Guest Author - Pegg Thomas

Introduction: Today I am interviewing Deb Menz, author of the book “Color in Spinning.” First let me say how much I enjoyed reading through your book. I’m already working ideas around in my mind to try out some of your techniques. It’s hard not to get excited about color with the many possibilities you put forward!

Pegg: How long have you been spinning?

Deb: Thanks for your kind words. I have been spinning for 28 years. My husband liked the look on my face when I watched someone demonstrate spinning – he went out and bought a spinning wheel and 4 fleeces for me. I have been spinning ever since.

Pegg: How long have you been teaching others?

Deb: I used to be part owner in a weaving/spinning store and started teaching there first – 20+ years ago. I have been traveling around the country and teaching for the last 17 years.

Pegg: Are those photos of you demonstrating in your book?

Deb: Yes, all of the procedure shots are of me working in my studio. At the time my studio was in the basement of my home and my photographer was well over 6 feet tall. It was a challenge to get the shots we needed.

Pegg: What started you studying and applying colors in this way?

Deb: I started studying color as a kid – I was one of those kids that wanted the huge box of crayons and they still weren’t enough! I continued to study color in college – I took a year of color theory then. I haven’t stopped thinking of color or ways of using color since that time. As far as using color with my fibers – that started when I was working with a felt maker and we dyed fibers together and split them. I always seemed to end up with small amounts of a lot of different colors and started to play with the drum carder and the colors then. That was 25 years ago. I started by thoroughly blending colors and began the stacking and pulling during that time to keep the colors clearer and brighter. The painting rovings came later.

Pegg: For the raw beginner, would you recommend starting out mixing dye powders for color, or blending primary colors on the drum carder or combs?

Deb: It depends on the results you want. I mix dye powders into solution and do not mix the powders themselves. Even if you want to use the drum carder or combs and hackles, you need to dye the fibers first. When I teach color blending with the drum carder, I start with more than just primaries – it keeps the design options open and can save time to start with colors closer to what you want to end up with. You get shorter dots of color in the yarn when you paint the rovings than when you card or comb.

Pegg: Does the coffee filter color test that you use in painted rovings also work with mixed dye powders to see if you are getting the color you want?

Deb: The coffee filters just give you a ballpark idea of the color you will get. I use the same dyes to immersion dye fibers as I use to paint the rovings – so it would be the same. I keep my exposure to dye powders to a minimum, wear a mask and weigh the powder and measure the water and immediately make a stock solution of the powders. Inhaling dye powder is something you DON”T want to do. You can also measure the dyes more accurately in a liquid form.

Pegg: I found your information on “contrast of proportions” very easy to understand and very enlightening! That alone is worth purchasing this book for. Can you explain a little bit more here about how that works with the “dots of color” and how we see the colors mingle?

Deb: When you work with colors in a yarn – you are working with the concept of “optical mixing” . That is – your eyes from a distance will optically blend the colors that are side by side in your yarn. The larger the dots, the further you need to be from the yarn for the blending to take place. The closer that you come to the yarn, then the colors in the yarn start to “pop out” at you and become clearer again. The value of the colors you choose for a yarn will make a huge difference in the way your yarn will appear, too. Yarns that have colors that are close in value will blend more readily than yarns that have colors that have drastic differences in their values. There are a lot of factors that influence how the colors appear in the yarn. I go into more depth about all of these concepts in my other book “COLOR WORKS” also by Interweave Press.

Pegg: In your years of working with color and teaching others about color, what is the one most often made mistake that fiber artists fall into?

Deb: Thinking that white enhances colors. It does just the opposite.

Pegg: And if you could get everyone who reads your book to try just one thing in regards to color and their yarns, what would it be?

Deb: Be aware of the values of the colors that they use- they will have a lot less surprises if they think in terms of value difference – a valueable lesson - hahaha.

Pegg: Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions. I know that other fiber artists are as inspired by your work as I am. I highly recommend your book to anyone who is interested in working with color and fibers!

Deb: Thanks Pegg! This has been fun – I hope you’ll enjoy color in YOUR spinning! I do have a website: www.debmenz.com and am willing to answer questions.

You can read the review of Deb’s book, Color in Spinning,, here.