According to Clara Parkess The Knitters Book of Yarn, spinning or adding twist to the fiber while it is in a jumbled state (in other words, in a woolen-preparation) is one key aspect of woolen-spun yarns. Worsted-spun knitted fabrics are super-soft, incredibly versatile knits that are used for baby clothes, underwear, t-shirts and sportswear, leggings, dresses and other light-weight knitwear. Wool is warm and lightweight and takes dyes well. This was the only blog with a long windup that was not only worth the read but also genuinely funny rather than trying too hard. (Theres a method to this madness, we promise!). October 2020 When prepared in a worsted-style, the fibers also tend to spin up more tightly, resulting in greater tensile strength and resistance to abrasion. Dogs The fibers in stitches knit from woolen-spun yarn seem to literally bloom into the space theyre given. As you might have guessed, most worsted-spun yarns are not ideal for felting (fibers which are all perfectly aligned are difficult to felt! Try to get your WPI to match as closely as possible to avoid that problem. Your explanation is great, and reaffirms my decision to purchase your Yarnitecture book awhile back. On Ravelry, you can go to the (Ravelry link) Projects tab on the pattern page to see other versions of the hat knit by other people. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Best article Ive read on this subject, and Ive been looking for a clear one for about a year. Raw, dirty & weedy alpaca is what I'm practicing this woolen technique I am learning, from rolags. Shop our 50% Off Online Workshop Sale! Worsted spun yarns are smoother and have better stitch definition to make your cables and textured stitches pop. Our most popular workhorse yarn is the Heritage two-ply, but if you want even more wear, the Tuffy is an 80/20 blend of wool and nylon. Heritage comes in forty-five colors of the rainbow, including plenty of neutrals and heathers. In this photo below you can see the 1ply Supreme (worsted) on the left has more of a halo whereas the 1ply Cobweb (woollen) on the right has better stitch definition - it almost feels like cotton although it is 100% wool. Combing the jumbled fibers aligns them in a parallel fashion and also removes shorter fibers for uniform length. Over at Into the Whirled, the people come from all directions into the booth in a hullabaloo of shopping, woolen style. Select an optionAlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareDistrict Of ColumbiaFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingArmed Forces (AA)Armed Forces (AE)Armed Forces (AP). For example, a yarn labeled 2/fine (often known as fingering or sock weight) can have a WPI of anywhere from 12-18. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. 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. You explained it so well. Also in pilling and other aspects. Original Yarns The project aims to restore the hydropower installation to produce clean energy from the waterway that runs under the mill. After picking, the fiber goes through acarder, a machine with several rolling cylinders covered in metal teeth. On the other hand, the woolen fabrics hold creases and shape well and are more durable. June 2016 Youll also want to identify whether the suggested yarn in the pattern is woolen spun or worsted spun. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You won't want to put . Semi worsted will give you more fluff to . Worsted yarn, made in the USA. I have been looking for something to help determine how best to substitute yarn. The bloom also means that woolen-spun yarns can be generously forgiving and able to balance out tension or stitch irregularity in knitting. Thanks for the clear and concise approach I get it now! Spun In Maine. Thank you for your thoughtful and careful drafting, and especially the photos! 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. Theyre the same weight, but theyre not made the same way. Id assumed it was me, but now I wonder if its my yarn? Ideally, you want to get accurate stitch and row gauge. Shelter is Brooklyn Tweed's first yarn, and one of the most well-loved - a worsted weight, woolen-spun Targhee-Columbia wool, sourced, dyed, and spun entirely in the USA. December 2020 In fact, I rarely do. Cheers and Thanks. Snippets is the Saturday newsletter full of MDK news, specials, and first look at new offerings. A fluffy woolen wool blanket now I understand, thank youu. 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. March 2021 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. Thank you! Long draw is for making a woolen-spun yarn. The pattern called for an expensive, fingering-weight, linen yarn. I made a sweater that is just too heavy and was hoping to be able to make it in a lighter weight yarn. Our BWC Wisconsin Woolen Spun yarns are two-ply in both the fingering and worsted weight and are available in 100 gram skeins. Shelter is textured, and Arbor is smooth as silk. When youre choosing a substitute yarn, try to get one with a similar fiber content so your end result has the same fabric characteristics. > >, 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. October 2019 Worsted yarns contrast with woollen yarns, which are carded rather than combed and fuzzier than worsted yarns. Semi-worsted at a similar wpi got me 83 yds/1.1 oz. Jill Drapers Windham (Merino wool, worsted spun) and Empire (Rambouillet wool, woolen spun) are perfect examples of that. 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). We consider it one of the finest worsted weight yarns out there. 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. 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. Its an old method too and goes well with fiber that has been prepared for spinning by hand. Heres what woolen and worsted mean to your knitted sweaters and accessories. Very well spot on! May 2018 December 2015 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. 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. Between those extremes, you can make infinite yarn combining elements from along the woolen/worsted continuum. Very clear explanation of a new topic to me. 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. BTW, I made a lovely airy lacy quite-warm shawl using reclaimed 100% cashmere of about cobweb weight, that I believe was woolen spun. Woolen spun wears like iron without the amount of pilling common to worsted spun yarns. Great article! Understand that some designers are buried in messages. Before beginning the process of spinning our woolen-spun yarns, the fiber is first cleaned and then dyed in the fleece. It could be youve got a set yarn budget and the designer used an expensive yarn that would blow your budget wide open. Woolen yarns are made of carded yarns and are fuzzy and bulky. Thank you so much for sharing. