Share. Classically speaking there are 2 types of yarn. There are all sorts of reasons you might want to use a yarn thats different from what the designer recommends. June 2021 Can you spot the other difference? October 2016 January 2016 You cracked the egg for me.I want to read more of your writing. When dyed the same color, woolen and worsted drafted yarns wont look the same. However, roping is more commonly used to refer specifically to this stage inwoolen-spinning mills. The primary reason for this is that the wool yarn normally used for these fabrics was produced using a special "worsted" spinning technique that better aligns the fibers. Worsted Yarn. Thanks! Twist is the magic that makes fiber into yarn, and drafting is how the twist gets into the fiber. Woolen spun wears like iron without the amount of pilling common to worsted spun yarns. Thanks for explaining the difference, it's interesting to see those subtle contrasts between the stitching! The fiber is compressed and smoothed, and air is squeezed out as the twist is applied to the fiber. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Worsted Spun requires a very different fibre preparation, and spinning technique. December 2020 July 2020 very smartly elaborated the article. September 2022 Woolen yarns have variable fiber arrangement In woolen spun yarns the fibers are running in multiple directions, like a cloud. In this blog, we will take a closer look at worsted and woolen yarns and what sets them apart. Thanks for clearing up my confusion over what I scored at the thrift shop today and helping provide some direction on what project might be right for it. After picking, the fiber goes through acarder, a machine with several rolling cylinders covered in metal teeth. September 2021 This post of part of my Spinning with a Purpose series, sharing swatches I've created for a. Compared with worsted yarns with the same specifications, worsted core-spun yarns have the following advantages: 1. Worsted spun yarn includes individual fibers that are facing in many directions, whereas woolen spun has all of the fibers facing in the same direction before the yarn is spun and they remain much more parallel in the final spun singles. Heres why: when the fibers in the yarn irregular in length and nestled together in every which way are soaked in water during the blocking process, they get the chance to relax, and then they readjust and mingle with each other even more as they dry, creating a solid and cohesive piece of fabric. 140 yards/50 g. $15.50 each. Categories Knitting Design, Knitting Tips and Tricks, Home The Knitters Guide to Yarn Substitution, Stretch Into a Cozy Fall Wardrobe with the Pandiculation Cowl, Yarn Substitution for the Knit Sweater: A Designers Perspective. This is the fun part about being a knitter who knows their yarn; its all up to you. This was a great post. In my spinning past, I've spun from locks, from picked fiber 'clouds' , from bats, had also tried a badly produced rolag or two and gave up ~~ but mostly all the years I've spun its been from roving, sliver, and combed top. Rhinebeck If you cant, try searching the designs hashtag on Instagram. April 2015 There are other ways to make woolen spun but this is the classic method. Which do you like and want to work with? February 2023 I hope you enjoy your next project. For example, a yarn labeled 2/fine (often known as fingering or sock weight) can have a WPI of anywhere from 12-18. July 2021 That would be worsted-style shopping. One method is not better or worse than the other - just different. This is extra work youre asking them to undertake, and knitting patterns are already underpriced. Thank you! 4/9. It is named after the small English village of Worstead, in the county of Norfolk and this village was a center for manufacturing in the twelfth century. The next step after preparing the fiber is to add twist, as this is key to making yarn twist traps necessary energy and tension into the yarn, increasing strength and, in most cases, elasticity. Unfortunately you cant tell from the ballband unless the manufacturer has included that information. And I really appreciate the swatches. August 2020 Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. Getting a yarn thats labeled with the same weight as the previous yarn is only part of the challenge, though. That turning gives the yarn some stability. Lisas List: 10 Reasons Knitting Is Better Than Dating, Spurned Gifts: When Knit & Crochet Gifts Went Wrong. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. There are myriad ways to prepare and spin fleece and fiber into yarn. They are also warmer because of the airiness. The squeeze of drafting a yarn worsted brings fibers closer, for greater depth of color, and the smoothness of the surface reflects light, intensifying the color and shine. If either of these fibers is in your yarn, no matter how worsted and smooth it is spunit will become a fuzzy yarn. In the pictures, the woollen spun samples all seem bigger that the worsted spun. www.brooklyntweed.com, Content: 100% Clun Forest wool Put-Up: 185yd [169 m]/3.8 oz [107 g] Construction: 3-ply Care: Handwash with low agitation; dry flat Recommended Gauge: 18 sts = 4 (10 cm) on size 7 (4.5 mm) needles, Solitude Wool hand-picks its fleece from small U.S. farms and then has yarn spun at different mills around the country. What a great article. Ill jump right in with the big one. Module 1 Review of