Structure

Spun yarn is made by twisting or otherwise bonding staple fibres together to make a cohesive thread. Twisting fibres into yarn in the process called spinning can be dated back to the Upper Paleolithic, and yarn spinning was one of the very first processes to be industrialized. Spun yarns may contain a single type of fibre, or be a blend of various types. Combining synthetic fibres (which can have high strength, lustre, and fire retardant qualities) with natural fibres (which have good water absorbency and skin comforting qualities) is very common. The most widely used blends are cotton-polyester and wool-acrylic fibre blends. Blends of different natural fibres are common too, especially with more expensive fibres such as alpaca, angora and cashmere. Bamboo yarn is a less expensive type that is a recent innovation.

Yarns are selected for different textiles based on the characteristics of the yarn fibres, such as warmth (wool), light weight (cotton or bamboo), durability (nylon is added to sock yarn, for example), or softness (cashmere, alpaca). Acrylic and cotton yarns are the least expensive.

Yarns are made up of a number of plies, each ply being a single spun yarn. These single plies of yarn are twisted together (plied) in the opposite direction to make a thicker yarn. Depending on the direction of this final twist, the yarn will be known as ''s-twist'' or ''z-twist''. For a single ply, the direction of the final twist is the same as its original twist.

Filament yarn consists of filament fibres (very long continuous fibres) either twisted together or only grouped together. Thicker monofilaments are typically used for industrial purposes rather than fabric production or decoration. Silk is a natural filament, and synthetic filament yarns are used to produce silk-like effects.

Texturized yarns are made by a process of air texturizing (sometimes referred to as ''taslanizing''), which combines multiple filament yarns into a yarn with some of the characteristics of spun yarns.

Color

Measurement

Yarn quantities are usually measured by weight in ounces or grams. In the United States, Canada and Europe, balls of yarn for handcrafts are sold by weight. Common sizes include 25g, 50g, and 100g skeins. Some companies also primarily measure in ounces with common sizes being three-ounce, four-ounce, six-ounce, and eight-ounce skeins. These measurements are taken at a standard temperature and humidity, because yarn can absorb moisture from the air. The actual length of the yarn contained in a ball or skein can vary due to the inherent heaviness of the fibre and the thickness of the strand; for instance, a 50 g skein of lace weight mohair may contain several hundred metres, while a 50g skein of bulky wool may contain only 60 metres.

There are several thicknesses of yarn, also referred to as weight. This is not to be confused with the measurement and/or weight listed above. The Craft Yarn Council of America is making an effort to promote a standardized industry system for measuring this, numbering the weights from 1 (finest) to 6 (heaviest). Some of the names for the various weights of yarn from finest to thickest are called lace, fingering, sport, double-knit (or DK), worsted, aran (or heavy worsted), bulky, and super-bulky. This naming convention is more descriptive than precise; fibre artists disagree about where on the continuum each lies, and the precise relationships between the sizes.

A more precise measurement of yarn weight, often used by weavers, is wraps per inch (wpi). The yarn is wrapped snugly around a ruler and the number of wraps that fit in an inch are counted.

Labels on yarn for handicrafts often include information on gauge, known in the UK as tension, which is a measurement of how many stitches and rows are produced per inch or per cm on a specified size of knitting needle or crochet hook. The proposed standardization uses a four-by-four inch/ten-by-ten cm knitted or crocheted square, with the resultant number of stitches across and rows high made by the suggested tools on the label to determine the gauge.

In Europe textile engineers often use the unit tex, which is the weight in grams of a kilometre of yarn, or decitex, which is a finer measurement corresponding to the weight in grams of 10 km of yarn. Many other units have been used over time by different industries.

Some yarn retail stores try to help the customer choose yarn by attaching a sample knitted square to the shelf holding each display of a particular weight of yarn, sometimes provided by the manufacturer. These samples are knit in the industry standard four-by-four inch / ten-by-ten centimetre guage. Samples help the buyer by showing them the texture and thickness of the finished knit fabric.

See also

Notes

External links

Cotton Yarn Exporter

Category:Knitting tools and materials Category:Crochet Category:Sewing Category:Weaving Category:Fibers Category:Textiles Category:Yarn Category:Animal hair products

Stephanie Anne Pearl-McPhee (a.k.a. ''"The Yarn Harlot"'') (born June 14, 1968) is a writer, knitter, IBCLC or International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, and doula living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Life

Work

Pearl-McPhee has contributed articles and patterns to knitting magazines such as Cast On, Interweave Knits, Knitty, Stranded, and Spin-Off. She also contributed a chapter to the book ''Knitlit Too''. In addition, she has written five books on knitting.

One of Pearl-McPhee's best known works is her blog, which also carries the moniker "The Yarn Harlot". In 2004, she founded Tricoteuses sans Frontières (Knitters without Borders), a group dedicated to raising money for the non-profit Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders). As of the 6th anniversary of Pearl-McPhee's blog (January 2010), they have contributed over $1,000,000 CAD to MSF/DWB.

In 2006 she started the 2006 Knitting Olympics, a competition for knitters to start and finish one challenging project during the timeframe of the 2006 Winter Olympics. Over 4,000 knitters worldwide participated. The event was also the catalyst for a 2006 Crochet Olympics, which held the same rules but was organized elsewhere.

Pearl-McPhee often makes personal appearances at conventions, book stores and other craft-related events where she shares her view of life and knitting with fellow crafters. Her 2008 tour included venues across the USA and Canada, including branches of Barnes & Noble and the Borders Group, independent bookshops, knitting shops and fibre festivals. The tour included her first ever appearance in Europe, at I Knit London's ''I Knit Day'' in September 2008.

Pearl-McPhee originated the word "kinnear" on August 2, 2007, on her blog. Now cited in the Urban Dictionary and in The New York Times' 2007 Word in Review, it is defined as "kinnear v. To take a candid photograph surreptitiously, especially by holding the camera low and out of the line of sight." "Kinnearing" was originated when she attempted to take a picture of Greg Kinnear at an airport while on her way to Boston, MA. When Kinnear learned of this, he started to try kinnearing others, including his "Flash of Genius" costar Alan Alda. He showed his attempts on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien", where, in the same interview, he declared that Pearl-McPhee is "the Michael Jordan of knitting."

Books

See also

References

External links