If you are a knitter, chances are that you have came across the term "ply" together with a number (1ply, 2ply, 3ply, 4ply ect). In this post, i will dive a bit deeper into the meaning and importance of ply.
First, a clearance in terms:
Ply was used as a term of the thickness of yarn, especially in UK and Australia, and sometimes, this term can still be found in some yarn manufacturies, especially 4ply.
But as the spinning techniques and different yarn fibers has entered the yarn shops - ply has less and less to do with thickness or weight.
(In Norway we have a history of talking about gauge and not plys and weight, and it may sometimes be confusing.)
What ply first and foremost tells us, is how many threads are spun together to make up the yarn. It can be 1 or many.
If you do take a look into your own yarn stash and find a few different yarns. You can unspin the end of the yarn and count how many threads are spun together, this makes up the number of ply.
When it comes to thickness in the yarn, it depends on what country you are buying yarn in or where the pattern designer is from.
Eks:
Sunday by Sandnes Garn
Norway: 28 stitches in 10 cm / 4"
USA: Fingering
England: 2ply
Australia: 3ply
1 ply
1 ply is made up of 1 thread of fibers that is twisted. This type of thread is normally not as robust compared to 2ply or more. If you unspin the yarn and tug the thread, it will easily break. It is also less elastic and has less stitch definition. There is of course exceptions of this rule when it comes to length of the fibers and what type of fiber that is spun. For example - a 1 ply wool and 1 ply silk mohair will be very different to knit with. They are both 1ply, but when you can easily break the wool, you´ll need scissors to break the silk mohair, but they will both have little to no elasticity.
2ply and more.
When two ore more threads are spun together we call it 2ply, 3ply, 4ply ect. You can count the number of threads by untwisting the end of the yarn. In the picture to the right, you can see how a yarn with multiple ply´s look like. A yarn with 2 or more threads will be more robust, more elastic and have more stitch definition, but all depending of the fiber content.
Some threads are also spun together with threads of other types of fibers to keep the quality of different fibers. And some threads are spun together with threads of a different color to create beautiful color combinations.
This does not mean that one type is better than the other, but that they all have different qualities.
Ply does primarily play a part in the yarns
- Elasticity
- Robustness
- Stitch Definitioin
It is also possible to knit with different yarns held together. When knitting with silk mohair, a lot of patterns will include a strand of wool of 2 or more plys. The silk mohair will give the project softness and fluff, and the wool will keep the elasticity, robustness and of course keep you warm.
With that in mind, I hope your next knitting project will be a sucsess! And please leave a comment if you have any other tips og questions for this post.
- Lina <3
