Woollen Yarn. October 2013 Your explanation is great, and reaffirms my decision to purchase your Yarnitecture book awhile back. Great article! Great article! Woolen Yarn is soft, light, and fluffy. Thanks for the good explanation. June 2020 • Wool is a special type of yarn as it is natural and obtained from animal hair • Yarn is a continuous and long thread of materials as diverse as cotton, wool, nylon, etc. Ok, first up lets look at how the fibres are running in to the yarn. October 2020 Your explanation of the 2 ends of the spectrum also makes it very easy to understand our process and resulting yarns. This is the type of information that makes a knitter more knowledgable about our purchases. I needed to understand these concepts — and to have them revealed in just this way. The same process squeezes out the air making it not as warm. 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. 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. May 2014 This is an excellent article and explanation. March 2019 Trust me, they r super different in thickness. Thank you for a well written and useful article. Not every woolen-spun yarn has a rougher surface, and not every worsted yarn is smooth. Wuthering Heights Tom Hardy is the yarn that ran out when you were an inch from the finish. Well, the differences between woollens and worsteds begin at the carding stage. I think I’ll need to read it over a few times to really get it, because there is so much information. April 2017 What is Worsted Wool? I just started stranded colorwork and this with your swatches is a good resource. This has just lit a light bulb in my head. It seems that I am and have produced a woollen yarn. The hand feel of yarn Woolen wool yarns are bulky, uneven and have soft, fuzzy appearance; worsted wool yarns are fine, smooth and have crisp appearance. And in addition, fabrics or knitwear that made up of woolen wool yarns are not as durable as worsteds; and fabrics or knitwear that made up of worsted wool yarn do hold crease … July 2019 Think in terms of shopping at a fiber show. I’ll be referring back to it next time I’m looking for yarn for a specific project. The bloom also means that woolen-spun yarns can be generously forgiving and able to balance out tension or stitch irregularity in knitting. It includes the process like blend, add oil, combed, divide into strips and twist and so on. I sort of knew all of this but your explanation and illustrations pulled my knowledge all together. To make things a bit clearer, this article sets out the different types of yarns available and helps you choose the right ball (or skein) of yarn for your beginner knitting project. July 2017 June 2014 Interesting point – I would like to know that too! When dyed the same color, woolen and worsted drafted yarns won’t look the same. September 2016 Weaving. The difference between these two is not as clear at first glance. Worsted spun yarns are smoother and have better stitch definition to make your cables and textured stitches pop. Here’s a simplistic overview of the difference (and why it matters). Even taking in account the difference of color and fiber blend, they are two different yarns. November 2014 Just asking because s-on-s yarns produce a particular asymmetric shape when knitted. Today, I’m talking about the last one. Under magnification, worsted yarns look smooth with long fibres, and woolen yarns are much hairier, with lots of short fibres and more pokey-out bits. Thanks for the clear and concise approach – I get it now! 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. Thank you, you’re a great explainer. 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. It also helps to clean the fibers of debris. July 2016 My question is how does one know whether a Yarn is worsted or woolen spun if one is not sophisticated enough to know just by looking? Countryside That doesn’t happen when fiber is being compressed and smoothed while it becomes a worsted drafted yarn; that happens when the twist limbos into the fiber. Any suggestions? August 2018 January 2021 This type of yarn is common in the UK. Woollen yarn is spun using a short staple fiber prepared by handcarding and rolled into rolags. Thank you for there explanation. March 2014 A drumcarder can also be used. 1. I knit swatches of all four yarns in stockinette, moss stitch, and a simple lace stitch, and took close-up comparison photos of the worsted and woolen yarns overlapping. It’s easy to see what’s going on with the yarn and knitting in the samples. Extremely helpful! Patterned knitting will not be as distinct as with worsted yarn. August 2014 The distinctions between these has been a mystery to me until now. Classically speaking there are 2 types of yarn. Looking at a strand, I can start seeing variation. Which do you like and want to work with? There is a large difference between the spinning and manufacturing process of both woolen and worsted yarn. April 2019 Because the fibers are parallel, worsted spun yarns are denser and less airy than woolen spun. March 2015 In stockinette it’s *really* obvious. You explained it so well. I said Thank You as soon as I read the title. Woolen yarn is fluffy, soft, and light. Woolen yarns contains lots of air, they're light, fluffy, and will often have small ends