Welcome back to the fiber arts judging series ... this is part three of five. If you've just found this blog series, I recommend starting with part one: How is handspun yarn judged at fairs? and then reading part two: How are Skein Appearance and Preparation Evaluated? before continuing on with this part. We've been working our way through the score card:
- General overall appearance.
- Preparation for exhibit — clean, properly skeined and tied, of listed yardage and/or weight, blocked if necessary.
- Suitability of fiber to yarn—amount of twist, diameter of yarn
- Technique — twist evenly executed, appropriate plying twist, diameter consistent throughout, structurally durable, yarn designs consistent, dyeing/blending consistent
- Suitability of yarn to use—direction of twist, amount of twist, diameter of yarn, handle of yarn, appropriate number of plies.
- Finished Execution – originality, creativity, complexity.
In this post we address the largest category, Technique. At this point I am ready to get deeply familiar with the skein, having already had an initial look for the overall appearance and read the spinner's comments provided with their submission to help evaluate suitability of fiber to yarn.
With the fourth category, spinner-provided backstory can help alot. Listening to skeins is possible, but words from the spinner add invaluable insights I might miss even with my experience. I look for consistency in twist and diameter, unless the spinner has told me why those are not consistent, and thus what I should be looking for. Let's keep this simple to start. One piece of feedback I often provide is "inconsistent twist/diameter in the single has led to inconsistent ply twist". Maintaining the same twist and diameter takes skill. I know many spinners don't want their skeins to look commercial-perfect and I do honor that, but I have to grade on the criteria. So if they tell me they spun it long draw, I can weigh that it is harder to spin consistent diameter with that method and grade accordingly. I have had posts on this blog about consistency, but let me add one more - you can even out twist along your single by putting the bobbins at some distance from the wheel when you ply (or similar for spindles). This might even be a case where rewinding bobbins while the singles are fresh can help - rewind with the source bobbins farther away to allow twist to move along the length as you rewind the bobbins.
Next in Technique I evaluate "appropriate plying twist". This ties in to intended use - socks, warp, and other durable yarns need high twist while singles for knitting and crochet need lower twist. There also needs to be a viable reason for over- or under-plying. Lace benefits from underplying, while durable yarns benefit from overplying.
Structurally durable also relies on intended use - a loose ply may be fine if the use won't lead to snags, while yarn with alot of very thin bits that are mistakes may end up snapping under tension such as when used as a warp.
Yarn designs consistent relies on the yarn structure, and in an art yarn category on information provided to see if it is infact art yarn. A cable, when done properly, looks like little dots of rice. Coils should appear at regular intervals unless it's been stated that irregularity was part of the design - then they need to be mostly at irregular intervals. Tell me what yarns you've designed in the comments, and I will add some thoughts about what makes their design appear consistent.
Finally for Technique, we evaluate if dyeing/blending is consistent. This may often not be applicable, in a naturally colored single-source fiber. So if there are points per sub category, I often struggle with this one. Also, information on who dyed the fiber and who blended it can matter - commercial dyeing and blending really lean to "appropriate fiber for use" more than effort the spinner put into the Technique. I'm not supposed to grade Louet on their blends, it's the spinner's work we want to evaluate.
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© June 11, 2026 by Ask The Bellwether, posted at http://askthebellwether.com/
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