It all starts with the way the fiber is prepped. All fibers must pass through a carding machine before they head off to be spun, and at this stage the fibers are loosened up, removing dirt and debris, leading to a fluffy jumble of fibers, called a batt. From this stage, the batt is then pulled into one long strand, called a sliver. 

And now comes the decision - whether these slivers will become woolen or worsted-spun yarn?

By gently adding twist to those slivers mentioned above, the yarn retains little air pockets throughout that strand of jumbled fibers, creating a lightweight, lofty yarn that can keep you toasty warm!

One of the benefits of this type of yarn, is the range of needle sizes you can use to knit a wide variety of gauges. All those jumbled fibers will fit into the space provided for each stitch, filling in any "gaps" created by uneven tension or irregular stitches, or hiding any floats you have when knitting colorwork. Once blocked, these fibers really "bloom" into place. 

You'll want to be careful on what project you choose for your woolen-spun yarns though, as they do tend to be a bit more delicate than worsted-spun. You will also find that because the fibers tend to go every which way, this type of yarn is more prone to pilling. Although, don't worry too much about removing those pills, because woolen-spun yarns tend to have fibers that are shorter in length, they are easily removed with minimal damage to your fabric.

Sometimes we are looking for something a little smoother and more durable, so in this case, we would choose Worsted-spun yarns.

Remember that jumble of fibers that creates woolen-spun yarn? Worsted spinning goes one step further in the fiber prep and removes all those shorter fibers and combs the longer ones so they all travel in the same direction. This removes those little air pockets and creates strength, smoothness and more drape in the finished yarn and fabric. 

You will notice a greater amount of twist in worsted-spun yarns. This will provide substantial strength and durability and more resistance to pilling from abrasion. Many choose worsted-spun yarns for items like socks because of these reasons. 

With woolen-spun yarns you will find that your knitted fabric will have more of a subtle, fluffier look, with minimal stitch definition for a bit of a weathered look. Whereas fabric knit with worsted-spun yarns shows off the stitch and texture details with more luster and crispness.

Woolen-spun fabric shows more of a "weathered" look (left swatch), whereas worsted-spun highlights the crisp stitch definition (right swatch).

We do! Our flagship yarn line - Primo, are all worsted-spun, in addition to many of our other bases. However we do also carry woolen-spun yarns from time to time that include Beauregard DK and Scholar 2.0. We do our best to note this in the details for each of our bases found within our Base Library. 

What type of yarn do you prefer to work with? Are you team woolen or worsted? Or both? Let us know over in our Ravelry group!