Cable Spun Yarn

When fibers are initially spun by twisting the short fibers into a long length of yarn this produces what is called a single.

Cable spun yarn.

Ply plied or folded. Or as cord including cable and hawser types. Yarns can be described as single or one ply. Core spun yarns may be made with elastomer core such as spandex covered by another fiber to produce a stretch yarn.

On the second ply the two 2 ply yarns lock together and bloom. Re ply the yarn you begin. You need two full bobbins of your handspun two ply yarn and a kate. How to make the perfect cable knitting yarn she explores how different handspun yarns behave in cables.

Or of filaments grouped together either with or without twist. This may or may not bother you. Single or one ply yarns are single strands composed of fibres held together by at least a small amount of twist. Some transparent tape may also be helpful.

In an excerpt from melanie smith s spin off winter 2017 article spin for cables. Or of narrow strips of material. Other core spun yarns include sewing thread made with a polyester core and cotton cover suitable for high speed industrial sewing processes in which 100 polyester thread could melt due to the high temperature that the sewing. Depending on which direction the yarn is twisted the yarn is designated as having either an s twist or a z twist.

The same thing will happen when a cabled yarn with z twist singles is knit in the english style. Melanie spun and knitted the samples affiliate link that show which yarn singles 2 ply or 3 ply makes the best yarn for knitting cables. The yarn looks pebbly like a bridge cable. What is the best yarn for knitting cables.

Plied yarns themselves can also be plied together producing what is known as a cabled yarn. Spun yarns are produced by placing a series of individual fibres or filaments together to form a continuous assembly of overlapping fibres usually bound together by twist. A basic cable yarn is two 2 ply yarns spun z in the singles and overplied s in the first ply then plied together z to finish. To make a cabled yarn singles are spun with the twist in one direction they are plied in the opposite direction and the plies are plied together in the same direction that the singles were spun adding even more strength to the final yarn.

To make cabled yarn on a spinning wheel choose the largest whorl pair that you have and set the wheel up with an empty bobbin that has a leader attached. And if you don t like the lack of twist as in the picture at the top that results from using a z spun single ply yarn for a cable cast on try working it the wrong way. Or of single synthetic filaments. Judith mackenzie in the intentional spinner notes that cabled yarns in which the singles are spun with an s twist will loosen when knit continental style.