Single-Ply Merino

Plying is the process of twisting two or more strands together to make one strand of yarn. When multiple strands are twisted together, they are stronger than “single-ply” yarns. A single-ply yarn is a single strand that isn’t plied with another and spinning the yarn gives it its twist. Since single-ply yarn isn’t as strong, it will break if you pull on it tightly. In other words, you need to take care when working with it.

The characteristics of single-ply yarn include its smooth surface, lightness and fluffy texture. With wear, the yarn will become fuzzy. Compare this with plied yarn where strands are twisted together, compress each other and the fuzziness or “halo” effect is not as noticeable. The downside is that single-ply yarn tends to pill easily. As a maker, you do not want to rip out stitches and work the yarn over and over again. As the owner of a garment made with single-ply yarn, you will want to handle it gently when wearing and washing it.

Single-ply yarns are ideal for hand dyeing. The outer surface absorbs dye more easily. During the making or wearing of the garment, fibres slide across each other, unwind and twist to reveal the lighter inner core. It gets even more interesting when more than one dye is used. Some dyes penetrate more easily, resulting in variegation in colour, tint, and saturation. Malabrigo, the producer of the yarn featured, says on their website https://malabrigoyarn.com/yarns/rasta, “When we dye our yarns, the same formula is used each time but every batch of yarn may vary. The differences from one dye lot to another can be very subtle, or extremely noticeable, specially on variegated yarns.”