help with weaving terms

[Fiona Dix]

Does anyone know what the abbreviations z-tw, s-tw, and z-sp might mean in these notes?

“Fragm. of grayish brown fabric of camel’s (?) hair-yarn. Warp double z-sp. threads (Th. 0.08cm), weft loosely woven of z-tw. threads (Th. 0.2-0.5cm). One s-tw. z-sp. hazel wool thread is sewn into the fabric. d. 4x2.”

thanks
Fiona

[Sandra Wyman]

I'm not a weaver but was a machine knitter for a time. I think the terms descibe the kind of twist in the yarn - weaving yarns have a z-twist, which makes them unsuitable for knitting (use weaving yarns for knitting and they go sort of diagonally sideways) I assume s-tw is a different kind of twist. Can't help with z-sp though

[Lasqueti Press/Linda Cunningham]

s-tw and z-tw refer to single ply yarns spun S or Z.
z-sp is two (or more, can't tell) singles spun Z but plied S.

[Fiona Dix]

Sandra and Linda - thank you very much - I really appreciate you taking the time to explain this.

Fiona

[Annica Lindsten]

Hi Fiona,

I think it means z-twisted, s-twisted and z-spun.
If a thread is z-twisted/spun it means it's twisted/spun clockwise. If it's s-twisted/spun it's twisted/spun anti-clockwise.

The reason for why it's called z and s is that if you look closely at a thread you will find diagonal lines. If they go up to the left and down to the right \ it looks like the middle part of the letter S. If they go up to the right and down to the left / it looks like the middle part of the letter Z.

I hope this is will be helpful!

[Fiona Dix]

Thanks Annica, it is - very helpful - and I love the way you used the slashes to illustrate it!

Fiona

[Fiona Dix]

thanks very much for your help, Mary - I've also learned that 'z' refers to the direction of the twist. There is a wonderful wealth of knowledge on this network :-)

Fiona

[Helen Suzanne]

your question has revealed such informative answers hasn't it! I'm spinning at last and would like to use my yarn in woven tapestry so the more info the better. Thanks for being here.

[Sandra Wyman]

It's not so much what we all know it's how much knowledge we can assemble when we put all our little bits of knowledge together - definitely a learning curve!