In stores selling knitting threads, the abundance of assortment makes even experienced needlewomen's eyes widen. And what can we say about beginner knitters! It is not only the different beautiful skeins that are surprising, but also the price for many of them. How to learn to navigate this multi-colored ocean and why prices are very different, read on.
Description of types of yarn with names
Yarn is the product of weaving individual threads that consist of fibers. It can consist of one or several threads (in several folds). Threads are woven from fibers of the same type or different ones, for example, acrylic or viscose is added to wool.
The composition of the raw material fiber can be natural or artificial, and the yarn is divided into the following types:
- natural;
- synthetic;
- mixed.
Natural yarn
Such knitting threads are obtained from animal wool or plant fibers; accordingly, natural yarn can be wool or plant. Wool fibers are characterized by high hygroscopicity, lightness, softness, and the ability to retain heat. They breathe, do not electrify, and are the basis for knitting warm clothes. In the cold it is difficult to do without a woolen scarf, hat, sweater, and socks.
Wool
Knitting thread of various qualities is obtained from sheep wool. The final product is influenced by the processing and coloring of raw materials. If the skein label indicates that the yarn is pure wool, then we are talking about sheep wool. Along with the main characteristics of natural fibers, wool is noted for its thread uniformity, good dyeability, sufficient elasticity, and resistance to creasing.
Disadvantages: matting and formation of pills on the front surface when clothing parts rub against each other, the need for very careful care - washing, drying, storage. Many pure wool products irritate the skin with mild but constant tingling sensations.
Mohair
Unique fluffy wool with the finest pile is obtained by combing Angora goats. Mohair is a very warm, light, durable, easily dyed, silky knitting material with a natural shine to the fibers. It is not available without additivesTo obtain yarn, mohair is combined with other threads, natural or synthetic. You need to handle it very carefully, and then luxurious warm things with long fluffy pile will delight you for a long time.
Important! In the last century, mohair was very popular; not a single fashionista could do without a hat or blouse made from it.Now he has not been forgotten either - Russian women know him from the Orenburg down scarves, which are knitted from mohair.
Cashmere
The raw material is the undercoat of the cashmere goat, whose habitat is the highlands of Tibet. Wool is obtained from the finest fluff, the fineness of which is 3–4 times less than the diameter of human hair. It is fair that such a magnificent, unique thread is very expensive and requires the most careful care. It cannot be washed by hand, cashmere items should be dry cleaned.
Angora
Angora rabbits give us wool of excellent quality and appearance. The yarn turns out to be very light, fluffy and tender. The tactile sensations are so comfortable that the popularity of angora products is growing year after year. But This wool is not used in its pure form: Fluffy fibers are inelastic and are woven into wool or man-made materials.
Unfortunately, such wonderful threads do not firmly fix angora fluff in the thread: during use, some of the “fluffs” leave the place of attachment, “coloring” outer clothing. And another significant disadvantage is the ability of fibers to abrade. However, with careful care, an angora sweater will last a long time.
Alpaca
This is a yarn with unique properties:
softness;- lightness;
- strength;
- hypoallergenic;
- resistance to the formation of pellets;
- to creasing, wringing, abrasion.
softness;It is obtained from alpaca fleece, an animal from the highlands of the Peruvian Andes. It is not cold in the frost and not hot in the heat. Such valuable qualities of this wool are used to create warm outerwear - coats, cardigans, scarves.
Merino
Merino sheep provide needlewomen with unusually soft and warm wool fibers.The high elasticity of the created thread allows you to knit things with a tight-fitting silhouette from this yarn. An advantage is also easy care, in which merino products can be easily washed by hand or in an automatic machine on a delicate cycle.. This yarn is good for everyone, but its price is very high. And how could it be otherwise, if to obtain it, wool from a fine-wool sheep is sheared from only one place - at the withers.
camel
The highest quality wool of this variety is obtained from Bactrian camels and young camels. It is light, soft, smooth, and hygroscopic. Wool retains heat perfectly the fiber structure promotes the “breathing” of the fabric and prevents hypothermia in the most extreme weather conditions. It has many healing properties and helps a person get rid of a number of diseases.
Important! Camel wool fibers not only repel dust and relieve static voltage, but also protect against electromagnetic fields. This is the only type of natural wool that has such qualities.
Vegetable yarn
The starting material for this type is fiber of plant origin. This yarn is cheaper than wool yarn, but has a rather attractive appearance and is pleasant to the touch. And the strength and excellent wear resistance of products made from plant fibers makes them popular for creating summer wardrobe items.