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. If you cant, try searching the designs hashtag on Instagram. One of the most basic attributes of a yarn is woolen or worsted spun. You cracked the egg for me.I want to read more of your writing. I really appreciate you using Tom Hardy as an analogy. The name derives from Worstead, a village in the English county of . www.harrisville.com, Content: 100% pure wool Put-Up: 215 yd [196 m]/4 oz [113 g] Construction: 2-ply Care: Handwash with mild soap in lukewarm water Recommended Gauge: 17 sts = 4 (10cm) on size 8 (5 mm) needles, Our mill has been in production on the same location for 158 years, so we do have some history in producing woolen-spun yarn, says John Little of Briggs & Little Woolen Mills. So how do you spin yarn to be either worsted or woolen? Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. November 2020 Youve just figured out your yarns WPI. The photos were such a vivid illustration of the difference between these two types of drafting and their results for your knitting. 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. Jillian Moreno spins, knits and weaves just so she can touch all of the fibers. Worsted wool can be made up into many different cloths, which may be appropriate for suits, jacket and/or trousers. Fascinating! Thank you for this insightful article. Color is usually lighter in a woolen drafted yarn. 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? They are also stronger, more durable, and less prone to pilling. God Bless. August 2015 July 2014 Because the fibers are parallel, worsted spun yarns are denser and less airy than woolen spun. Thanks for sharing. Goodness, though, was it ever the wrong choice for this one. However, there are differences between worsted weight yarns and woolen yarns as well. 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. Want to try out some wonderful wool yarns? The unique 12-ply construction means that garments drape beautifully and afghans and warm weather accessories have a cushiony soft bounce. Finally I understand I sorta knew but didnt quite fit it into certain yarns I was knitting on, I always wondered . August 2016 Woolen yarns are generally the least expensive industrial yarns to make. In the pictures, the woollen spun samples all seem bigger that the worsted spun. Thanks. December 2019 Please note: To begin the spinning process, apickeris used toloosely separate large masses of fiber into smaller onesand to mix the heathered shades of our woolen-spun yarns. 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. Most people define semi-worsted as spinning worsted using carded fibers while spinning the way you would for worsted yarn. What a great article. As a very new spinner (wheel) I found this article so informative and easy to understand. Keep up with her exploits at jillianmoreno.com. June 2015 February 2018 I said Thank You as soon as I read the title. WPI stands for wraps per inch. The yarn is less hairy than worsted yarns. WPI is a way to measure the thickness of yarn. Oh thats right! For example, if they just list an email address for pattern inquiries, dont message them on every social media platform where you can find them, too. May 2022 This is because the combed fibers, lacking air pockets, can more readily spin up into a compact, dense, and sturdy yarn. Worsted style spinning got me 183 yds from 4 oz. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Holland & Sherry98% SUPER 100'S WORSTED 2% LYCRA 2.46 YDS X 62" 159648 at the best online prices at eBay! I think Ill need to read it over a few times to really get it, because there is so much information. Ive got the same question as an earlier commenter one leg of my knit stitches is tighter than the other. Woolen yarns feel lighter, can feel textured and have a halo, and if the fibers like to be hairy or fuzzy, they will be flying their fuzzy freak flag. That ratio helps you understand how thick the yarn is. Yarn and fiber folks have an extensive vocabulary for many things, but we are really stuck on the word worsted. Dyed: United States. Woolen yarns are spun with the fibers going every which way. The indie Dyer might know how their base is spun if one is buying direct but maybe a LYS owner might not. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. It resulted in a hat that was light as a cloud but still structurally sound and very warm. The weight makes it great for outerwear, and the texture and structure allow for beautiful felted work. February 2017 Think in terms of shopping at a fiber show. No need to go to the gym if you do an hours wool combing! 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. This is because the fibers (compressed together in all directions, without combing) adhere more strongly to each other, This is a lightweight fabric, and, especially when knitted using Fair Isle technique, will long outlast a worsted spun garment. 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. Eg: tweed. The Clun Forest yarn is lofty and warm, hand-dyed in variegated and solid colorways, and also offered in undyed white. I hope you enjoy your next project. This is a new day for me. Woolen yarn is dense and is often made from the shorter strands of a sheep's fleece. You have made it so clear to me. Wonderful study! April 2016 January 2014 A 100% wool sweater will look different from a sweater made from linen or bamboo fiber. January 2018 Closed Saturdays, Sundays and US Holidays, 2015- 2023 Lunatic Fringe Yarns - All Rights Reserved And I really appreciate the swatches. Going to send people to this. Ive put off learning more about the structure and the why and have just let myself be lead around MLYS making choices that just add to the stash but may not be right for the intended project. Worsted yarn = worsted prep + worsted spin Semi worsted = woolen prep + worsted spin Woolen = woolen prep + woolen spin Semi woolen = worsted prep + woolen spin Examples of worsted spinning would be short forward and short backward drafting. The Merino and Corriedale wool is gathered from Midwestern farms right here in the United States. The woolen yarn fabrics do not hold the crease well and are less durable than worsted yarns. It might be worth sacrificing a bit of cable definition to get a lighter, cozier feeling sweater. November 2019 If you ever created your own cord or unwound a hank of yarn, then that's the exact same process. In the videos below, I'm using hand carded alpaca. The one on the left is woolen spun, and the one on the right is worsted spun. It makes yarn that is smooth and dense. yarns. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Shop Talk Desalegn Atalie. Thank you! These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. June 2019 very smartly elaborated the article. Jill, I am a newbie to crochet and knitting, so this information is wonderful! Gauge: 5.5 sts / inch on US 6. My substitutions have been just based intuition and have often resulted in less than desired results. You can write a comment on the yarns Ravelry page suggesting that drafting info be added.