Recently I have made a few crepe yarns so I thought I would discuss how they are made and what they can be used for. Making a crepe yarn is straight-forward, although slightly involved, and the basic skills needed are the ability to spin a single and ply.
A crepe yarn is a 2-ply yarn with another yarn plied to it. (Contrasted with a three-ply yarn in which all the singles are plied together at the same time.) What is required when making this yarn is careful attention to the direction you are spinning so that you have the twist in your yarns correctly oriented. Here are the basic steps:
· Spin two single yarns in the Z, clockwise, direction
· Ply your two singles into a 2-ply yarn AND, most importantly, ply with a S, counterclockwise twist, giving it about TWICE the normal twist
· Spin a single yarn in the S direction
· Finally, ply in the Z direction this single spun in the S direction with your 2-ply (remember it was plied in the S direction) to create your crepe yarn
Your resulting crepe yarn will be nice and round and will have an interesting appearance and texture. When used in a simple pattern this yarn will give you a clear stitch definition. Because of the multiple plies, the crepe yarn has good strength and will stand up to abrasion and is less likely to pill. Many people use a crepe yarn to make socks.
A key point in making your crepe yarn is to have enough twist in the first ply (your 2-ply). If this ply does not have enough twist, it will not create the nice-looking crepe structure and can untwist (on the last ply) and simply look like parallel yarns. When I do this first ply, I use a whorl two sizes smaller than the one I would use to make a balanced 2-ply. What you can do if you finish your first ply and determine it does not have enough twist, is run it thru the wheel again adding more ply twist. The first ply needs all of that twist because it will get untwisted on the second ply. The second ply does not need as much twist; I use the same whorl size I use to spin the singles. Too much twist will, of course, not create a final balanced yarn and also create a crepe yarn without much texture; the final crepe will look all smooshed together.
If you look up making crepe yarns on the internet (e.g. You Tube) and various books, you will find some people say to start your initial two singles in the Z direction, as I did above, and then go from there and others will say to start your first two singles in the S direction and go from there. (i.e. reverse all the directions I did above.) I have done this both ways and have not seen that it makes a difference in how the final crepe yarn will be used but you can find some writers who suggest for certain uses of the yarn it can make a difference.
The basic crepe yarn uses the same color for the two singles that are plied together and a different color for the third ply. (See picture below.)
However, there are lots of interesting variations you can look at doing in making a crepe yarn that involve the colors you choose and the structure of your single. Following is a crepe yarn in which each single is a different color.
There are endless variations here: different colors for each single; different structures/types for each single, etc. You can also use colorful commercial thread (or a commercial yarn) for one of your singles for an interesting affect. (If you do this, you will need to add twist to this commercial yarn/thread to get the crepe look.)