Fig. 21
Fig. 22
Lamb's Wool Yarns.—The term lamb's wool as used in the knitting industry does not confine its connotation to the product of the lamb during its first six months of growth, although such yarns would naturally be included in the first scope of the term. Naturally the growth on the lamb during the first half-year is of the softest description and greatly esteemed for many classes of knitted goods where a kindly feel is of the utmost value. The term has to-day a much wider definition, and includes yarns spun from the shorter staples on the woollen system, so that such goods are well covered with surface material and further offer a good basis for brushing on the teasles or gig, thus increasing the softness considerably. Fig. 23 gives a photo-micrograph of one of the finer classes of lamb's wool yarns where the crossing and re-crossing amongst the constituent fibres is very well displayed along with the loose open form of the thread. The openness of texture proclaims this variety as being eminently suitable for the underwear branch of the business and these made into garments of moderate price give excellent service. In this sample the fibres are very regular in diameter, the thread is well constructed and will be sound in respect of absorbent quality.
Fig. 23
Shetland Yarns.—This is another example of a designation employed in the knitting trade which has wandered far from its original meaning. The name has primary reference to yarns and fabrics produced from the material taken from the Shetland breed of sheep which give wool of excellent soft handling properties. These wools occur in natural colours, brown, grey and black being found in addition to the predominating white. The fibre is soft, exceedingly agreeable to handle, and has been largely used for the industry from the pioneer days of the hand knitting. The word Shetland as now known in the trade has shown a distinct tendency to deteriorate in connotation and most generally means yarns of coarse character, carded and spun on the woollen system with a certain proportion of fibre of nondescript character mixed. These fibres are usually dark in colour and mixed along with the white wool give a tint known as "Natural"; the tints are most serviceable for utility undergarments in regular wear as they obscure soiling and allow of longer inter-laundry periods. Pure white articles are quickly soiled, the "Natural" garments can give a longer period of usefulness without sacrificing real cleanliness. In times of scarcity of material and in absence of laundry facilities, these natural coloured garments prove distinct aids to economy. Formerly the natural tint in a garment was at once a sign of inferiority and low grade, but now wools of expensive character are mixed with 5 to 10 per cent. of freshly-dyed fibre of pleasing effect to give better service. There has latterly been a tendency to increase the proportion of dark-coloured fibres and give a wider colour expression; in place of the ordinary brown, fawn and grey, other varieties bolder in aspect are utilized.
Fig. 24
2-PLY SHETLAND NATURAL YARN SHOWING DARK FIBRES INTERMIXED
Fingering Yarns.—The term fingering is widely known in the trade and is a clear reference to the era of hand spinning on the wheel when the fibres were drawn through the fingers preparatory to the addition of torsion, this "fingering" being a domestic attempt to establish a certain amount of parallelism amongst the fibres. Wools of longer staple were employed for these productions which may be regarded as the prototype of the modern worsted thread. The attempt to render the fibres parallel by hand cannot be completely successful, but the worker rejected the shorter material which was not incorporated in the thread, whilst the longer residual fibres were spun with rather more twist than was usual with pure woollen yarns. The fingering yarn as now known is spun from the better classes of medium-stapled wool and is usually found in three or four-ply for the better class woollen hose trade. It gives a good quality article which felts less than the woollen spun and has increased durable qualities, the three-ply giving a considerably augmented strength to the article. The principle of worsted spinning as practised in the Bradford district for weaving yarns is not suitable for the knitting industry. As a rule the twist is too hard, and even with slack twist the structure is scarcely suitable, not being open enough and having too little surface fibre. A fingering yarn largely used for the footwear trade is given in photo-micrograph at Fig. 25, where the thread is noted to be three-fold; the single strands show a firm twist, but at the same time there is visible a fair percentage of surface material which makes the yarn suitable for covering the interstices and contributing to fabric consistency. The qualities of this particular yarn have been tested by long experience in use and have proved ideal when the right kind of wool is used as foundation.