This explanation of worsted spun vs woolen spun should be in the dictionary. I have never heard it put so clearly and so usefully. Thank you for putting me in the driver's seat!
Wonderfully informative video! I knew the basics of woolen spun vs worsted spun in the basic definition of the terms, but I didn't know how it would affect my knitting. This was great! Thank you so much!!
What a fantastic explanation of the difference between the two different styles of spun yarn! Thank you so much for such a wonderful and detailed explanation.
Thank you for sharing ❤ Here in the Faroe Islands we have two wool producers. With this new information I now know that they both make woollen spun yarn, which makes sense because it’s very cold here 🙂
Right! I have been knitting a long time and this is totally new information for me. Never knew there were differently spun types of yarn!!! Realized how limiting that was when choosing projects.
Such a great explanation! Woolen spun yarns are very common and traditional where I'm from (Norway), and we have some yarn manufacturers who make woolen spun yarns with more than two plies too. Hillesvåg Embla and Rauma 3-tråds strikkegarn, for example, are excellent 3-ply woolen spun yarns that are worth checking out (especially if you want knits that will last for generations - these yarns are hardy!). Being 3 ply, these have more stitch definition than most woolen spun yarns, and therefore works great with cables too (but they do not work well with lace texture).
Is it a milled yarn, or handspun? I've spun a 3-ply woolen yarn for myself, but I haven't seen one from a mill. I'd love to know what it is, if it's not handspun.
@@RoxanneRichardsonthere are 3-ply woollen spun yarns on the market, and they tend to be in the DK or thicker category. Harrisville Nightshades/Daylights are 3-ply woollen spun yarns, as is WoolDreamers Mota. They will be denser and rounder than 2-ply woollen spun yarns of the same thickness, but I like that they are more hard-wearing than typical woollen spun yarns.
@@bdarci Interesting! Ravelry has it listed as a semi-woolen spun yarn. I'm not sure what that means in the context of a milled yarn. I have knit with a semi-worsted spun yarn before. That yarn was combed once after carding, rather than multiple times. I'd be interested to know what "semi-woolen" means for milled yarn!
@@bdarci It's not any clearer from reading the description of the yarn processing on their website: "The carding method of spinning enhances the natural bulking of this wool by trapping air in the fibres. To remove as many short fibres as possible, the wool is first carefully combed rather than simply washed. The fibres are then spun with a gentle twist to preserve the swelling of the fibres and then well twisted to improve the strength and give the yarn fullness." They're combing the fibers at least a little bit at some point! Maybe some mills refer to that as semi-worsted, while others call it semi-woolen? No idea, but it's interesting to see a 3- and 5-ply yarn with this construction!
From my experience a 3 or ply woolen yarn will show cables better than a two ply woolen yarn, but I haven't directly compared that with a worsted 3 or 4 ply. Thanks for the video. The color work difference was especially striking.
Great explanation! Would love to see episodes on yarn weights, especially re regional variations like Aran. Also, info about plies. Great video, thanks!
Great information.. Brings up more questions and maybe you can address one.. I want to learn more about knitting a project for felting, like a hat. Using the information learned today I am thinking that the woolen spun with the fibers in all directions would get a firmer felt. Hope you can be as helpful with this as well.. Love that you share so much with us..
Woolen spun felts more easily than worsted spun, but I have no idea about how that affects the firmness of the felt. You'd need to do some experiments. Even then, I noticed that different colors of the same wool felted at different rates and produced different final results when I was making felted slippers in different color combinations.
In a worsted yarn the fibres lie parallel to each other. The yarn is much smoother and denser, woollen spun where the yarn is taken off the carder in a roll and spun from the end, so the fibres in a circle, and not lying in different directions. The yarn is lighter and loftier.The stickiness of the yarn is also due to the sheep breed it comes from. Shetland wool is one of the stickiest. Which is great when you are making a garment where you have to steek the armholes and neck. Merino is a much smoother yarn. Great video explaining this, especially the manufacturing aspect.
Hi Roxanne, great information. Thanks. Please make a video sometime about how to make the warmer sweaters. I know now that woolen spun is warmer than worsted spun. What about knitting tighter or looser gauges? What fibres? Combining with silk mohair? Silk mohair vs suri alpaca if adding. Etc. I'm always cold, and my recent knits aren't keeping me so warm.
