Yang's Yarns

Spinning yarn is both a simple and complex thing to do.

'The tools needed are few and basic, you just need a small spindle, a small piece of string, and some staples or filaments to spin (in my try, wool).

The complexity come from the act of making yarn itself. Spinning is a process that require multiple simultaneous actions (keeping tension here and there, unraveling here, rolling there..) and in order to make yarn of with any degree of control, consistency and speed, a spinner need to execute the set of actions smoothly and with ease .

Hand spinning is definitely a craft. A skill that you can improve on through practice.

Yarn#1: Orange thin and poofy

This was my first attempt at spinning yarn. It consists of a single material: orange wool. The the varying diameter along its length is result of poor control over spinning techniques and some impatience.

  • diameter: 3000 μm - 15000 μm (yikes!)
  • length: 34 inches
  • ply: 2
  • fiber length: 6 in.
  • twist direction: CCW
  • twist per inch: 5
  • conductivity: NA

Yarn#2: Thick and mixed overall

This is my second yarn making attempt. Again I used a orange yarn, I also mixed some angelica fiber into the orange yarn(because the angelica fiber is sparkly and pretty). I learned from my first yarn attempt to practice technique by making a thicker (therefore more manageable to spin) yarn.

  • diameter: ~10000 μm
  • length: 26 in
  • ply: 2
  • fiber length: ~6in, ~4in
  • twist direction: CCW
  • twist per inch: 3
  • conductivity: NA

Yarn#3: Reused + Mixed

I unravelled a sweater a while ago, and make a ball of untwisted orange cotton yarn. Using the untwisted orange cotton yarn filament, I made a new yarn that is two ply, twisted, and mixed with angelica fibers.

  • diameter: 5000 μm
  • length: 17 in
  • ply: 2
  • fiber length: (using filament: ~ 35 in)
  • twist direction: CCW
  • twist per inch: 5
  • conductivity: NA

Yarn#4: Reused , conductive, and doubly Mixed

Yarn#4 is like Yarn#3, with the addition of conductive threads.

  • diameter: 5000 μm
  • length: 29 in
  • ply: 4 (two ply filament sweater yarn, two ply conductive thread)
  • fiber length: (using filament: ~60 in each)
  • twist direction: CCW
  • twist per inch: 5
  • conductivity: ~ 10 ohms per inch ≈ conductivity of the conductive thread

Extra Credit: denier or tex yarn size tenacity elongation elastic recovery absorbency