Woolen spun yarn is known to be light as air, durable, warm and lofty. As a result, generally they will pill more easily and develop holes sooner. This helped me understand the difference and will help me make better choices when picking a yarn to knit certain patterns. Both woolen and worsted spinning methods make beautiful yarns. September 2014 These carded strands are lofty, lightweight, and trap a lot of air. September 2020 Put up is the way your yarn has been bundled up. Combing the jumbled fibers aligns them in a parallel fashion and also removes shorter fibers for uniform length. Thank you for this lucid explanation and the swatches to illustrate it. Thedoffer, a large cylinder at the delivery end of the carder, then relays the batt into acondenser, which splits the batt into several thin, untwisted strands calledropingorslivers(sly-vers). Also receive daily new post notifications, Superfun Giveaway: Celebrate BIPOC Designers, https://www.ravelry.com/discuss/techniques/3930171/1-25, https://garmentmerchendising.com/category/fiber/, https://www.thenaturalfibre.co.uk/blog/woollen-and-worsted-spun-yarns-thoughts-wovember#:~:text=A%20woollen%20spun%20yarn%20will,high%20proportion%20of%20short%20fibre. December 2022 That meant the hat could be knit at a much looser gauge than I would normally use for a fingering + lace combo. A quick aside to address the words we use here. Wool is readied by washing (lanolin is the by-product), carding, sometimes combing, then spinning. The worsted will tend to emphasize the gaps between the colours. Great article, thank you. Thank you so very much for the enlightening article and all the examples. 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. Jillian Moreno spins, knits and weaves just so she can touch all of the fibers. Worsted wool is smoother than woolen, takes shine more easily, does not sag, holds a crease well, is lighter and less bulky, and wears longer than woolen. There are two yarns, one brown and one light green. The main difference between spun yarn and filament yarn is that spun yarn is made from fibres with short discrete lengths and involve materials like cotton and wool while filament yarn is made from long, continuous filaments and involve materials like silk.. Yarn is a continuous strand of twisted natural or synthetic fibres. To produce our heathered colors, the scoured fleece is then dyed in a range of intensely saturated base solids, which are then blended together during the spinning process using percentages of the base colors unique to each colorway. In stockinette its *really* obvious. In fact, the answer may not even be the same every time. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Wool fabrics can be classified by their production technology the worsted and woolen one. The yarn is spun using the woolen process. November 2013 It also means woolen-spun yarns are warmer than their worsted counterparts as these air pockets help hold body heat. December 2014 Ah, you're right, thank you! Customer accounts enabled in your Store Admin. The difference between woolen and the worsted yarn is that woolen yarn is spun by carding fibers. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. Fiber and drafting traits together make yarn that is more woolen or worsted. Worsted yarns are spun with all the fibers aligned, making a smooth and dense yarn with more sheen and drape. Spun/plied 10:1. As such, for our woolen-spun yarns, the strands of roping are simply loaded on a spinning frame, where they are concurrently drafted, twisted, and wound onto bobbins to become singles for plying. What you do need is to know what youre doing if you plan to change things up. If you ever created your own cord or unwound a hank of yarn, then that's the exact same process. Oh thats right! 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. Now, Cotton-Ease was a perfectly good yarn (its since been discontinued, alas). I won't give you all the details, but before finishing there was already a significant difference in diameter; the worsted (dark) measured as 17 WPI, while the woolen (light) measured as 12 WPI. 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. Native Twist is available in twenty-nine bold, earthy, and jewel-toned solid colorways. PHONE: 1-208-452-4948 If youre really comfortable with doing a lot of math, making adjustments on the fly, and pulling out your work if you decide you dont like how it works, then feel free to experiment with a yarn of a different gauge. There are other ways to make woolen spun but this is the classic method. The worsted yarn spinner uses wool fibres which have been combed and are of a certain length, that is, about 2 inches or more. Id assumed it was me, but now I wonder if its my yarn? Jo, You have a real gift. Great article and most helpful. This Targhee-Columbia wool blend comes from Wyoming sheep, and the fiber is fleece-dyed (dyed before spinning), which is made visible in Shelters thirty-two heathered colorways, especially the darker ones with lighter hues intermixed. . Voila! The woolen yarn fabrics do not hold the crease well and are less durable than worsted yarns. 