Heavier yarn weights can help. If your recent sweaters were knit in fingering weight, try DK or worsted. I have several bulky weight sweaters knit with yarns that are constructed with a lot of air in them (one is knit from a chainette yarn, the other with a woolen spun yarn), so in addition to being a thicker yarn, they are warmer than a worsted spun version would be, and weigh about half of what a worsted spun version of the sweater would weigh, as well. Otherwise, when using thinner yarn weights, the more yarn, the warmer. Cables require more yarn because you need more stitches with heavily cabled fabric than with stockinette would be, and stranded colorwork would be warmer, too, because you would have two layers of yarn. Make that yarn a woolen spun, and it would be even warmer.
@@RoxanneRichardsonthank you very much. I have found your Technique Tuesday videos to be some of the most clear and well organized explanations I’ve found. I really appreciate you.
Great video, Roxanne, thanks for explaining everything so clearly. One question...do makers of say acrylic yarns ever deliberately mess up the fibres to create a wool spun yarn? Is it even possible? 🤔
My focus with hand spinning, knitting and understanding how commercial milling is done is with wool, so the short answer to your question is I don't know. The long answer is there are many different yarn constructions made with many different fibers. There are certainly soft, fuzzy acrylic yarns out there, but I don't know how that effect is achieved. A woolen spun acrylic may have some things in common with a woolen spun yarn in terms of how the fabric looks aesthetically, but I have no idea how much overlap there would be between a wool version of a woolen spun yarn and an acrylic version. Acrylic isn't going to breathe, regardless of how it's spun. It will trap heat in, but not wick away sweat, so you might get hot, sweat, and then feel cold, while wool can hold a lot of water and still be warm.
More & more I've come to appreciate wollen spun yarns, for their warmth and also for their lightness. My favorite yarn is Fleece & Harmony, semi worsted, it has the qualities of both types of yarns. Do you know, Roxanne if wollen yarns have more of a tendency to pill than worsted yarns ? I know superwash often pills more than non superwash, but I wonder about wollen yarns.
Because woolen yarns can have fibers of different lengths, the shorter fibers that might be sticking out will want to pill. I think the superwash wools that pill are merino. I think it's the merino that's the problem, not so much the fact that it's superwash. I experience very few issues with non-merino superwash sock yarns, for example.
Firstly, thank you so much this is amazing.❤ Second I'm curious if boucle yarns are predominantly made with what's Woolen spun and if any kind is more itchy. Anybody knows.
I haven't spun any boucle yarns, so I don't even know what the process is for hand spinning. (It's out there, I just haven't looked for it.) It's difficult to find specific information about how commercial yarns are spun, particularly those that are more of a novelty-type yarn.
I can find 3 and 4 ply woolen spun yarn in local/rustic wool brands here. 3 or 4-ply woolen spun is my favourite yarn type, perfect balance between durability and warmth, and reasonably good stitch definition.
@@RoxanneRichardson In France ! It’s a relatively easy thing to find here. For example Gilliatt from De Rerum Natura is a 3 ply woollen spun, and Cyrano is a (chunkier) 5 ply, very round but still light (for the thickness) and reasonably grippy. I bought a hank of undyed 4-ply woollen spun from a farm at a local fair last month. it’s a … worsted weight (once blocked) I’d say ? It’s mostly very local productions who carry woollen spun from different diameters and numbers of plies, probably because it’s easier to do/requires less steps and tools. I feel like it would be easy to get in the UK/The rest of Northern Europe where you reaaally need a warm yarn. But I think Brooklyn Tweed has some too, and other more internationally known brands. I don’t have particular references though !
Do you find a difference in your yarn gauge proportions? I've knit with a yarn that i think is woolen spun and the stitches are wider and shorter than I'm used to, and get even wider and shorter after a wash
Different yarn constructions can affect gauge in different ways. Chainette yarns often need to be knit with a larger needle to get the same gauge you'd get with a regular plied yarn on a smaller needle. Stranded colorwork often changes the stitch proportion to be more square rather than rectangular. Given the difference in woolen spun yarns vs worsted spun, it wouldn't surprise me that you might see differences (there can also be gauge differences with the same exact yarn, but two different knitters). Knowing that you experience that difference is useful for planning projects, so that you can get the outcome you want!