of fibre poking out of the yarn structure. January 2018 Woollen and worsted yarn are two types of yarn that can be handspun. I hope you found time to explore your stash, and perhaps enhance it with yarns of different breeds. Brilliant. . That is worsted drafting. Jo, You have a real gift. August 2019 Jill Draper’s Windham (Merino wool, worsted spun) and Empire (Rambouillet wool, woolen spun) are perfect examples of that. This is the fun part about being a knitter who knows their yarn; it’s all up to you. June 2013 It’s a great resource to bookmark. Everyone already said what I wanted to, so I’ll just add that Tom Hardy is my Happy Place, no matter how he’s spun. Super Bulky or Sport? Think a posh 100% wool suit as opposed to a winter jumper and you get the picture. Thank you so very much for the enlightening article and all the examples. As adjectives the difference between worsted and wool is that worsted is defeated, overcome while wool is made of wool. They are both delightful, yet different. Woolen and worsted yarns. I am so excited to have found this article today. You can see the difference when it’s wound into a ball, and in the strand. It’s like choosing between the cleaned-up, slicked-back Tom Hardy in Legend or the grungy Tom Hardy in Mad Max: Fury Road. July 2020 Carding, and the rolling in to a rolag creates a spiral of wool fibres wrapping round the tube. This is because the combed fibers, lacking air pockets, can more readily spin up into a compact, dense, and sturdy yarn. Most knitters and crocheters use these two to make sweaters, … I’ll never look at yarn the same way again! I’ll jump right in with the big one. July 2018 28 minutes 0/3 Completed Share. July 2014 September 2019 Also receive daily new post notifications, https://www.ravelry.com/discuss/techniques/3930171/1-25, https://garmentmerchendising.com/category/fiber/. Great visuals and explanations. Worsted handspun hand combed Leister long wool blended with Corriedale. I choose to support local and indie yarners and don’t mind spending big $$ on yarn if I understand it will fit the intended project. I will only cover those relevant to describing the differences in the production of woollen and worsted yarns and fabrics. December 2015 Woolen wool yarns are actually heavier than worsted ones. But more importantly, our needles are all labelled differently too. • Wool is chosen to make garments that provide warmth in winters • Yarn can be used to make new fabric whether through weaving, knitting, crocheting, or embroidering The difference between worsted, semi-worsted and woolen Woolen: it is a craft that the clean wool material is divided into narrow strips after loosening and teasing then spun to the yarn directly. Great information! Here’s what woolen and worsted mean to your knitted sweaters and accessories. 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. Non Wool Club Great explanation, i aways spin long draw and card my alpaca, tearing long strips off of the batt, i would be interested in working out what type my yarn is. Thank you! It is a bulky and uneven yarn. Thank you for your thoughtful and careful drafting, and especially the photos! SpoinnersAdvent With worsted yarn, the fibres are ‘combed’, smoothing them out and creating a smooth denser yarn. Yarn refers to a length of fibers that are used to make fabrics. Aran or Afghan? So what difference does it make, why bother to think about spinning technique and processing type before spinning? A lot. Wool, on the other hand, is a textile fiber that originates from animals. November 2015 The packing-in of the fiber as worsted yarn is made allows the fibers to protect each other for longer wear and less pilling. The combing process removed all the shorter length hairs, leaving behind fibres of the same length, free from tangles. Wool Processing and Spinning: Worsted vs. Woolen . So, and this is without seeing your yarn, your drafting, or the fibre, it's probably a lofty semi-worsted yarn. Aran weight yarns lie between the Double Knit and the Chunky yarns. Thank you for explaining what it actually means. Brilliant exposition, Katie! December 2016 In all the photos, the left swatch of the pair is the worsted spun yarn and the right swatch is woolen spun. Woolen drafted yarn gives a texture and an overall softness and visual motion to all the stitches, something I like, but occasionally I find some small stitch repeat patterns get lost with woolen yarns. February 2015 It’s not just the beautiful dyeing…. That would be worsted-style shopping. If you’re anything like me, you can never seem to remember the difference between woolen and worsted when it comes to spinning yarn. Depending on their knowledge of spinning and yarns, it gets a bit tricky to articulate sometimes. October 2019 Excellent article – great swatch/photo examples too. the fiber(s) used. So well illustrated and explained. So much yarn, so many choices — the Lust Factor will now have a bit more knowledge backing it up! March 2016 Color is usually lighter in a woolen drafted yarn. If you want knife-edge stitch definition, go for a worsted drafted yarn. Thanks. The difference between worsted, semi-worsted and woolen Woolen: it is a craft that the clean wool material is divided into narrow strips after loosening and teasing then spun to the yarn directly. