Hello Francis
I too have Googled and found a few useful pages. The best one is:
http://www.colourmart.com/eng/knowledge_base/knitting_properties
other useful info at:
http://www.kilkeelknitwear.com/new_page_19.htm
(bottom of page)
http://reviews.ebay.com/Machine-Knitting-Acrylic-Yarns-Weights-and-
gauges_W0QQugidZ10000000000935914
http://www.knitgrrl.com/?p=508
The problem is, most knitting yarns are made with crinkly fibres. This
makes the finished yarn a bit elastic so that you can easily get the
second needle into the loop on the first needle without having the
stitches so loose that they fall off the first needle. It also means
that there is a lot of air inside the yarn making it look thicker than
it would otherwise be. If you try to make a wrapping to measure the
wraps/cm (or wraps per inch/2.5cm for the thicker yarns) to compare
with other known thread/yarn do you wrap loosely to keep the yarn in
its relaxed state or pull hard to eliminate much of the air and get a
result which matches something with a similar amount of fibres per
metre but which is in reality much thinner?
Another reason why you don't find many knitting yarns with a Nm or
other number may be because synthetic fibres are less dense than
natural ones. Nm is the number of 1000m hanks produced from 1Kg of
fibre. If that fibre is significantly less dense, 1Kg will contain a
lot more fibres and therefore make a longer length of thread. In
'from Source to Sink' Pat Earnshaw lists the various fibre specific
gravities as:
Linen 1.54
Cotton 1.54
Silk 1.30
Wool 1.32
Rayon 1.52
Synthetic 1.14
I decided not to include wool/acrylic knitting yarns in Threads for
Lace partly because of the stretchiness problem, partly because so many
knitting yarns are here-today-gone-tomorrow fashion yarns and partly
because relatively few lacemakers use very thick yarns, though the
numbers of us who do is increasing. Usually the lacemakers who do use
knitting yarns are experienced enough to be prepared for some
unexpected results!
I have measured some of the plainer yarns in my knitting stash and am
pleasantly surprised at how consistent the measurements are:
2 ply lace weight (Shetland) - 9 w/cm
3 ply baby yarn - (suits old size 12, 2mm needles for stocking stitch)
- 8 w/cm
4 ply (fingering) (suits old size 10, 3.25mm needles for stocking
stitch) - 7 w/cm
Double knitting (suits old size 8, 4mm needles for stocking stitch) - 6
w/cm
Aran weight (suits old size 6, 5mm needles for stocking stitch) - 5 w/cm
I haven't tried winding the boucle, slubby, eyelash or other fancy
yarns as the results could be all over the place!
If you do find a woollen yarn with a Nm number it's likely that it is
made for weaving. Weavers have similar problems to lacemakers in that
setting up a loom with lots of warps takes time, and the thickness of
the thread does have to be matched to the spacing of the warps in the
heddle. Much the same as winding dozens of bobbins takes time and the
thickness of the thread needs to match the scale of the pricking, so
weavers too want to get it right first time. Also weavers generally
choose fairly smooth yarns, just as most bobbin lacers choose smooth
thread.
Brenda
On 28 Feb 2009, at 11:58, Francis Busschaert wrote:
Hallo to all
i have an other question
it is also knitting related
on that knitting event in Holland were i found those lovely knitting
needles i was also there as an seller of our threads
and quite often we were confronted whit a question i did not directly
had an aswer for
they asked if it was laceweight, and other teminolegy concerning the
thickness of the threads
i have to say i m very good in conversions in Nm Nec linnen wool
deniers etc but thatone is again an other kind of mesurements i did
not know
i have googled for it but did not find until now a good conversion
towards Nm or other known numbers i can relate to
so i hope, as most of you are not only bobbin or needle lacers,
but generaly whit a very broad horison in textiles
and can be considered as the real genuan "textile-maniacs" /
"filo-maniac" like myself (they say its a mental desease that keeps
you from the streets....)
and so that you can solf the problem
so is there any out in the virtual world
knowing exactly how its working from those laceweight towards real Nm
or Nec or den measures?
or and that is what i have found until now onn the net
they give a kind of fork/interval of numbers were that kind of thread
could be pinpointed in
many thax in advance
francis
kortrijk
belgium
the sun is shining
the crocus flowers are getting open
the first signs of summer
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Brenda in Allhallows, Kent
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