Worsted Yarns + Worsted
Spinning
Spinners who began their fiber journey as knitters sometimes
find the term worsted confusing. For knitters, worsted
generally refers to a medium-weight
yarn that measures approximately
11-13 wraps per inch and
yields a gauge somewhere
between 4 and 5 stitches
per inch. For spinners, worsted
refers to a yarn spun from
parallel fibers that have
been combed (not carded)
to remove shorter bits and
spun with a short draw to
keep the fibers in their
parallel alignment.
Thus,
a worsted-weight knitting
yarn may, or may not be,
worsted spun, and a worsted-spun
yarn can be lace weight or
chunky. The term worsted is
also used by spinners to
describe the technique for
creating this type of yarn.
(The short draw itself is
sometimes called a worsted
draw.) True worsted yarn
must be spun from combed top (for
Abby Franquemont’s detailed definitions of top, roving,
sliver, rolags, and more, look
here).
Most discussions of worsted spinning focus on the fiber
preparation, since combing
is essential. Wool combs are
more exotic than the hand-
and drumcarders that most spinners
end up owning, and their use
is a bit more difficult (and
dangerous) to master, given
their relative rarity.
English-style combs generally
have between two and six
rows of long, sharp metal
tines, and the number of
rows is referred to as the pitch. Two-pitch
combs will work well for
longer, coarser fibers such
as Romney. To create a top
from finer fibers such as
Cormo or Merino, you might
want four- or five-pitch
combs. Modern combs come
in a pair with one comb ready
to be mounted in a stationary
position on a work table,
and the other comb free to
work through the fibers.
Anyone who wants to explore
worsted spinning in depth
should find a copy of Peter
Teal’s Hand Wool Combing and Spinning: A Guide to Worsteds from the Spinning Wheel. He covers
absolutely every detail of
traditional, European-style
worsted spinning, including
instructions for making your
own English-style wool combs.
Some alternatives to buying English-style combs are using
one- or two-row minicombs
[Louet minicombs shown at right],
which you may have seen at
fiber festivals, or using a
flick carder. These tools enable
you to create a more parallel
fiber prep without a lot of
fuss or expense. Purists may
argue that these yarns won’t
be worsted, but they will have
many of the desirable characteristics
of worsted-spun yarns. Spinners
often combine different fiber
preparations and spinning styles
to create hybrid yarns that
are great for knitting.
Why would anyone want to experiment with worsted spinning?
Worsted-spun yarns tend to
be dense, compact, and give
good stitch definition. Fabrics
from worsted-spun yarns are
known for their durability,
sheen, and drape, and tend
to pill a bit less than those
from woolen-spun yarns (although
this last quality depends
on a whole variety of factors,
including the fibers used).
Worsted-spun yarn may be
just the ticket for the heirloom
cabled sweater you’ve
been planning, and it is
ideal for long-wearing handspun
socks. Slippery non-wool
fibers such as silk, bamboo,
and flax are also usually
spun worsted style to maximize
the natural qualities of
strength, shine, and drape
inherent in these fibers.
Because hand-combing your own wool top requires specialized
equipment, most of us end up experimenting with worsted
spinning techniques on machine-prepared top. Combed top
is widely available commercially, and chances are, if you’ve
been buying fiber at festivals,
you probably have some in your stash. And top doesn’t have to be just wool—it
can include blends of any fiber, plant or animal.
Grab a handful, sit down at your wheel, and you can sample
worsted spinning. Gently tear the top into spinnable lengths
that are almost the diameter of the yarn you’re aiming
for—this will make drafting much easier.
The idea is to keep your hands relatively close together,
using the hand closer to
the orifice to control
the twist. It’s pretty much the same kind of “inchworm” drafting
that many of us learn as
beginning spinners; it is
also referred to as a short forward draw.
I’ll call the
hand closer to the orifice
the front hand; the hand
holding the fiber supply,
the back hand. Your front
hand pulls the fiber forward
while the back hand controls
the size of the drafting
triangle (and the amount
of fiber drafted). The twist should not be allowed
to enter the drafting zone; the front hand should slowly
move toward your body, allowing the twist to follow
it back, smoothing the fibers as it goes. You want
to keep your front and back hands close together during
the drafting process (about an inch and a half, or
half the staple length) and let the twist enter the
fiber so that the alignment stays as parallel as possible.
The yarn that heads into the orifice will be smooth
and dense. Of course, different
spinning mentors explain the motions with some variation.
It’s always
a wise idea to read what
a number of authors say
and then find your own style
by practicing and experimenting.
The web has some super resources for spinners
interested in worsted-style yarns. Carol
Huebscher Rhoades has several
informative articles online about worsted spinning
and fiber prep: “Drafting
for Worsted and Woolen Style Yarns on a Spindle”; “The
Short Draw”; “Flick
Carding”; and “Minicombs.” All are available
for free on Interweave’s
Spin-off site.
The same page offers Rudy
Amann’s tips for creating
and identifying your hybrid
yarns (“Worsted, Woolen,
or Semi-something”).
Understanding the concept of
worsted spinning gives you
another tool in your spinner’s
box of tricks—ready for you to adapt as you wish.
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