All about flax yarn

Linen yarn is one of the most popular today. This is an environmentally friendly material used by many needlewomen.... It is worth taking a closer look at the features and characteristics of such a yarn, to find out what exactly can be made from it.

Linen fabrics have a long history of use: robes made of this material were found even on the remains of Egyptian pharaohs. But the production of yarn from flax began to develop relatively recently. A garment knitted from yarn with linen retains all the characteristics of this natural material. Knitted clothes wrinkle much less than sewn from fabric.

Linen yarn is appreciated for its numerous positive properties, because it:

• extremely environmentally friendly;
• not electrified;
• durable, wear-resistant;
• breathable;
• able to remove heat and moisture;
• is a natural antiseptic: bacteria and fungus do not take root on it;
• relatively resistant to shrinkage;
• suitable for any season.

Clothes made from such yarn will be comfortable even on hot days: it will cool, absorb and evaporate moisture much faster than cotton or woolen fabric.

With all the advantages, linen material also has some disadvantages.

• The structure of the fibers prevents intense coloration. Therefore, the color palette includes mostly muted tones. But modern innovative dyeing technologies make it possible to achieve bright colors.
• Linen yarns are not particularly elastic and quite heavy. It is not recommended for use with embossed patterns and knitting an elastic band.
• Linen may shrink after washing.... It is recommended to tie a small sample, wash and dry, and then make the correct calculation of the loops, taking into account shrinkage.

The features of linen yarn include rigidity and even prickleness of finished products, since linen threads consist of bast fibers, which are sharpened at the tips. But this unpleasant characteristic only applies to unwashed things. Washing makes knits soft and tactile.

Linen yarn has several varieties:

• by composition: blended yarn and 100% linen;
• by the number of threads: single-strand and multi-strand;
• for coloring: natural gray-beige tones and richly colored.

Blended yarns, in which linen is combined with cotton, rayon, bamboo, silk, wool or other fibers, are produced to minimize the disadvantages of flax:

• soft cotton and viscose threads give the yarn additional softness and pleasant tactile sensations;
• bamboo perfectly complements flax, giving it softness and silkiness;
• silk gives knitted fabric a noble shine and smoothness;
• the addition of woolen thread makes the garment even warmer.

Blended knitting yarns are available in different fiber percentages. These mixes, containing threads of various characteristics, satisfy the tastes of the most demanding needlewomen. The varied thickness of the threads in the hands of skilled knitters makes it possible to create products that are fundamentally different from each other: delicate threads are used to make openwork products, from thick linen yarn - coarse snoods.

Among the manufacturers of linen yarn, the most famous are:

• Pehorskaya factory (Pekhorka), Semenovskaya factory, Troitskaya worsted factory (Russia);
• spinning and threading plant named after S. M Kirov (Belarus);
• Fibra Natura and Nako (Turkey);
• Schachenmayr (Germany);
• Lotus Yarns (China);
• Alpina (Bulgaria and Austria);
• Bergere de France (France);
• Rowan (UK);
• Katia (Spain).

The yarn is used for crocheting and knitting. It is ideal for airy openwork patterns and various combinations of satin stitches.

They knit from linen yarn:

• products for children, ranging from all kinds of details of the wardrobe of newborns (hats, overalls, pants, envelopes) to airy elegant dresses for little princesses;
• graceful summer clothes (openwork tops, T-shirts, sundresses, tunics);
• warm clothes for the winter season (cardigans, sweaters, shawls, snoods, scarves);
• convenient and comfortable sets for home wardrobe;
• interior items (tablecloths, napkins, baskets, rugs, panels);
• accessories (hats, headbands, bags).

Linen yarn is the choice of those who appreciate the high quality of natural materials.