1. Balling heads. 2. Bobbins upon which stock is wound. 3. Rub or condenser aprons. 4. Gearing for driving rub motion. 5. Shipper rod and handles. 6. Bobbins held in place in creel by skewers. 7. Weights with system of levers for applying pressure to rollers.]
Worsted yarn can be made of pure wool; and as a rule, the wool used in the English system is of fairly good length and uniform staple, for if otherwise it is only with difficulty that the yarn can be spun straight. Shorter wool can be combed and spun under the French system, and this is the reason why the French system of spinning is being introduced. On the other hand, in the spinning of woolen yarns great length of staple is not essential, for the machinery employed will work the small fibers.
=Uses of Worsted Yarn.= Worsted yarn may be used in any of the following fabrics:
1. Combed wool yarn for ornamental needlework and knitting, as Berlin, Zephyr, and Saxony wools.
2. Cloth made from combed wool not classified according to material.
_a._ Fabrics of all wool--serge, bunting, rep, dress goods, with weave effects.
_b._ Wool and Cotton--union goods, serge linings, lathing.
_c._ Wool and Silk--rich poplin, pongee, henrietta, bombazine.
_d._ Alpaca and Mohair--alpaca, mohair dress goods, lusters, braids, laces.
=Counts.= Yarn is measured by a system of "counts"--the number of yards of yarn to the pound. The counts of worsted yarn are based on the number of hanks in one pound, each hank containing 560 yards. Thus No. 30 worsted yarn consists of 30 hanks of 560 yards each, or 16,800 yards to the pound.
[12] The distinct difference between worsted and woolen yarns is that worsted yarn is made of fibers that are parallel, while the fibers of woolen yarn run in all directions. The worsted yarn is stronger.
[13] Mills that manufacture worsted yarn.
In manufacturing worsted yarn every necessary operation is performed to arrange the wool fibers so that they will lie smoothly and parallel to each other. In the case of woolen yarn every operation is performed so as to have the fibers lie in every direction and to cross and overlap each other.
To produce yarn of the woolen type a set of machinery entirely different from that used in worsted manufacture is necessary. The wool is carded, but no attempt is made to get the fibers parallel. The reduction in thickness of the sliver is not brought about upon the so-called drawing frame, but by a mule frame where the drawing and twisting are done at the same operation. As neither combs nor gills are employed, there is not the same smooth, level yarn, but one which possesses a fringe-like covering or fuzzy appearance that makes the woolen yarn so valuable.