field of heather. It's all generally the same base color, but there
> are areas of darker or lighter color so that the field is not just one
> solid boring color but actually has shading and texture to it.
>
> Okay, on to tweed.
>
> A tweed yarn has at least two plies, or strands in it that are of
> highly contrasting colors. But since these plies are twisted together
> to make the yarn itself, the contrast is consistant throughout the
> finished piece. When you make something out of this yarn, the finished
> fabric has a similar visual effect to a heathered yarn, except that
> the contrast is a little more pronounced. In our non visual example,
> the bumps would be sharper. But there's more. Very often in tweed
> yarns you will find flecks of extremely contrasting color built into
> the yarn so that you have little points in your finished piece where
> the speck of color really stands out. It is far less common to put
> these flecks in a heathered yarn.
>
> Does this help you? Please do reply with questions or comments on how
> I can make this clearer.
>
> Blessings,
> Sarah M. Sykes
>
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