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Yours has been my favorite series to date – I’m learning so much and feel like I can make better choices! You can write a comment on the yarn’s Ravelry page suggesting that drafting info be added. As more and more creative yarns appear, from fluffy acrylic ‘eyelash’ yarns to ones made from recycled fabric, the … I have noticed that in even acrylic yarns, worsted is not the same. Thank you!!! Thank you! If you are new to spinning yarn, the different parts of a spinning wheel can sometimes seem confusing at first! November 2020 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. September 2015 Fascinating! Yarns in this weight category can be made out of wool or acrylic. July 2013 I feel I finally understand the difference. very smartly elaborated the article. Bonus points for great pictures to make everything visual and extra clear. Many commercial yarns are spun in this way, particularly sock … December 2018 That pushes us in to the worsted end of the spectrum. Types of Wool Yarn: There are 4 different types. Cheers and Thanks. A lot of totally digestable information, that was logically arranged and illustrated… and you even sprinkled it with touches of humor. April 2014 Types of fine wool yarn such as merino are wonderfully soft. Now I also know the difference when spinning too. The Twist By varying the twist, or turns per inch of the yarn, the handle of the cloth may be changes. February 2014 Snippets is the Saturday newsletter full of MDK news, specials, and first look at new offerings. It makes yarn that is smooth and dense. November 2017 The Empire (on the right) is less consistent, and looks a little puffier. In woolen spun yarn, the fibres are ‘carded’ before they are spun into threads and air is introduced. Some yarns are not so obvious. 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. December 2019 The fiber is compressed and smoothed, and air is squeezed out as the twist is applied to the fiber. April 2015 February 2017 Best article I’ve read on this subject, and I’ve been looking for a clear one for about a year. Sign up now to receive 10% off your next order in the MDK Shop! When you look at yarns, hunting for worsted vs. woolen, some are obvious from across the yarn shop. September 2018 Time to read it again, more closely! I feel like I can make better yarn/pattern matches and explain these variables to others who want me to knit for them and their only concern is color. God Bless. Woolen will be more matte, absorbing ambient light, and is fuzzier. Stitch definition. October 2018 Combing was traditionally done on large heavy combs, and was done by men. Today I wanted to cover the anatomy of a spinning wheel and explain the different parts and how a spinning wheel works. The Different Yarn Weights. This is so helpful and interesting not to mention how easy to understand. The packing-in of the fiber as worsted yarn is made allows the fibers to protect each other for longer wear and less pilling. Thank for for such a coherent explanation (and the pretty swatches really help too)! May 2016 Wool is actually a type of yarn that is mostly used for knitting. The Empire is more uneven looking, a little airier as well as fuzzy. Read More. The Difference Between Worsted Vs. Woolen Yarn. But it’s so difficult to choose between the two Tom Hardys. Woolen and worsted yarn. It will help a lot in future project planning. Sign up for our weekly newsletter full of MDK fun, and you'll save 10% on your next order. Twist is the magic that makes fiber into yarn, and drafting is how the twist gets into the fiber. A light bulb has definitely gone on for me. That is woolen drafting. As a verb worsted is (worst).As a adjective worsted is defeated, overcome. October 2016 Now I can shop for yarn with a little more knowledge. February 2019 Loved the first video, and your video was brilliant, thank you so much. It's then spun with the twist entering the drafting zone in a long draw technique. Drafting is the process of adding twist to fiber, and of course it has an effect on your knitting. Woolen yarn is spun allowing the twist to enter the drafted fibers, using fibers prepared in a random arrangement. A beautifully written, lucid and illuminating lesson, and several fascinating aspects to the distinctions. You can see her producing rolags, and then using a navajo spindle to do a form of long draw. The Yarn Weight Chart below gives a handy comparison of different knitting and crochet yarns along with needle and hook sizes, approximate meterage to the 100g and WPI, using UK, US, German and Australian terminology.. Yarn weight is important in achieving the correct gauge or tension for a particular project and can help with yarn substitution. August 2013 April 2018 I’ve 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. 70% Wool 30% Alpaca, 3.5oz. An extreme example is angora or mohair. Let’s learn more about both of these materials and their uses. September 2020 Worsted yarns are smooth and dense, they tend to drape well and be much more lustrous. KitILove The photos were such a vivid illustration of the difference between these two types of drafting and their results for your knitting. 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