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. The yarn isn't smoothed, it's simply stretched out like a piece of chewing gum, that traps lots of air in the yarn, and makes it very bouncey and elastic. Share. If its too tight (that is, more stitches per inch than it should have), try going up a needle size. This is so helpful and interesting not to mention how easy to understand. Everyone already said what I wanted to, so Ill just add that Tom Hardy is my Happy Place, no matter how hes spun. An alternative to spinning top worsted is to spin it semi worsted. Theyre the same weight, but theyre not made the same way. Woolen spun and worsted spun are references to the way the yarn is actually spun in the spinning process. Interesting point I would like to know that too! Designers chose yarns, in part, based on the fiber content, knowing that fiber content will affect the appearance of the garment. They are also warmer because of the airiness. May 2018 The difference between worsted-spun and woolen-spun yarns lies in how the fiber is handled before the actual spinning. In colorwork, the edge that gives a worsted yarn great stitch definition also makes colors standapart, while woolen drafted yarns create softness and blur between colors. If you can use Ravelry, the project pages are very helpful. Ravelry has a searchable field for this info now, but unfortunately many yarnies/companies havent filled it in yet. Eg: gabardine. Because there is less air trapped in the spun fibers, the resulting yarn is dense, smooth and resistant to abrasion. While woolen spinning is all about trapping air, worsted does the exact opposite. I wonder if it is related to the tendancy of woollen-spuns to bloom? April 2018 Your explanation is great, and reaffirms my decision to purchase your Yarnitecture book awhile back. The difference in these two yarns are mainly due to two factors; (1) the nature or class of wool used; and (2) the method of preparing and spinning the fibres into yarn. Because our yarns are washed in the hand-dying process some blooming has already occurred. Its easier to just add more rows than to recalculate the width of a garment. If either of these fibers is in your yarn, no matter how worsted and smooth it is spunit will become a fuzzy yarn. Any amount of twist, be it a lot or a little, is essential for creating knittable yarn. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. To measure WPI, take out a ruler and an item of uniform thickness that you can wrap your yarn around. Heres a thread on Ravelry discussing it: https://www.ravelry.com/discuss/techniques/3930171/1-25, Really impressed by the author. This was the clearest explanation regarding the what, why, and how of woolen vs. worsted spun I have come across. February 2019 These are actually a scaled down version of the historical combs, but having handled a pair I can tell you that they're still seriously heavy to handle. Hairs are aligned to be parallel, instead of being rolled up to perpendicular to the direction of the yarn. November 2016 August 2020 However, the cost of carded woolen yarn is lower. You'll also want to identify whether the suggested yarn in the pattern is woolen spun or worsted spun. Weaving. The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes. There are two yarns, one brown and one light green. This is a fantastic article and helped me to understand in the ins and outs so clearly however, even after refreshing Im getting broken links for all the in article photos what happened? May 2014 November 2018 The fiber is compressed and smoothed, and air is squeezed out as the twist is applied to the fiber. 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. Both types require different fiber preparation on spinning techniques. When you touch worsted yarn, it tends to feel heavier and very even, and it will be shiny if the fibers in the yarn are inclined that way. Thank you for your thoughtful and careful drafting, and especially the photos! October 2014 > >, 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. Worsted spun is smooth, while woolen spun is a little more rustic. Congratulations on shedding light on these two styles of spinning that are so confusing for many spinners. But if the pattern calls for yarn from an indie dyer or one of the smaller manufacturers, it can be pretty hit or miss (I just checked for several of my favorites that I've used in designs this year, and nothing). The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". April 2016 Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Woolen spun yarns will bloom more after washing and are lighter and airier. One method is not better or worse than the other just different. As a last resort, if the designer has published their contact information, consider reaching out to them if you have questions about yarn substitution. Durability, warmth and weight. September 2019 Gauge: 5.5 sts / inch on US 6. Hours: Mon-Fri from 9am-4pm MT September 2021 I just started stranded colorwork and this with your swatches is a good resource. This leaves both short and long fibers which are at different angles. Worsted yarn, made in the USA. At the roping stage, the fibers are of irregular lengths, jumbled and nestled together in every which way. However, because commercial spinning techniques necessarily developed out of hand spinning techniques, the terms described here may also be familiar to our