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slaughterCovered Yarn
When talking about covered yarn, one talks basically about elastane yarns that have at least one more yarn wrapped around. Covering however is not exclusively applied to elastane, sometimes also fine wires are covered.
There are two purposes of covering a yarn: one needs an elasticity which normal textile yarn cannot provide while one would still like to keep the apperance of the textile yarn. This is the case for covering elastane where most often a textile Polyester / Polyamide / … is wrapped around the elastane core.
Covering a yarn can also be in order to hide something. This is most often the case when covering fine wires. The yarn that is wrapped around gives the looks whereas the core (the fine wire) still provides the functionality (like conductivity).

Single covered yarns are yarns where a second yarn is wrapped around a core yarn.

Double covered yarns are yarns where two separate yarns are wrapped around a core yarn.
The second layer of wrapping mainly serves to compensate the twist direction of the first layer.

With air covered yarns, the outer yarn is intermingled around the core yarn.
A non-elastic multilfilament yarn can for example be intermingled with an elasthane yarn that is in the core. This construction can be of help in certain embroidery applications.

In the example of Elasthane, a non elastic yarn gets wrapped around a twisted elasthane yarn. The elasthane is thus fully covered by the non elastic yarn which leads the yarn as a whole to have the look as well as the haptics of the non elastic yarn. However, the perks of elasthane are still to be noticed when wearing a fabric that is made out of such a core spun yarn by a much higher wear comfort for example.

Functional yarns that meet a growing number of customer demands
Technical yarns are materials with special resistance. Be it high chemical resistance, tensile strength, flame retardancy or functionality such as electrical conductivity. What if a piece of clothing would not only look good on you but would also keep you warm? What if it would also be water-repellent? And what if it had even more features, such as being wind-proof, able to maintain air circulation or act as an antibacterial layer? In today’s textile market, all of these attributes can be found, often even in combination with one another. This is the result if advanced technology becoming available in the textile industry, mainly in the form of functional yarns.

The advantages of functional yarns over classic ones

Functional yarn is responsible for the development of a whole range of new clothing categories that have not been known before. One of those categories is the entire line of athletic clothing, from warm-up clothes made from water-repellent fabric to stretchable sportswear that doesn’t falter and snaps back into shape when fast, dynamic movements are performed. The textiles worn by athletes in all kinds of sports often come with a range of other advantages apart from their elasticity and all of those have been made possible by the use of specialized yarns.

Enjoying the great outdoors thanks to functional yarns

It is not only clothing items where functional yarns play out their full strength, although that field is one of the most important. But yarns are also needed in many other areas and if you’re an outdoor person you will find a number of examples. Ropes for climbing, fishing lines, tents and many other items rely on yarns that can withstand adverse conditions and function fully even after many years of use. Moreover, yarns can also be found in many other applications, from compressive stockings furniture to materials needed for shielding and safety purposes.

Functional yarns come in many different varieties

One of the most sought-after commodities in the market for fabrics are elastic yarns. However, this is only one aspect of textiles that functional yarns can provide. There are also yarns that have the ability to discharge electrostatic, those that can shield from electromagnetic rays or yarns that can protect the wearer from heat or cold or even flames. All of these yarns require a meticulous manufacturing and quality monitoring process, which is why they should always be purchased from established, reputable suppliers.

A big name for functional yarns

In the world of functional yarns, buyers can choose among a large number of suppliers. However, it is important that buyers apply a rigorous quality testing regime before making a purchasing decision. For this type of yarns, it is of utmost importance that the products live up to their promises. For this reason, manufacturers such as Swiss company bäumlin & ernst ag usually are the address to go to. With proven quality, the ability to customize yarns and a long history of development experience, this supplier will reliably cater to all your needs.

What You Need To Know About Quick Dry Fabric
Nothing can equal the determination, strength, and stamina of athletes and outdoorsmen or women. Fabric technology can help athletes, travelers, and nature lovers to achieve their performance goals by overcoming natural challenges such as rising humidity levels, temperature changes, and sweat production.

Quick-dry fabrics – also called sweat-wicking of moisture-management fabrics – do just so. They help people feel fresh in any condition, reduce the visibility of sweat patches, and better regulate body temperature. As more people recognize the great potential of these fabrics, manufacturers and scientists have brought to life new types and started to test new applications. But no two quick-dry fabrics are the same! Here is all you need to know about selecting the right sweat-wicking fabric for your products.