the woollen and worsted production systems re-caps on the differences between worsted versus woollen yarn production, the early operations prior to spinning and their aims. Ive used it on a lot of projects since then. Worsted-style spinning, unlike woolen-style, does not allow twist to enter the fiber during drafting. It does not store any personal data. The result of this worsted-style preparation and spinning is a yarn that is smooth and dense, due to the fibers being neatly combed in a parallel fashion. > >, Knitting on an Airplane and Other Travel Tips for Makers, Why You Shouldn't Buy a Knitter Yarn as a Gift, Reasons to Take Your WIP to a Sporting Event, A Free Bracelet Beading Pattern for Valentines Day. April 2014 Pilling should not be conflated with the characteristic bloom of woolen spun yarns. Woollen Yarn Woollen yarn is spun using a short staple fiber prepared by handcarding and rolled into rolags. August 2018 How a yarn looks also depends on (did you read my last article?) The difference between worsted-spun and woolen-spun yarns lies in how the fiber is handled before the actual spinning. - From the online magazine Knitter's Review, by Clara Parkes. Woollen spun woven fabrics are thicker and heavier and used mostly for outerwear. Great visuals and explanations. As a result, generally they will pill more easily and develop holes sooner. Woolen and worsted are two different classifications of wool fabrics and yarn. That ratio helps you understand how thick the yarn is. Beautiful fibre you'll love to work with. May 2014 Hours: Mon-Fri from 9am-4pm MT May 2019 Sometimes, those individual strings are then twisted together to form a stronger, denser yarn. 3.5 oz ball / yards 245. knitting gauge: 5 stitches / inch on US 7. hand wash cold / lay flat to dry. March 2019 Our BWC Wisconsin Woolen Spun yarns are two-ply in both the fingering and worsted weight and are available in 100 gram skeins. It's much faster to spin wool because the fibres are not tidied up before you begin spinning. I ALWAYS substitute my yarns and I know now that my yearn choices are the reason I never seem happy with all my hard work. Both types require different fiber preparation on spinning techniques. As for me, well, I love hearing from people who are working on my patterns and do my best to respond to messages quickly. The carder opens up the fiber and blends it evenly, resulting in a thin cloud- or web-like sheet commonly known as abatt. Advent Our worsted spun wool and wool blend yarns are available in lace to bulky weights in a wide range of colors. September 2018 The combed wool is then sent through a pin drafter several times, resulting in the wool sliver becoming progressively thinner with each pass through the machine. March 2020 Think in terms of shopping at a fiber show. What Ply is Worsted Weight Yarn? Wonderful study! Wool Yarn Wool is the dense, warm , soft, often curly hair forming coat of sheep, also called a fleece. Thank you, youre a great explainer. When I unplied the yarn and looked at individual strands, I could see a difference and a dead giveaway. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. The name derives from Worstead, a village in the English county of . Also in pilling and other aspects. August 2014 Woolen and Worsted yarns. Knit using the same needles and in the same style that youll be knitting the garment (i.e., flat or in the round). Most people whove knit the hat have substituted yarns, but if they didnt use one with a halo like the silk-mohair, they sometimes found that the resulting fabric was too loose. The woolen yarn fabrics do not hold the crease well and are less durable than worsted yarns. March 2018 One way is controlled; twist is brought to the fiber like a gift. October 2018 The main differences between woolen and worsted spinning are the direction that the fibers are running in the yarn and the compactness of the resulting yarn. When spinning the fiber the long draw or medium draw technique is used to allow the fiber to wrap upon itself while . God Bless. So, what ply is worsted weight yarn? Thank you for this lucid explanation and the swatches to illustrate it. Weaving. There are two yarns, one brown and one light green. The difference between worsted-spun and woolen-spun yarns lies in how the fiber is handled before the actual spinning. Worsted yarn, made in the USA. Left: woolen spun yarn | Right: worsted-spun yarn b) Single ply, 2-ply, 4-ply, and 8-ply. July 2019 Thank you, thank you, thank you. This exciting variety can be attributed to similarly multiple factors such as individual spinning style and preference, fleece and fiber characteristics, or even environmental considerations like humidity levels. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('interstitial-ad');}); Save patterns, share updates, and connect with your community. Jo, You have a real gift. September 2016 You then spin using a long draw technique that maintains that rolled structure. . It isn't just a question of being one or the other though, there is a continuum of spinning structures with true worsted on one end, true woolen on the far opposite and lots of semi-worsted and semi-woolen yarns in between. Top: Worsted spun shows more stitch definition Bottom: Woolen spun soft bouncy yarn without stitch definition Like cousins, woolen and worsted yarns have the same genetic profile, but look and act completely different from one another. At Brooklyn Tweed, we employtwo basic spinning methods that occupy either end of this broad spectrum of possibility: woolen-spinning and worsted-spinning. The distinctions between these has been a mystery to me until now. Just like cotton worsted is not always better than woolen. February 2017 The amount of twist added when making individual plies of yarn is very important and can take the hand and behavior of the yarn in different directions. ). An extreme example is angora or mohair. Because of the density, a typical worsted yarn is thinner than a typical woolen yarn of the same ypp. Time to read it again, more closely! Dye baths are created using a precise calibration of dye, temperature, and water flow to protect the lofty, softness of the wool and to ensure the colors are repeatable with every new dye lot. . Loved the first video, and your video was brilliant, thank you so much. Some yarns are not so obvious. Thanks for the clear and concise approach I get it now! Hairs are aligned to be parallel, instead of being rolled up to perpendicular to the direction of the yarn. Original Yarns Woolen yarns are the ones you might find bits of hay in. During the Middle Ages, common agricultural practices were in flux because new breeds of sheep were being . Worsted-spun yarns are known for being more durable than their woolen-spun counterparts. I have noticed that in even acrylic yarns, worsted is not the same. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Woolen yarns are generally the least expensive industrial yarns to make. In side-by-side comparison of worsted and woolen yarns with the same fiber and yarn structure, the worsted yarn is more durable, less warm, and heavier than a woolen yarn. This leaves both short and long fibers which are at different angles. You are however spinning long draw, which is a more woolen type of draft and will be trapping more air in the yarn. Theyre the same weight, but theyre not made the same way. Many commercial yarns are spun with the worsted style. Even taking in account the difference of color and fiber blend, they are two different yarns. Required fields are marked *. *Membership cannot be purchased with Gift Cards. Semi-woolen yarn is spun woolen-style, using fibers prepared in a parallel arrangement. And you explained the difference between woolen vs worsted very well!! February 2021 February 2022 You can see her producing rolags, and then using a navajo spindle to do a form of long draw. Thats because yarn weight is one of the key elements that affects the gauge of your knitting. The most important thing when choosing a yarn substitute is to pick a new yarn that is approximately the same thickness, or weight, as the recommended yarn. If Im knitting a gansey to last more than a few years, and want fantastic, crisp stitch definition, Ill choose a worsted spun yarn. Wrap your yarn firmly, but not tightly, around the item for at least a few inches, and then set it down next to the ruler. Use top to spin semi worsted. December 2014 No need to go to the gym if you do an hours wool combing! That little strand of silk-mohair yarn is important, because the mohair fibers catch on each other and lend stability to the fabric. Ah, you're right, thank you! Woolen spinning also works best on wool with shorter staple lengths, such that if you pull on the yarn from several inches away, the yarn can indeed break. When youre choosing a substitute yarn, try to get one with a similar fiber content so your end result has the same fabric characteristics. . Now I know. Combing the jumbled fibers aligns them in a parallel fashion and also removes shorter fibers for uniform length. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". Worsted spun is smooth, while woolen spun is a little more rustic. It's then spun with the twist entering the drafting zone in a long draw technique. Heres what woolen and worsted mean to your knitted sweaters and accessories. If you ever created your own cord or unwound a hank of yarn, then that's the exact same process. That means theyre good for colorwork and lace projects where you really want your stitches to pop. On Instagram, just type #ProfiteroleHat into the search bar, and check out the other versions people have posted. Looking at a strand, I can start seeing variation. The fibers of a worsted-spun yarn are first straightened and then oriented in the same direction, making the yarn smooth and shiny, which gives your knitted fabric lots of stitch definition. September 2017 December 2021 They also tend to have better stitch definition than single-ply yarns do. Put up is the way your yarn has been bundled up. Does this happen with all yarns? Thanks. Woolen-spun yarns have a matte finish with a soft halo and lend themselves well to extra-warm projects that wont weigh you downperfect for camping trips! Woollen yarns are used for flannel, tweed, melton, knitwear and felt. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Updated July 1, 2020. Thanks for the good explanation. Now, I finally understand what it really means and how it will impact my future knitting! Bees The Clun Forest yarn is lofty and warm, hand-dyed in variegated and solid colorways, and also offered in undyed white. In most cases, semi-worsted and semi-woolen yarns could often be confused for the same thing. This is so helpful and interesting not to mention how easy to understand. I couldnt find it and couldnt afford it on my student budget, anyway, so I decided to substitute.