WEEK 3 (YARN)

 WEEKLY SUMMARY 

In this third week we went through an in depth and informative breakdown of different types of yarns, their origins and their various different uses in the textile and interior design industry. 

When understanding yarns in their most basic state, it is important to understand that yarns are firstly made from a series of strands that come together to make a yarn called fibers. These fibers range from a number of particular origins consisting of natural elements like flax, cotton, and hemp. Fibers such as these come from plants making them a cellulosic fiber because in their basic molecular make up, their base structure is plant protein cells.

Natural fibers also include fibers harvested from animal hides and hairs ranging from many different highly sought after fabrics such as mink, camel or cashmere, and leather. These fibers, while also natural like cellulosic fibers, are considered protein based material fibers due to the fact that they come from animals rather than from plants. Even still, they are labeled in the same category of natural fibers. 

These natural fibers all fall in the category of staple fibers, meaning they are short in length and need a manufacturing process to combine their strands together to lengthen them and turn them into yarns ready for weaving and knitting. But there is one natural fiber that comes in an elongated state called a filament, in its natural form without any ulterior altering. This fiber is known as silk that comes from the cocoons of silk worms found in China. These natural fibers are considered luxurious and are in high demand for their use. 

YARN TYPES

Yarn types vary in their differing techniques of being formed and the types of fibers being used in its construction. When any of the previously mentioned fibers, weather filament or staple, is combined together its end product is yarn. This can be done by use of a spindle, spinning the fibers together to form a continuous strand of yarn or by twisting the fibers together to form its end result. When continuous strands of filament fibers are in use in the construction of a yarn, these yarns are considered to be multifilament yarns that contain little to no breakages within its strands. When single filament fibers are used for the construction of a yarn these are considered to be monofilament yarns Mono meaning one, and multi hinting at the plurality of the present filament fibers. 

ONE STEP FURTHER

When examining the mechanical machines responsible for the construction of fibers into yarns, and yarns into textile products, we can find that there are a couple notable mentions. One is the spindle used for the combining of fibers into yarns by having the fiber in its natural state drafted and fed through the spinning thread attached to the hook of the spindle and twirled around tightening the strands together. The other is the use of a loom which establishes the warp and the weft of a fabric by segmenting the two on different planes of axis and interlocking the two together through a series of combining movements that makes creating fabric much less tedious and cumbersome. 

Sources: 

Intro to yarn and yarn types:

https://michiganfineyarns.com/blogs/learning-center/yarn-fibers 

Loom and its function:

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-weave

Types of fibers:

https://site.extension.uga.edu/textiles/textile-basics/fiber-types/