Sheep's Clothing, Valparais

I had a great time teaching Twined knitting at Sheep's Clothing yarn shop in Valparaiso. Paula's shop has a wonderful blend of modern and historical knitting -- and such great yarn selection!

We worked with Norwegian imported Hygge yarn. It is a woolen-spun, soft, Z-ply yarn. Z-ply yarn is the best for working historical Twined knitting, Nålbinding, and even crochet, yet almost all commercially made yarns are S-ply! The difference is the directionality of both the spinning and the plying. S-ply and Z-ply are spun and plied in opposite direction.

Z-plied yarns make a difference with traditional, Swedish Twined knitting. With Twined knitting, two strands of yarn are used together and they are twisted around each other for every stitch. With S-plied yarns, when twisted in Twined knitting, the individual strands of yarn ply more tightly. With Z-plied yarns, the individual strands of yarn unply slightly. Then, when they come in contact with the other strand of slightly unplied yarn, they lock together and form a cohesive, 4-ply strand of yarn on the wrong side of the fabric. The result is a stronger yarn, and a long-wearing fabric.

The class is over, but do you still want to learn Twined knitting? Contact Paula at Sheep's Clothing and request a repeat class. 219-462-1700.