Capstone Experience

The Liberal Studies Program at Framingham State College requires an interdisciplinary research paper or project known as a Capstone Experience. This paper or project is chosen from one or both of the two areas of academic concentration required for a Liberal Studies degree.

Here is the written proposal for my directed study:

Objective of course:
The student intends to explore how yarns were spun and dyed in historical, pre-industrial settings. At present, a number of crafters and hobbyists use non-mechanized, labor-intensive techniques to produce such yarns. Starting with pre-carded fiber, the student intends to carry out the various steps required to produce yarn, and then to use the resulting yarn in the original design and construction of a garment

Description of proposed study:
Spinning:

The student plans to learn how to use drop spindles and spinning wheels to convert fiber roving into both simple yarn and plied yarn that would be suitable for knitting or crocheting by hand. Yarn will be produced in quantities sufficient for both the dyeing experiments and the garment design project.

Dyeing:

Space-dyeing is the name of a technique for producing multicolored yarns, wherein the pattern of color that results is adjusted by varying the lengths of the segments of yarn that are dyed in each of the chosen colors. The student plans to research how the method of dyeing affects the resulting pattern. Space-dyed yarn will be produced in quantities sufficient for the garment design project.

Design and Construction

A garment will be designed and constructed that highlights the characteristics of hand-produced spun and dyed yarns.

So that's what I'll be working on for the rest of this year. I thought I'd throw in a computer element by blogging about my adventures and experiences ..... Yarn-on!