hand spinning friends or applicable to those interested in handspinning. US 6 - 8 or 4 - 5mm. Instead of carding the fibres they're combed. Thank you for helping me understand these yarn differencesthis will help me understand why one yarn will make me swoon, and another yarn, totally different, really makes my knees weak. Its totally fine. Compared to woolens, worsted wool fabrics are brushed in two directions with special brushes. There are two basic ways of drafting fiber by hand or by machine: worsted draft or woolen draft. February 2021 Be sure not to violate boundaries, too. Worsted-spun yarns are known for being more durable than their woolen-spun counterparts. Combed worsted yarn is superior to carded woolen yarn in strength. Great article! Great article, thank you for this very detailed account , I learned so much ! Depending on their knowledge of spinning and yarns, it gets a bit tricky to articulate sometimes. In this installment of our Foundations series, we explain the differences between how our woolen-spun and worsted-spun yarn families are produced, as well as describe the different kinds of fabrics one can achieve with either kind of yarn. You cracked the egg for me.I want to read more of your writing. Worsted noun. now I understand, thank youu. Select an optionAlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareDistrict Of ColumbiaFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingArmed Forces (AA)Armed Forces (AE)Armed Forces (AP). Combed top can be used to make yarns for items that are still going to be warm, like a hat, it just will not have the insulating ability of a yarn spun woolen, but will be stronger than a woolen spun yarn. I have noticed that in even acrylic yarns, worsted is not the same. Todays topic is woolen and worsted drafted yarns. Finally I understand I sorta knew but didnt quite fit it into certain yarns I was knitting on, I always wondered . Thank you so much Katie. The bloom also means that woolen-spun yarns can be generously forgiving and able to balance out tension or stitch irregularity in knitting. For many projects, it wont make much of a difference if youre switching yarn construction. That is woolen drafting. August 2013 September 2018 This is an excellent article and explanation. I hope this will help you skip some of the hiccups! Here, we take a closer look at some of the industrys top woolen-spun yarns. Thank you! When spinning the fiber the long draw or medium draw technique is used to allow the fiber to wrap upon itself while . 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! 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. Dyed: United States. It's then spun with the twist entering the drafting zone in a long draw technique. Does this happen with all yarns? I like to use a pencil. You are the Rachel Maddow of yarn, delving in at a granular level, exploring every detail, and explaining it all with an engaging writing style drenched in clarity. Youve just figured out your yarns WPI. However, there are differences between worsted weight yarns and woolen yarns as well. Semi-worsted at a similar wpi got me 83 yds/1.1 oz. Thank for for such a coherent explanation (and the pretty swatches really help too)! One of the most basic attributes of a yarn is woolen or worsted spun. As an example, aran weight worsted spun wool is going to be heavier than aran weight woolen spun wool, so there will be fewer yards per 100 grams of the worsted spun wool . May 2013, All Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Worsted spun yarns are used in preparation of suits, dresses, crepes. A great big AHA! Moment for me! But its so difficult to choose between the two Tom Hardys. Each of those packages generally indicates two key details: how many yards or meters are in the unit of yarn, and how much that unit of yarn weighs. Worsted is smooth (using combed fibers), while woolen is more rustic. It's then spun with the twist entering the drafting zone in a long draw technique. See, what I didnt understand at the time was the fine art of yarn substitution. I am so excited to have found this article today. September 2022 May 2015 Thank you! These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Last fall when I traveled to the Taos Wool Festival, I discovered a remarkable cormo yarn from Elsa Wool Company. Ive got the same question as an earlier commenter one leg of my knit stitches is tighter than the other. . So well illustrated and explained. Perfect. Airy and soft, but fragile (because of the shorter staple and looser twist?). These two spinning techniques are also the basic, standardized methods employed in commercial yarn production though, as noted in Knitting in the Old Way by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts and Deborah Robson, more and more spinning mills today follow a hand spinning approach to commercial spinning, adapting processing and spinning techniques to enhance the natural characteristics of a particular fiber or to achieve a yarn well-suited for specific kinds of knitted fabric. As such, for our worsted-spun yarns, once the roving is loaded on the spinning frame, they first pass through a draft zone, which drafts the fiber to open it up and reduce it to the intended weight (and thickness) required for the yarn. June 2016 FO's When prepared in a worsted-style, the fibers also tend to spin up more tightly, resulting in greater tensile strength and resistance to abrasion. I finally understand what worsted and wollen mean. That, in turn, means youll have more trouble knitting a garment that will fit you right. Woollen Yarn Woollen yarn is spun using a short staple fiber prepared by handcarding and rolled into rolags. Updated July 1, 2020. Worsted is a high-quality type of wool yarn. This video of a Navajo Weaver has long been a favourite of mine. You can see her producing rolags, and then using a navajo spindle to do a form of long draw. You won't want to put . document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. NOW I KNOW. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. And now for the tricky, but crucial, part of yarn substitution: making sure you hit gauge. September 2017 Classically speaking there are 2 types of yarn. Worsted is about both how you spin and how you (or your supplier) prep. 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. This is a more subtle detail, but depending on the type of project youre making, it can be significant. Yarn and fiber folks have an extensive vocabulary for many things, but we are really stuck on the word worsted. May 2021 Woolen spun yarns are in the production of sweaters, carpets, tweeds. Its easy to see whats going on with the yarn and knitting in the samples. As for me, well, I love hearing from people who are working on my patterns and do my best to respond to messages quickly. Then repeat the gauge swatching process. Yarns which Stretch Woolen yarn consists of fibers of varying length that are carded so the fibers are not parallel. Twist is the magic that makes fiber into yarn, and drafting is how the twist gets into the fiber. Appreciate the double check. This definitely affects your choice for a project that will be steeked, but also for fair isle or intarsia colourwork where the woolen spun will fill in the gaps between stitches of different colours. The Clun Forest yarn is lofty and warm, hand-dyed in variegated and solid colorways, and also offered in undyed white. Case in point, hobby lobbys I love this yarn and their soft secret are both worsted, but one is 4 ply and the other 3 ply. Semi-woolen yarn is spun woolen-style, using fibers prepared in a parallel arrangement. The difference between Woolen Spun and Worsted Spun. When a yarn is spun from a pile of fibers into a string, its turned a little bit as its stretched out to make a tubular shape. All Rights Reserved. The fibers are carded, or brushed, in a single direction and then tightly spun together, resulting in a yarn that is smooth and has a consistent thickness. Spinning I think it also helps to think of the woolen spun as grippier (as in grips more) since all the fibres are not tamed into a smooth yarn but are sort of sticking out all over. Worsted yarns are spun from fibers that have been combed; they are lightweight; these yarns are used for knitting. Drop me a line any time. Your book will be one of the few in my library, as I want those that provide me the knowledge to choose and knit wisely. My thanks also. When you look at yarns, hunting for worsted vs. woolen, some are obvious from across the yarn shop. Folks wait their turn to enter the booth and shop in a controlled way. Please refer to Blacker Yarns blog for an explanation: https://www.thenaturalfibre.co.uk/blog/woollen-and-worsted-spun-yarns-thoughts-wovember#:~:text=A%20woollen%20spun%20yarn%20will,high%20proportion%20of%20short%20fibre. She wrote the book Yarnitecture: A Knitters Guide to Spinning: Building Exactly the Yarn You Want so she could use all of the fiber words. Its an old method too and goes well with fiber that has been prepared for spinning by hand. PHONE: Toll Free 1-800-483-8749 Oh great now Im going to spend all day weeping for Wuthering Heights Tom Hardy and wondering what kind of yarn he was. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. Be sure to use the stitch indicated in the pattern when it tells you how gauge was measured. June 2013 The other style invites the twist into the fiber, it lets the twist zip into the fiber with little to no control; twist is just tossed at the fiber. The type of yarns also depends on how they spun. What Ply is Worsted Weight Yarn? It will stay in my notebook in my knitting bag. And you explained the difference between woolen vs worsted very well!! And I also now understand my past failures a little better haha! Ive wondered lately why some yarn I loved in my LYS seemed perfect, but when swatched, especially in garter stitch, looked so shiny, something I didnt want. 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. However, though the staple length of the wool is short the yarn is strong over the length of a single knit or purl stitch, so the fabric worked in these yarns will be cohesive and strong. A 100% wool sweater will look different from a sweater made from linen or bamboo fiber. Check out our worsted spun wool selection for the very best in unique or custom, handmade pieces from our shops. Thank you so much! Check out our worsted woolen spun yarn selection for the very best in unique or custom, handmade pieces from our shops. You also need to consider WPI.