Yes. Woolen spun is warmer, has less drape, and is more vulnerable to friction. Worsted spun is more wind and water resistant, more durable, and has more drape.
Thank you for so clearly explaining these differences, Roxanne! I have a question related to the topic: is either one of these better for projects that will be steeked? Hope you have a very Merry Christmas!
Many stranded colorwork traditions use woolen spun yarns. Some don't even bother to secure the sts at the edges of the bridge sts with machine sewing or other methods, because the yarn is sticky enough that they don't worry about it raveling. If you are using a worsted spun yarn that is a challenge to felt, or using a yarn that doesn't felt at all, you would definitely want to secure the sts before making your cut. "Better" is subjective. It depends on what you want from stitch definition vs other aspects of the garment's construction.
I love woolen spun so much. But ultimately, woollen or worsted are just better for different things, imho. Visited Shetland Islands this summer (got so much wool). Jamieson is a popular name there, hence two yarn companies with same name, despite no relation.
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This explanation of worsted spun vs woolen spun should be in the dictionary. I have never heard it put so clearly and so usefully. Thank you for putting me in the driver's seat!
Wonderfully informative video! I knew the basics of woolen spun vs worsted spun in the basic definition of the terms, but I didn't know how it would affect my knitting. This was great! Thank you so much!!
What a fantastic explanation of the difference between the two different styles of spun yarn! Thank you so much for such a wonderful and detailed explanation.
Such a well organized explanation. I have loved woolen spun yarn but never thought about why.
Thank you for sharing ❤
Here in the Faroe Islands we have two wool producers. With this new information I now know that they both make woollen spun yarn, which makes sense because it’s very cold here 🙂
Thank you for this explanation! I've always known I find woollen spun yarn much scratchier but never knew why! I thought it was the sheep breed 😅
Great information, you are a fount of knowledge, Roxanne, thank you!
Excellent! I finally understand the difference! Thank you so much Roxanne!❤
Thank you so very much. I have never understood the difference between woolen spun and worsted until today. Thank you.
I always enjoy your videos. I so often learn something “I didn’t know that I didn’t know”❣️❣️
Right! I have been knitting a long time and this is totally new information for me. Never knew there were differently spun types of yarn!!! Realized how limiting that was when choosing projects.
Such a great explanation!
Woolen spun yarns are very common and traditional where I'm from (Norway), and we have some yarn manufacturers who make woolen spun yarns with more than two plies too. Hillesvåg Embla and Rauma 3-tråds strikkegarn, for example, are excellent 3-ply woolen spun yarns that are worth checking out (especially if you want knits that will last for generations - these yarns are hardy!). Being 3 ply, these have more stitch definition than most woolen spun yarns, and therefore works great with cables too (but they do not work well with lace texture).
As I watch I'm knitting with a three ply woolen spun yarn. Your explanations are always so clear. Thank you Roxanne.
Is it a milled yarn, or handspun? I've spun a 3-ply woolen yarn for myself, but I haven't seen one from a mill. I'd love to know what it is, if it's not handspun.
@@RoxanneRichardsonthere are 3-ply woollen spun yarns on the market, and they tend to be in the DK or thicker category. Harrisville Nightshades/Daylights are 3-ply woollen spun yarns, as is WoolDreamers Mota. They will be denser and rounder than 2-ply woollen spun yarns of the same thickness, but I like that they are more hard-wearing than typical woollen spun yarns.
@@RoxanneRichardsonit is Gilliatt from de rerum natura. It is a worsted weight yarn.
@@bdarci Interesting! Ravelry has it listed as a semi-woolen spun yarn. I'm not sure what that means in the context of a milled yarn. I have knit with a semi-worsted spun yarn before. That yarn was combed once after carding, rather than multiple times. I'd be interested to know what "semi-woolen" means for milled yarn!
@@bdarci It's not any clearer from reading the description of the yarn processing on their website: "The carding method of spinning enhances the natural bulking of this wool by trapping air in the fibres. To remove as many short fibres as possible, the wool is first carefully combed rather than simply washed. The fibres are then spun with a gentle twist to preserve the swelling of the fibres and then well twisted to improve the strength and give the yarn fullness." They're combing the fibers at least a little bit at some point! Maybe some mills refer to that as semi-worsted, while others call it semi-woolen? No idea, but it's interesting to see a 3- and 5-ply yarn with this construction!
