Fig. 25
Fig. 26
Worsted Underwear Yarns.—A view of a typical yarn as used for the light-weight underwear branch of the knitting business is given in Fig. 26, which represents a two-fold hosiery yarn used for light-weight shirts and pants, but more particularly for ladies' garments. Extreme fibre parallelism is the chief feature of this yarn structure, the fibres being meticulously pulled into line with each other by the teeth of the comber. The next points important to observe are the spaces shown between the individual fibres which ensure adequate ventilation and absorbency, along with the requisite elasticity. The twist in the single is very slight and the strength is obtained by folding the two single strands together. At the same time a sufficiency of surface material is present to insure correct cover for the loops so as to remove rawness of structure and impart a "skin" to the cloth.
The yarns illustrated in micro-photos 27 and 28 may be regarded as typical structures employed for the great bulk of the trade in underwear, these being samples of the widely-known dry-spun yarns on the French system. As compared with the method of producing worsted yarns in the weaving trade, this system of dry spinning is so called because no oil is added to the sliver in preparation; the system of combing adopted deals with shorter and less valuable wools and moderately priced yarns are feasible. Openness of character is best secured by imparting twist on the ordinary woollen mule, where the thread is torsioned intermittently in long lengths, during which operation a certain proportion of the fibres are thrown to the surface, as clearly shown in Fig. 27. The yarn is two-ply with a fair twist in the two-fold, whilst the singles have quite a small amount of torsion. The extraneous material prominent in this sample 27 is a valuable feature in the success of the yarn for the knitting trade. Fig. 28 gives a view of a thread of the same character but rendered denser in form on account of its three-fold character. This is an excellent sample of a yarn giving splendid service in wear and the production of which has caused a most flourishing spinning industry to be established in continental countries.
Fig. 27
Fig. 28