Woolen
Encyclopedia
Woolen or woollen is a type of yarn
made from carded
wool
. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air. It is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting
yarn. Woolen yarn is in contrast to worsted
yarn, in which the fibres are combed
to lie parallel
rather than carded, producing a hard, strong yarn.
The resultant fabrics will be classified as being either woolen or worsted, but this designation is assigned during fibre processing and yarn formation, not in the cloth or finished garment.
A woven woolen fabric is one which is subjected to fabric finishing
techniques designed to add a directional pile - in that the end consumer can 'stroke' the garment in a single direction (shoulder to cuff etc), such as a casual jacket. This feels like the fibres are directionally arranged.
Woolen yarn formation is also very common for knitwear, where the resultant garment has some bulk and the requirement for visual aesthetics (of fibre alignment) is minimal.
The worsted processing route is more complex and requires the removal of short fibers and the use of a focussed mechanical process to make the individual fibres parallel to each other. The yarn formation process is significantly more comprehensive and results in a very sleek yarn which will offer a clean looking woven fabric, such as for suitings. The worsted process is significantly more expensive and is seldom used for knitwear.
technique, and the yarn is spun from a rolag
. Most handspinners make a blend of a woolen and worsted yarn, using techniques from both categories, and thus ending up with a mix. The first step to spin a true woolen yarn, however, is to card
the fiber into a rolag
using handcarders
.
The rolag is spun without much stretching of the fibers from the cylindrical configuration. This is done by allowing twist into a short section of the rolag, and then pulling back, without letting the rolag change position in your hands, until the yarn is the desired thickness. The twist will concentrate in the thinnest part of the roving, thus when the yarn is pulled, the thicker sections with less twist will tend to thin out. Once the yarn is the desired thickness, enough twist is added to make the yarn strong. Then the yarn is wound onto the bobbin, and the process starts again.
, also refers to a thing which is composed of wool
, in the same vein as wheat
en, gold
en, and the somewhat rarer silver
n and leather
n.
Yarn
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or...
made from carded
Carding
Carding is a mechanical process that breaks up locks and unorganised clumps of fibre and then aligns the individual fibres so that they are more or less parallel with each other. The word is derived from the Latin carduus meaning teasel, as dried vegetable teasels were first used to comb the raw wool...
wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air. It is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting
Knitting
Knitting is a method by which thread or yarn may be turned into cloth or other fine crafts. Knitted fabric consists of consecutive rows of loops, called stitches. As each row progresses, a new loop is pulled through an existing loop. The active stitches are held on a needle until another loop can...
yarn. Woolen yarn is in contrast to worsted
Worsted
Worsted , is the name of a yarn, the cloth made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from the village of Worstead in the English county of Norfolk...
yarn, in which the fibres are combed
Combing
Combing is a method for preparing carded fibre for spinning. It separates out the short fibres by means of a rotating ring of steel pins. The fibres in the 'top' it produces, have been straightened and lie parallel to each other...
to lie parallel
Parallel (geometry)
Parallelism is a term in geometry and in everyday life that refers to a property in Euclidean space of two or more lines or planes, or a combination of these. The assumed existence and properties of parallel lines are the basis of Euclid's parallel postulate. Two lines in a plane that do not...
rather than carded, producing a hard, strong yarn.
Commercial manufacture
The woolen and worsted process both require that the wool (and other similar animal fibres, cashmere, camel, etc.) are cleaned before mechanical processing. Woolen and worsted nomenclatures apply only to the textile processing of animal fibres, but it has become common to include fibre blends under these terms.The resultant fabrics will be classified as being either woolen or worsted, but this designation is assigned during fibre processing and yarn formation, not in the cloth or finished garment.
A woven woolen fabric is one which is subjected to fabric finishing
Finishing (textiles)
In textile manufacturing, finishing refers to any process performed on yarn or fabric after weaving or knitting to improve the look, performance, or "hand" of the finished textile or clothing...
techniques designed to add a directional pile - in that the end consumer can 'stroke' the garment in a single direction (shoulder to cuff etc), such as a casual jacket. This feels like the fibres are directionally arranged.
Woolen yarn formation is also very common for knitwear, where the resultant garment has some bulk and the requirement for visual aesthetics (of fibre alignment) is minimal.
The worsted processing route is more complex and requires the removal of short fibers and the use of a focussed mechanical process to make the individual fibres parallel to each other. The yarn formation process is significantly more comprehensive and results in a very sleek yarn which will offer a clean looking woven fabric, such as for suitings. The worsted process is significantly more expensive and is seldom used for knitwear.
Handspinning woolen yarn
Woolen yarn is handspun using the long drawLong draw (spinning)
Long draw is the spinning technique used to create woolen yarns. It is spun from carded rolags. It is generally spun from shorter stapled fibers...
technique, and the yarn is spun from a rolag
Rolag
A rolag is a roll of fibre generally used to spin woollen yarn. A rolag is created by first carding the fibre, using handcards, and then by gently rolling the fibre off the cards...
. Most handspinners make a blend of a woolen and worsted yarn, using techniques from both categories, and thus ending up with a mix. The first step to spin a true woolen yarn, however, is to card
Carding
Carding is a mechanical process that breaks up locks and unorganised clumps of fibre and then aligns the individual fibres so that they are more or less parallel with each other. The word is derived from the Latin carduus meaning teasel, as dried vegetable teasels were first used to comb the raw wool...
the fiber into a rolag
Rolag
A rolag is a roll of fibre generally used to spin woollen yarn. A rolag is created by first carding the fibre, using handcards, and then by gently rolling the fibre off the cards...
using handcarders
Carding
Carding is a mechanical process that breaks up locks and unorganised clumps of fibre and then aligns the individual fibres so that they are more or less parallel with each other. The word is derived from the Latin carduus meaning teasel, as dried vegetable teasels were first used to comb the raw wool...
.
The rolag is spun without much stretching of the fibers from the cylindrical configuration. This is done by allowing twist into a short section of the rolag, and then pulling back, without letting the rolag change position in your hands, until the yarn is the desired thickness. The twist will concentrate in the thinnest part of the roving, thus when the yarn is pulled, the thicker sections with less twist will tend to thin out. Once the yarn is the desired thickness, enough twist is added to make the yarn strong. Then the yarn is wound onto the bobbin, and the process starts again.
Other meanings
"Woolen", as an adjectiveAdjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
, also refers to a thing which is composed of wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
, in the same vein as wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
en, gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
en, and the somewhat rarer silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
n and leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
n.
Resources
- Woolen, Semi-Woolen, Semi-Worsted, and Worsted Spinning - Gives a detailed explanation on the different ways fibre preparation and technique can create different yarns.