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Zoe
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Fresh Boarder

Posts: 2

Woolen v Worsted, Left v. Right - 2007/05/18 16:54 I am relatively new to spinning but am having a blast and very happy to see this site! I took a beginner hand spindle class but nothing on a wheel (which is what I'm using now) and I'm trying to learn out of books and web articles. So far I've been able to create about 150 yards of a two-ply worsted weight that looks pretty nice, and now I'm trying to get a finer spin. Not too shabby for a week's worth of practice!

But I cannot for the life of me figure out the difference between a worsted and a woolen spin! Is it just the fiber (top for worsted, roving for woolen) or is there a real difference in how you feed the fiber with your hands?

Also I seem to be doing it backwards -- I pinch with the left and draft with the right -- but it feels pretty natural so I assume the world won't come to an end over this.

So any advice is much appreciated!

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April
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Junior Boarder

Posts: 7

Re:Woolen v Worsted, Left v. Right - 2007/05/18 19:01 From my limited understanding:

Worsted yarn has been spun in such a way that you compress the air out from in between the fibers via the "inchworm" drafting style.

Woolen yarn has been spun in such a way that you do NOT compress the air out of the fiber, twisting it around a narrow "core" of air via the "long draw" method, which is more "one handed" and does not involve your left hand drafting and thus squishing the air out of the fiber.

If this is bass ackwards...I hope someone will correct me!

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Eepster

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Gold Boarder

Posts: 45

Re:Woolen v Worsted, Left v. Right - 2007/05/18 20:15 You both correct are correct. It has both to do with how you prepare and how you spin. What it all comes down to is that in worsted yarn all the fibers run parallel in a tight neat strand and woolen is random and fluffy.

In Alden Amos' book he goes into greater detail about this. He emphasizes that most of the yarn we spin falls somewhere in between worsted and woolen, and is only rarely a true worsted or true woolen. Jennifer
http://buddhabellyart.com/
http://www.cafepress.com/buddhabellyart/2991457

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jACQUIW
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Expert Boarder

Posts: 28

Re:Woolen v Worsted, Left v. Right - 2007/05/19 03:18 While all of you are right we have to remember that as a beginner spinner you get easily confused and hung up on detail. When you should enjoy the process and learn as you go along in my opinion.By all means explain worsted versus woollen,read everything you can get your hands on. Join a guild if at all possible and watch how others spin. You want to make useable wool yarn for a particular project or just for the joy of spinning and allow it to 'speak' to you and tell you what it wants to be. Decide for yourself and try anything and everything but never forget to enjoy what you do is my advice.

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allena

Admin

Posts: 159

Re:Woolen v Worsted, Left v. Right - 2007/05/20 03:19 Here is the skinny on worsted versus woolen. True worsted yarns are spun from combed top, or pin drafted robing. These processes align the fibers as perfectly paralell as possible. This is what defines worsted yarns. They are generally spun a little tighter with more twist, but you can have a worsted yarn with less twist.

Compression comes from twist, lots of twist, harder more compressed yarns. Less twist makes a softer, loftier yarn, but has no real influence on the worstedness or wooleness of the yarn.

Carded rovings, or fibers make woolen yarns. Traditionally they are loftier, and have less twist, but the fibers in carded preparations make the fibers go a little in all directions, not as paralell.

So if you spin a carded fiber in a worseted style, you get a semi worsted.

I hope this helps, and please anyone who knows different let me know! If you fall off, get back on and try again.

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Dawn Jacobson
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Senior Boarder

Posts: 10

Re:Woolen v Worsted, Left v. Right - 2007/05/22 00:16 If it feels "pretty natural," then you're doing it right for you. Since spinning requires the use of both hands (and at least 1 foot), it really can't be designated "right"- or "left"-handed. I'm left-handed (usually), but I use a left-handed draft (as do most right-handed spinners) simply because it's the way I learned to spin.

The only difficulty/awkwardness you might find in drafting with your right hand is if you're trying to spin on a large single-treadle Saxony wheel (rather like one of the big Canadian production wheels), and have a very long draw. Since the flyer is on the left, you may feel a bit "stretched out" trying reach both the treadle and the flyer. However, most modern wheels can be ordered "left-handed," in which the flyer is on the right.

HTH,

Dawn Jacobson
http://dtjacobson.blogspot.com/

Zoe wrote:
<snip>
Also I seem to be doing it backwards -- I pinch with the left and draft with the right -- but it feels pretty natural so I assume the world won't come to an end over this.

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