Woolen vs. Worsted

Ranee was bang-on in her description of woolen and worsted yarns, as
far as she went.

Worsted yarns are spun from wool that has been combed into a long thin
strand. All of the wool fibers in the strand point in the same
direction; think about filling a soda straw with toothpicks - all the
toothpicks lie in the same orientation as the straw itself. As a
handspinner I will spin such a fiber preparation "inchworm" style,
which means I pull out a few fibers with my left hand and then release
my hold on those few fibers ever-so-slightly, just enough to let the
the twist get between the pads of my fingers and thumbs. AS THE TWIST
is entering the fibers I draw my fingers back toward the mass of
fiber. This action tucks in the "back ends" of the fibers so they
don't stick out of the yarn. Result? Very smooth, compact, and
wear-resistant yarn, especially when several very fine strands are
plied together to make a larger-diameter yarn. Worsted yarn will felt
but it may take some effort. Ideal for socks, mittens, heavy-duty
sweaters, rugs, blankets, etc.

Woolen yarns technically are produced from rolags. That's a fancy
name for a fiber tube made with two dog brushes. One uses a brush in
each hand to smooth the fibers across the other brush. One then
starts at the side of the brush with the free ends of the fibers
hanging off and rolls the fibers off of the brush, making a tube or
rolag. The yarn is spun from the end using "long draw", or great
swooping motions of the drafting hand. No pinching or sliding or
tucking in of ends. Result? Big fat fluffy yarn that is warm and
soft but pills and felts and wears right out under hard use.

Then there's semi-woolen spun from big carded batts (yes, similar to
quilt batting only wool and not ack-really-ick) with fibers pointing
willy-nilly in all directions. And there's semi-woolen, spun from a
roving, which is just a batt that's been pulled out into a long skinny
length with fibers still pointing willy-nilly.

Ok, I've dispensed all the pompous wisdom I can stomach for one
evening, I think I shall go knit myself to sleep

Michelle
Who has been combing and spinning froghair worsted-type yarn that will
be plied to produce a 2-ply yarn somewhere in weight between cobweb
and laceweight for knitting up into a shawl that may or may not be
finished in time to be mailed away to the North American Shetland
Sheep Association's juried show in June

On Thu, 22 Jan 2004 05:26:41 GMT, Slinky wrote:

Ranee was bang-on in her description of woolen and worsted yarns, as
far as she went.

Worsted yarns are spun from wool that has been combed into a long thin
strand. All of the wool fibers in the strand point in the same
direction; think about filling a soda straw with toothpicks - all the
toothpicks lie in the same orientation as the straw itself. As a
handspinner I will spin such a fiber preparation "inchworm" style,
which means I pull out a few fibers with my left hand and then release
my hold on those few fibers ever-so-slightly, just enough to let the
the twist get between the pads of my fingers and thumbs. AS THE TWIST
is entering the fibers I draw my fingers back toward the mass of
fiber. This action tucks in the "back ends" of the fibers so they
don't stick out of the yarn. Result? Very smooth, compact, and
wear-resistant yarn, especially when several very fine strands are
plied together to make a larger-diameter yarn. Worsted yarn will felt
but it may take some effort. Ideal for socks, mittens, heavy-duty
sweaters, rugs, blankets, etc.

Woolen yarns technically are produced from rolags. That's a fancy
name for a fiber tube made with two dog brushes. One uses a brush in
each hand to smooth the fibers across the other brush. One then
starts at the side of the brush with the free ends of the fibers
hanging off and rolls the fibers off of the brush, making a tube or
rolag. The yarn is spun from the end using "long draw", or great
swooping motions of the drafting hand. No pinching or sliding or
tucking in of ends. Result? Big fat fluffy yarn that is warm and
soft but pills and felts and wears right out under hard use.

Then there's semi-woolen spun from big carded batts (yes, similar to
quilt batting only wool and not ack-really-ick) with fibers pointing
willy-nilly in all directions. And there's semi-woolen, spun from a
roving, which is just a batt that's been pulled out into a long skinny
length with fibers still pointing willy-nilly.

Ok, I've dispensed all the pompous wisdom I can stomach for one
evening, I think I shall go knit myself to sleep

Michelle
Who has been combing and spinning froghair worsted-type yarn that will
be plied to produce a 2-ply yarn somewhere in weight between cobweb
and laceweight for knitting up into a shawl that may or may not be
finished in time to be mailed away to the North American Shetland
Sheep Association's juried show in June

Slinky, thanks for the rest of the story, and even though it's only
January, I wish you the BESTEST (yes, bad English, but I *like* the word)
LUCK for the show in June!!
Hugs,
Noreen
who is having an achey breaky night... therefore not in snoozeland, tho Don
went to snoreville hours ago......

--
STRIP * tease * to email me.