This afternoon, my head is full of the subject of spinning. Partly this is because we have persuaded someone from the Mid-Norfolk Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers to come and talk to us about the History of Spinning (on 11th October) – something I am very much looking forward to. Partly because one of my customers at today’s Social Stitchers/Halibut Cast On session spent a while telling me about an amazing sounding business in New Zealand she is involved with – a smallish outfit which has its own flocks of sheep and which has just imported New Zealand’s only worsted spinning mill from Canada. Apparently I will be receiving a box of samples from them soonish, and I am really quite excited. Anyway, this person is a spinner and weaver – she spent the session hand spinning on a Turkish Spindle – something which I had never seen before.
Almost all the yarn we use for our projects has been spun. And I have to admit that before I opened this business, one of the many things I did not know is that there is a difference between worsted spun and woolen spun yarn. I am assuming that many of you do not know this either, so I thought I would explain it. The reason for the existence of two types of spin lies in the fibres being worked. Different fibres have different staple lengths of fibre – some are really short, others are quite long, and the two different systems were developed to get the best out of each.
Woollen spun yarn is best for shorter fibres (a staple length below 60mm). The wool is traditionally carded into rolags and then spun with a twist entering the drafting zone in a long draw technique. Carding, and the rolling into a rolag, creates a long spiral of wool fibres wrapping around in a tube shape. This job used to be done by children in the past. The long draw maintains that rolled structure – the yarn is not smoothed, but stretched out, which means that a lot of air is trapped in the yarn, making it bouncy and elastic. The trapped air makes woollen spun yarns light and fluffy and they will often have small ends of fibre poking out of the yarn structure. Some examples that we have in the shop include Jamieson & Smith 2ply Jumper weight, Shetland wool traditionally used for colour work and of course the lovely Norfolk Horn yarn from Fibreworkshop. It has to be said that woollen spun yarn is not as tough as worsted spun, but the trapped air makes it very warm, so it is traditional for Fair Isle and Aran jumpers.
Worsted spun requires a different kind of preparation of the fibres – as well as or instead of being carded, they are combed. The hairs in the fibre are aligned so that they are parallel to the direction of the yarn, instead of being rolled up. There is no twist in the drafting zone and a short forward draw is used when spinning. Combing was traditionally done by men as the combs were large and heavy – I have some antique combs in the shop and can attest to this. More modern ones are smaller and easier to handle but still, combing wool is quite hard work! The combing process removes all the shorter length hairs, leaving behind fibres of the same length, free from tangles. There is quite a lot of waste from this process, although the waste fibres can still be carded for a more textured yarn.
When combed yarn is spun, the fibres run along the length of the yarn, making it dense and making the yarn seem more shiny. Worsted yarns are smooth and dense, tend to drape well and are much more lustrous than woollen spun ones. Many commercial yarns are spun this way, and you will find that high-end suits are made from worsted spun wool. My favourite examples of worsted spun in the shop are the John Arbon Textiles yarns, in particular the Yarnadelic and the Devonia 4ply, both beautifully lustrous yarns.
So now you know some of the different ways of spinning yarn. One of the things that I noted with interest when researching this, is that the technique is very similar for both hand spun and machine spun yarn. As I keep saying, the thing I love most about this craft is that there is always so much more to learn about it. I am looking forward to hearing about the history of spinning and hope that you might come along too. In the meantime, I am yearning to dig out my spinning wheel which I have not played with for a while. Perhaps I will find some time in the next few weeks.