Knitted yarn

Features and types of knitted yarn
Try to remember if your grandmother threw out old cotton things? Or did she cut them up into ribbons and knit cute, colorful rugs? If you choose the second option, it means that you are familiar with knitted fabric from your childhood. More precisely with its ancestor.

This type of yarn is a thread, cut from scraps of fabric. The width of the strips is from 3 cm. There are three types of knitted yarn: primary, secondary and manual. The first two are made in manufacturing, the third type can be made at home. For the manufacture of primary yarn, a new one-piece piece of knitted fabric is used. The yarn has no joints, joints. The color of the yarn in the skein is the same. For the secondary yarn take pieces of fabric left over from the manufacture of any items. In a ball of yarn there are joints, seams, the shade of the yarn may vary.

You can make hand yarn from any product. It should be cut into ribbons of equal thickness and twisted into balls. Since the work is done by hand, the yarn is uneven, there are joints, knots and defects.

In addition, the yarn is divided by the type of winding. More common is the front winding, in which the yarn is twisted so that the front side of the fabric is on the outside. Such yarn is dense, slightly coarse, poorly pulled. Products made of it are durable and hold their shape well. With a wrong side winding the fabric is rolled on the wrong side. The yarn has a loose texture, it is soft, excellent stretch. If you are a beginner, you should use this type of yarn, it’s easier and more comfortable to work with. NOTE! Yarn with a front winding is more expensive than with a back winding, because expensive equipment is used for its production.

Producers make yarns of different compositions: pure cotton or with impurities. Of course, the highest quality and hypoallergenic is 100% cotton. Products made of it perfectly holds shape, long retain a beautiful appearance, do not fade, do not cause allergic reactions.

Industrial yarn is available in several sizes:

3 to 5 mm (for thin, small items, openwork things);
5 to 7 mm (universal for all garments);
7 to 9 mm (for large items: plaids, outerwear);
9 mm and more (for covers, furniture, decorative elements).

Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages of knitted fabric:

Products made from this yarn turn out textured, lush, voluminous. You can use the yarn as a fringe for finished products.
The yarn is elastic, with the back winding it stretches well, which gives great opportunities. Conveniently, the yarn can be unwound from the beginning of the skein as well as from the middle. This allows you to knit symmetrical products.
The yarn is durable, does not burn out, retains its original appearance for a long time. The cost of the material “does not bite”. To maximize savings, yarn can be cut by hand from unnecessary things.
It is convenient to use thick threads, the coarse knitting is well visible.
Knit from knitted fabric can be simply by hand.
Products from such yarn do not need additional lining, only if we are not talking about openwork knitting.

Now let’s talk about the disadvantages of knitted yarn.
The most important disadvantage – the yarn gives shrinkage. If the yarn is wet, it swells, and after drying it shrinks. As a result, the thing changes size, becomes smaller. To give the product shape, you need to starch it. Knitted yarn is good at absorbing odors, then take them out quite difficult. If you need to knit something with a small decor, knitted yarn for this purpose will not work.

Tips for working with knitted yarn
Any needlewoman, even a beginner, will quickly master knitting with knitted yarn. The main thing in the work is to adhere to simple rules, and then the product will turn out beautiful, voluminous, high-quality.

First of all, you need to choose a knitting technique: tight or loose. Remember that the thickness of the thread determines the appearance of the finished thing. If you decide to knit something voluminous, for example, a laundry basket or a soft pouffe, use a thick or thin yarn in 2 yarns. When you are making a complex item, get skeins of the same yarn, so that the parts do not differ in texture, thickness and size. Do not change tools during the entire job.

NOTE! You can’t have the same yarn from one manufacturer. For one piece, use material from one company.

When you work with needles, choose one of the following knitting variations: classic ironing (loops on and off), elastic, shawl knitting, or cording. Avoid voluminous braids and arabesques. When crocheting, do stitches with hooks, without hooks, bouffant columns, ajour.

TIP: If the work began to stretch the product, you have gained too many loops, reduce their number. If the thing shrinks, the situation is the opposite – the loops are not enough, add them.