making - the abc’s of all-natural yarns, part 1
knitting with all-natural yarns can be incredibly exciting, especially when we get to attach a special yarn to a special place - think of it like taking a trip via your knitting! while you can of course enjoy yarns from local dyers, you might have noticed that many of them are using the same types of bases regardless of where they’re from. does a single ply superwash merino sound familiar? how about an 80/20 blend of superwash merino and nylon for another indie dyed sock yarn? are we noticing a trend with this whole superwash merino thing? what does that even mean (and why is it literally the last thing you want on your feet)?
when we’re talking about “natural yarns,” that can have a pretty broad definition. some yarnies will claim to sell natural yarns because they don’t have any acrylic included in the fibre content. others will claim that it can only be categorized as “natural” if it’s been minimally processed at a mini or small mill and then been left undyed entirely. in my general experience, it’s somewhere between the two but definitely leans more heavily towards to the latter. let’s talk about some of the absolute basics when it comes to all yarns first, and then we’ll go into the specifics of what sets natural yarns apart.
what do all yarns have in common?
no matter what kind of yarn you’re working with, there are a couple of things that are consistent:
yarn is either worsted spun (all the individuals fibres are combed to line up in the same direction before being spun up at the mill/by a handspinner, which makes for a very smooth yarn that doesn’t have much air trapped into it) or woolen spun (the fibres are pointing in every direction when being spun up, which results in a more textured yarn and a lot of air gets trapped in them, resulting in what you might have heard deemed as “lofty yarn”). if you’re spinning by hand, you can control this yourself at the batt/roving/raw fleece stage. if you’re dealing with a wool mill, the machinery they have will dictate whether they are spinning worsted or woolen. you can see some of these differences by checking out these interviews compiled with mini mills around canada (my primary one is long way homestead and mini mills always spin my sock yarns) as well as at custom woolen mills in alberta (they spin all of my non-sock yarns).
yarn comes in different weights, which refers to the thickness of the yarn. depending on where you are in the world/where your yarn has come from, the terms for these weights differs. for example, in canada and the states you might hear the terms “sock” or “fingering” weight yarn used interchangeably. meanwhile, in the uk the most common term is “4ply.” confusingly, just because a yarn is called “sock weight” doesn’t mean it’s actually good for knitting socks, nor does it mean that a thicker or thinner yarn couldn’t make a good pair of socks. and just because your yarn is “4ply weight” doesn’t mean there are actually 4 individual plies of yarn spun into one knittable strand. yarn weight is very important when you’re looking at gauge for a project, and if you want to substitute a recommended yarn for a pattern, the weight will be a large dictator *most* of the time (there are always exceptions). if this is feeling a bit overwhelming, don’t stress too much. find out what terms are used most frequently in your area (your local yarn store will likely be a good help as most organize their stock by weight for simplicity’s sake), and go from there. you have plenty of time to learn and play with different weights over time!
ply refers to the number of strands spun together to make a single knittable yarn, and is separate from weight (although again, in the uk and across europe, the terms 1ply through 8ply are still used to differentiate weights of yarn despite the actual number of plies in the yarns not needing to reflect this). you can have a bulky weight yarn that is also made with a single ply (think of the lopi yarns from iceland) and a fingering weight yarn made with 4 plies. the more plies, generally the stronger the final fabric that you knit will be, but that’s not always what we’re looking for. play around with yarns that are the same weight and have different numbers of plies to get an idea of how they can impact your final project.
what sets natural yarns apart?
ok, so we’ve determined the three things that all yarns have in common. now what constitutes a natural yarn and why should we give a shit? tune in for next week’s post to learn more, and sign up to hear all about the knitting with natural yarns masterclass! if you’re ready to start playing with natural yarns right now, you can always find stock in the shop, and then come hang out with us on our zoom knit/craft nights in the creative coven community to share and learn with like-minded fibre witches. not sure what kind of fibre witch you are? take the free fibre witch quiz to find out.