If you’ve been here before you know I sample a lot, especially color. I started out sampling to answer questions I had about construction and color, and it still makes me giddy to crank out tangible answers to my never ending stream of question. Along the way I realized something else, sampling makes me a better color spinner.

All of the sampling I do with braids or solid colors (or both) creates a short cut. I have samples that will show me what a braid will look like spun in any number of ways, with a variety of add-ins, subtractions, and mix ups.

After some time I noticed that when faced with a similar braid, similar dye pattern, not necessarily the same colors, I could predict how the braid would look spun and knitted. It’s nearly magic.

The photo above is from a recent class I taught at WEBS, it’s from my delightful student and friend Amy O’Malley, a talented artist and a world-class experimenter. The class is all about exploring 5 different dye patterns, spinning them mixed-up with themselves, and of course adding other colors.

While I was making the samples for this class, I had a really good idea of how my yarn and knitting would turn out, and I was right most of the time. I could pick and choose colors and fibers to go together quickly. It really cut time, there was no time spent dithering over method or color or remaking samples. That’s not to say there weren’t surprises, but that is always to be expected in an organic process.

What I hope my students get out of this (and most of my classes) is the feeling of possibility that their stash holds, the value in sampling, even if it’s just a little, and that experimenting is fun, everyone does it their own way. There is no ‘have to’, as long as you are happy with your yarn, it’s wonderful yarn.

Maybe we should have a Sample-Along this winter?