This discussion of worsted or woolen spun yarn was very helpful . Thank you.
Thank you so much Roxanne! I was going to ask you about it and here there is the most excellent video! ❤️
From my experience a 3 or ply woolen yarn will show cables better than a two ply woolen yarn, but I haven't directly compared that with a worsted 3 or 4 ply. Thanks for the video. The color work difference was especially striking.
Yep, 2-ply yarns are flatter, so they don't show texture as well. Yarns with 3 or more plies will be rounder and will show off texture a bit better.
I learned so much from you in this video! Thank you from the bottom of my heart, or perhaps I should say from the ends of my needles!
Great explanation! Would love to see episodes on yarn weights, especially re regional variations like Aran. Also, info about plies. Great video, thanks!
I have been knitting colorwork with Shetland woolen spun and just love it. You described the “painterly effect” really well.
Thanks for another great video with a clear description of differences between yarns. Two thumbs up. 🙂
Thanks Roxanne. You are a treasure!!.
Very precious information. Thank you.
Great information.. Brings up more questions and maybe you can address one.. I want to learn more about knitting a project for felting, like a hat. Using the information learned today I am thinking that the woolen spun with the fibers in all directions would get a firmer felt. Hope you can be as helpful with this as well.. Love that you share so much with us..
Woolen spun felts more easily than worsted spun, but I have no idea about how that affects the firmness of the felt. You'd need to do some experiments. Even then, I noticed that different colors of the same wool felted at different rates and produced different final results when I was making felted slippers in different color combinations.
So interesting and well explained. Thank you!
Happy Holidays 🌟🎄
Brilliant explanation, thank you so much!
Very good explanation of the different spins and possible uses.
In a worsted yarn the fibres lie parallel to each other. The yarn is much smoother and denser, woollen spun where the yarn is taken off the carder in a roll and spun from the end, so the fibres in a circle, and not lying in different directions. The yarn is lighter and loftier.The stickiness of the yarn is also due to the sheep breed it comes from. Shetland wool is one of the stickiest. Which is great when you are making a garment where you have to steek the armholes and neck. Merino is a much smoother yarn. Great video explaining this, especially the manufacturing aspect.
You really explored this. Thank you.
Excellent video Roxanne, thank you!
Grandioso,utilissimo il doppiaggio automatico!
You are such a good teacher. I’m a beginner knitter. I’d love to know the basic stitches
Great episode!
Very clear explanation. Thank you.
Hi Roxanne, great information. Thanks. Please make a video sometime about how to make the warmer sweaters. I know now that woolen spun is warmer than worsted spun. What about knitting tighter or looser gauges? What fibres? Combining with silk mohair? Silk mohair vs suri alpaca if adding. Etc. I'm always cold, and my recent knits aren't keeping me so warm.
Heavier yarn weights can help. If your recent sweaters were knit in fingering weight, try DK or worsted. I have several bulky weight sweaters knit with yarns that are constructed with a lot of air in them (one is knit from a chainette yarn, the other with a woolen spun yarn), so in addition to being a thicker yarn, they are warmer than a worsted spun version would be, and weigh about half of what a worsted spun version of the sweater would weigh, as well. Otherwise, when using thinner yarn weights, the more yarn, the warmer. Cables require more yarn because you need more stitches with heavily cabled fabric than with stockinette would be, and stranded colorwork would be warmer, too, because you would have two layers of yarn. Make that yarn a woolen spun, and it would be even warmer.
Excellent explanation. Thank you. I'm wondering where I could find the pattern for that sheep motif stranded color work hat. Its so cute!
That was the hat pattern for Shetland Wool Week 2019. Here's the Ravelry link www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/roadside-beanie-2
@@RoxanneRichardsonthank you very much. I have found your Technique Tuesday videos to be some of the most clear and well organized explanations I’ve found. I really appreciate you.
Excellent video, thank you.
Does this only apply to 100% wool?
Great video, Roxanne, thanks for explaining everything so clearly. One question...do makers of say acrylic yarns ever deliberately mess up the fibres to create a wool spun yarn? Is it even possible? 🤔
My focus with hand spinning, knitting and understanding how commercial milling is done is with wool, so the short answer to your question is I don't know. The long answer is there are many different yarn constructions made with many different fibers. There are certainly soft, fuzzy acrylic yarns out there, but I don't know how that effect is achieved. A woolen spun acrylic may have some things in common with a woolen spun yarn in terms of how the fabric looks aesthetically, but I have no idea how much overlap there would be between a wool version of a woolen spun yarn and an acrylic version. Acrylic isn't going to breathe, regardless of how it's spun. It will trap heat in, but not wick away sweat, so you might get hot, sweat, and then feel cold, while wool can hold a lot of water and still be warm.