Linen
To obtain threads, they take a special type of flax - spinning flax. Linen yarn is soft, durable, hygroscopic, pleasant to the body, does not fade, and holds its shape well in the product. It does not rot and is little susceptible to shrinkage. Linen clothing is warm in winter and cool in summer.
Important! The undoubted advantage of linen yarn is its natural antiseptic properties and ability to attenuate gamma radiation, reduce radiation levels and neutralize static electricity.
Silk
The raw material for silk yarn is a thread that is unwound from the cocoon of a silkworm caterpillar. This is the only fiber supplied to production in finished form.. It just needs to be unwound.
The resulting thread is smooth, shiny, very delicate to the touch, thin, strong, elastic and very expensive. It has high hygroscopicity, the ability to retain heat, does not form pellets and is indestructible. Because of its high cost, it is used as an additive to another, more affordable thread. The yarn is usually mixed with a cotton or wool component.
Cotton
Made from cotton boll fiber. The yarn is durable, soft, comfortable to wear, hygroscopic, breathable. The disadvantages include the destruction of the fabric by ultraviolet radiation, bacteria or microorganisms, severe shrinkage, inelasticity, fiber retention of stains and contaminants.
Mercerized cotton, treated with sodium hydroxide, is perfectly dyed in different colors, improves the consumer qualities of the yarn, makes it smooth and shiny. However, mercerization contributes to even stronger shrinkage of products and less elasticity.
Nettle
The yarn is made not from the kind of nettle that grows in a vacant lot, but from a South Asian ramie plant called Chinese nettle. Its fibers have high wear resistance and strength, natural shine, excellent coloring, and do not decompose by bacteria or mold fungi. Of the minuses - rigidity, low elasticity, very high creasing. In yarn it is usually used as a companion to other threads.
Bamboo
In the last decade it has been a very popular material for hand knitting summer tops and cardigans. It has a number of unique qualities: ecological purity of the fiber, natural antimicrobial properties, softness, natural shine, hypoallergenicity. Often used as an additive to cotton yarn.
Hemp
Very durable, environmentally friendly yarn. Her high wear resistance is used in knitting bags and various household accessories. This is the most ancient type of thread made from plant fibers. In Rus' they were used to make hemp and durable canvas. Nowadays hemp is not grown everywhere because it is officially banned as a raw material for drugs.
Synthetic yarn
It is obtained from synthesized fibers. They do not contain organic components; their origin is a product of chemical production.
Acrylic
Due to its volume, it resembles wool yarn, which in many cases partially replaces to give the yarn additional strength, wear resistance, and elasticity. It can also act as a companion to plant varieties of yarn or independently. Acrylic wide used for knitting various things, including children's, because it is very soft, does not prick, does not cause allergies, and is painted in different color shades. However, it is capable of accumulating static electricity and can “roll up” in the product.
Nylon
This is an incredibly elastic, light and durable fiber. It's perfect for use as an additive to the main thread, makes the yarn wear-resistant and prevents shrinkage. Wool socks with a nylon additive last several times longer without abrasion than without it.In its pure form, nylon (polyamide) is used for factory knitting of women's tights.
Microfiber
It was invented not long ago by Japanese chemists. Raw materials: polyamide or polyester. The fibers are superfine, many times greater than the fineness of all known natural fibers, even silk.
The multiply spliced fibers of this new generation yarn are distinguished by increased strength, breathability, beautiful velvety surface. The excellent consumer qualities and beautiful appearance of microfiber put it in the same price range as many types of natural yarn.
Lurex
It's not a fiber, it's metal additive in the form of a thread, which can decorate the product. It is connected to the main thread, which can be either synthetic or natural. In a knitted fabric it looks very impressive.
Blended yarn
It consists of two or more types of the above-mentioned raw materials. For example, the famous wool mixture is acrylic and wool in equal parts. All compositions in which some other thread is added to the main thread are also mixed: linen + viscose, wool + silk, mohair + wool + acrylic. Blended compositions acquire the positive qualities of all fibers used: they become stronger, softer, more pleasant to the touch, resistant to shrinkage, do not lose brightness and look impressive for a long time.
Varieties of artificial yarn
This type is obtained from natural or plant sources of raw materials using chemical processing:
- viscose. Made from coniferous wood, it has become widespread as a fairly comfortable, hypoallergenic, soft, shiny material;
- acetate (rayon).Luxurious, shiny, smooth, non-allergenic, easily dyed thread is obtained from recycled short cotton fibers left over from the main production.
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