Yarn

Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, and ropemaking.Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or other lubricants to withstand the stresses involved in sewing.Embroidery threads are yarns specifically designed for hand or machine embroidery.

Etymology

The word yarn comes from Middle English, from the Old English gearn, akin to Old High German's garn yarn, Greek's chordē string, and Sanskrit's hira band.

Materials

Yarn can be made from any number of natural or synthetic fibers. Many types of yarn are made differently though. There are two main types of yarn: spun and filament.

Fibers

The most common plant fiber is cotton, which is typically spun into fine yarn for mechanical weaving or knitting into cloth.

Cotton and polyester are the most commonly spun fibers in the world. Cotton is grown throughout the world, harvested, ginned, and prepared for yarn spinning. Polyester is extruded from polymers derived from natural gas and oil. Synthetic fibers are generally extruded in continuous strands of gel-state materials. These strands are drawn (stretched), annealed (hardened), and cured to obtain properties desirable for later processing.