Hand Spun Yarn -- Should You Choose It For Your Next Project?
If you are a crafter at home, doing the knitting, crocheting, or weaving, perhaps you have heard of hand spun yarn. You may have even been thinking about trying to produce some of your own hand spun yarn for various fabric projects.
What Is Hand Spun Yarn -- What Makes It Different?
When dealing with yarns, you basically have two choices. You can either choose to work with a yarn that has been spun by machine, or you can choose to use (or make your own) hand spun yarn. Machine made a yarns are, of course, much more uniform in appearance. In addition machine made yarns can be spun into much finer (thinner) thicknesses than is possible in making hand spun yarn. For the most part hand spun yarn is thicker and will seem "looser", and even somewhat irregular in texture and appearance, as compared with machine made yarn.
What Kinds of Materials Can Be Used to Make Hand Spun Yarn? The predominant material used in the United States for the making of hand spun yarn is cotton, but this is by no means the only type of material that can be manufactured into yarn. You can find hand spun yarn made of silk, wool, animal (and even human) hair, jute, hemp, flax as well as various synthetic materials such as acrylic or polyester. The technique of spinning plant or animal fibers into yarn has been known and practiced by human civilizations for thousands of years. While many people believe that I'm using hand spun yarn will result in a fabric that looks very coarse and inferior, in fact hand spun yarn -- when it is skillfully woven by an experienced weaver -- can look almost indistinguishable from a fabric made from machine spun fibers. Is Hand Spun Yarn the Best Choice for Your Fabric Project? Should you choose hand spun yarn for your upcoming fabric project instead of the machine made variety? It all depends. For example, many home crafters alike to purchase plant or animal fibers packaged in bulk. These materials have not yet been formed into yarn -- and so you will need to allot time for such things as carding to properly line up the fibers so that they can be easily twisted together during the spinning process. An additional activity you may wish to allot time for is the making of a two ply yarn. A 2-ply yarn is made by twisting two sets of yarns together; the plying process results in a stronger yarn which will also be more durable as well. Often times crafters will choose to use hand spun yarn because they have the resources to secure the necessary fibers for the yarn on their own. For example people who live in rural areas may have access to animals (either by hunting or through the cultivation of herds and flocks such as sheep). These folks may which to turn the animal fibers (wool, for example) directly into yarn for their own weaving, selling or knitting. This will save money, as commercially manufactured yarns will not have to be purchased. What ever your need or reason, whether you make your own or purchase hand spun yarn -- you will find that it can provide your finished fabrics with the perfect "down home" look and appeal.
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