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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 |
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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. |
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