Interesting points there. Thanks, Roxanne😊
More & more I've come to appreciate wollen spun yarns, for their warmth and also for their lightness. My favorite yarn is Fleece & Harmony, semi worsted, it has the qualities of both types of yarns. Do you know, Roxanne if wollen yarns have more of a tendency to pill than worsted yarns ? I know superwash often pills more than non superwash, but I wonder about wollen yarns.
Because woolen yarns can have fibers of different lengths, the shorter fibers that might be sticking out will want to pill. I think the superwash wools that pill are merino. I think it's the merino that's the problem, not so much the fact that it's superwash. I experience very few issues with non-merino superwash sock yarns, for example.
@@RoxanneRichardson Thanks for this answer, I'll try non merino superwash for my grandson.
Firstly, thank you so much this is amazing.❤
Second I'm curious if boucle yarns are predominantly made with what's Woolen spun and if any kind is more itchy. Anybody knows.
I haven't spun any boucle yarns, so I don't even know what the process is for hand spinning. (It's out there, I just haven't looked for it.) It's difficult to find specific information about how commercial yarns are spun, particularly those that are more of a novelty-type yarn.
@RoxanneRichardson ty! Really appreciate what you put out. And you yourself are such a gem 💎!
I can find 3 and 4 ply woolen spun yarn in local/rustic wool brands here. 3 or 4-ply woolen spun is my favourite yarn type, perfect balance between durability and warmth, and reasonably good stitch definition.
Where are you located that you can get those yarns?
@@RoxanneRichardson In France ! It’s a relatively easy thing to find here. For example Gilliatt from De Rerum Natura is a 3 ply woollen spun, and Cyrano is a (chunkier) 5 ply, very round but still light (for the thickness) and reasonably grippy. I bought a hank of undyed 4-ply woollen spun from a farm at a local fair last month. it’s a … worsted weight (once blocked) I’d say ?
It’s mostly very local productions who carry woollen spun from different diameters and numbers of plies, probably because it’s easier to do/requires less steps and tools. I feel like it would be easy to get in the UK/The rest of Northern Europe where you reaaally need a warm yarn.
But I think Brooklyn Tweed has some too, and other more internationally known brands. I don’t have particular references though !
Do you find a difference in your yarn gauge proportions? I've knit with a yarn that i think is woolen spun and the stitches are wider and shorter than I'm used to, and get even wider and shorter after a wash
Different yarn constructions can affect gauge in different ways. Chainette yarns often need to be knit with a larger needle to get the same gauge you'd get with a regular plied yarn on a smaller needle. Stranded colorwork often changes the stitch proportion to be more square rather than rectangular. Given the difference in woolen spun yarns vs worsted spun, it wouldn't surprise me that you might see differences (there can also be gauge differences with the same exact yarn, but two different knitters). Knowing that you experience that difference is useful for planning projects, so that you can get the outcome you want!
So the woolen spun wood be warmer?
Yes. Woolen spun is warmer, has less drape, and is more vulnerable to friction. Worsted spun is more wind and water resistant, more durable, and has more drape.
Thank you
Thank you for so clearly explaining these differences, Roxanne! I have a question related to the topic: is either one of these better for projects that will be steeked? Hope you have a very Merry Christmas!
Many stranded colorwork traditions use woolen spun yarns. Some don't even bother to secure the sts at the edges of the bridge sts with machine sewing or other methods, because the yarn is sticky enough that they don't worry about it raveling. If you are using a worsted spun yarn that is a challenge to felt, or using a yarn that doesn't felt at all, you would definitely want to secure the sts before making your cut. "Better" is subjective. It depends on what you want from stitch definition vs other aspects of the garment's construction.
@@RoxanneRichardson thank you
Thanks!
I love woolen spun so much. But ultimately, woollen or worsted are just better for different things, imho.
Visited Shetland Islands this summer (got so much wool). Jamieson is a popular name there, hence two yarn companies with same name, despite no relation.
😊