Quick-dry fabrics are fabrics designed to absorb the sweat away from your body, pushing it towards the outer edge of the garment or footwear and facilitating natural evaporation. Quick-dry fabrics can be made of various materials, including natural and manmade fibers, among which the most common are merino wool, nylon, and polyester.

Natural fibers are those found in nature, which can be directly made into fabrics without chemical processing, while man-made fibers can be processed from natural raw materials or synthesized through chemical methods. Some man-made fibers take the multiple advantages of natural fibers to strengthen and integrate, combining the traits that natural fibers don’t obtain, such as antibacterial properties.

Today, the number of quick-dry fabrics and their application is skyrocketing, but these synthetic fabrics, such as nylon and polyester, are still a relatively new invention. In fact, in 1986, an American company called Invista pioneered the developing “Coolmax ”, which is a kind of polyester fabric and is breathable and sweat-wicking. It also made great progress in other synthetic fabrics like spandex and nylon. However, the patent for these revolutionary sweat-wicking fabrics was only filed in 1998 by Robert Kasdan and Stanley Kornblum. Until then, only minimally-wicking and natural fabrics were used, including cotton and wool.

However, after the initial introduction of moisture management fabrics, this technology continued to be developed. Today, moisture-wicking fabrics are those that can absorb the moisture and promote speedy evaporation, thus preventing the garment from becoming damp.

Since the production of sweat increases as the heart rate rises during exercise or strenuous activities, sweat-wicking fabrics can avoid the feeling of dampness. In addition, by keeping the body surface exposed to moisture below 50–65%, these fabrics can guarantee much higher comfort levels and better body temperature control.

Does Red Heart Heat Wave Yarn Work?
A few months ago, I started hearing about a new yarn by Red Heart called Heat Wave. It was launched at the perfect time. It was early fall and all of the knitters and crocheters I knew were starting to plan the projects they’d knit through the following season. The idea of a self-warming yarn intrigued us all. (Clearly Red Heart knows marketing!)

Heat Wave yarn is called “self-warming,” but technically it’s sun-warmed. The Heat Wave yarn promise is that it will be much warmer than a traditional yarn of the same weight and fiber. This yarn purportedly heats up 12° warmer than other yarns when it’s exposed to sunlight, even on cloudy days.

No wonder there was so much chatter. The potential seems endless!

Those who knit for charity were encouraged; they remarked that the temperature difference would be significant for homeless recipients of their knitwear.

Others were talking about the benefits for their loved ones who spend time outdoors: children, runners, hunters, and more.

Those who worked outdoors spoke up quickly, too. For the elementary school teacher assigned to bus duty and the woman whose granddaughter worked construction, a bump of a few degrees had definite appeal.

Heat Wave yarn is 100% acrylic. Each ball weighs in at 3.5 ounces (100 g) and is 198 yards (181 m) long. It’s a medium weight yarn with a recommended US size 8 needle (5.00 mm) or size I hook (5.50 mm). The colorways are named to evoke summertime nostalgia, like Ocean, Beach Ball, and Beach Bag.

Red Heart Heat Wave yarn is widely available at big box craft stores. The price point is comparable to other acrylic yarns.

So how does it work? While knitters are speculating that the arrangement of fibers could trap heat or that chemical washes could be the newly employed technology, Red Heart hasn’t shared the secret.

There were even some whispers that this is all just a marketing ploy. Beyond how it works was a more basic question.

The Best Yarns for Crochet Bikinis and Swimsuits
For those who have never worn the “right” crocheted/ knitted swimsuit before, would say that it will sag and carry water weight and fall to your knees!

Yes, I had the same thought too! When I just started making bikinis back in 2013, the first thing I did was to take the shower test. Did it slide down? Did it bulk up? No it did not.

Well, It didn’t because of a few tips and tricks I learned. Here’s what you need to know before making one.

The first and most important thing you will need to know is the yarn type. Yarns used for swimming and lounging would require a thing called Spandex!

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If you have never heard of Spandex, Spandex is an elastic synthetic fiber, also known as Lycra. Stronger and more durable than natural rubber.

Elastane fabric is made of natural and synthetic fibers to provide that stretch and recovery that you need in a swimsuit.

Cool right! That’s why this is so important to look for yarns with elastane to maintain the shape and to provide that extra stretch.

But remember not all spandex yarn works the same. It would have to be light preferably below category 3 like a DK or lightweight yarn.