Fig. 38
TYPE OF SINGLE COTTON YARN OF FINE COUNTS USED FOR HOSIERY
Fig. 39
SINGLE LOOSE TWISTED COTTON YARN USED FOR BACKING
Mercerized Cotton Yarn.—Mercerized cotton is largely employed in knitted goods of the fancy class where the great lustre of the material imparts effectiveness to the fabric. The usual type of mercerized thread used in knitting is two-ply and hard twisted, with the surface fibre singed off so as to give an uninterrupted reflection of light. The yarn is mercerized usually in the hank when the hanks of yarn are stretched tightly over poles and then immersed in a strong solution of caustic soda. In a short time the cotton swells and becomes lustrous, approaching silk in general appearance, and this effect is augmented by the evenness of the surface of the thread. This type of yarn lends itself to the production of brilliant colours and is admirably adapted to such articles as knitted coats, scarves and other types of the fancy trade in knitted goods, being best suited for summer wear on account of their coolness.
Artificial Silk.—The application of artificial silk or wood pulp to the manufacture of knitted goods has been extensively made and gives results in every way brilliant in character. The structure of this type is shown in photo-micrograph 40 which is a view of a single thread of artificial silk, where it will be noted that the fibres are exactly parallel to one another and there are no straggling members whatever, each and all of them taking their place in the thread in a perfectly parallel and orderly fashion. The substance from which these yarns is produced is at first in a fluid condition and is pressed through tubes in a container in very fine strands, a certain number of which are run together to constitute thread. This material is usually supplied two-fold for knitting purposes and has been in great demand for the scarf and knitted coat trade, where brilliance of shade and elegance of appearance are outstanding features. Care must be taken that the goods are correctly described, as the Silk Association of Great Britain maintains a continuous campaign to have these goods distinct in description from those of real silk. One famous case hinged on the term art silk. If the word art is written art. with a full-stop it is recognized as a contraction for the word artificial, but without this period the term art is misleading as indicating a variety of real silk and as such constitutes a mis-description for which penalties are provided.
Fig. 40
2-FOLD MERCERISED COTTON YARN USED IN KNITTING
Fig. 41
SINGLE THREAD OF ARTIFICIAL SILK YARN