Fat draw is the

spinning Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

technique used to create

worsted Worsted ( or ) is a high-quality type of wool yarn, the fabric made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from Worstead, a village in the English county of Norfolk. That village, together with North Walsham and Aylsham, for ...

yarns. It is spun from combed

roving A roving is a long and narrow bundle of fiber. Rovings are produced during the process of making spun yarn from wool fleece, raw cotton, or other fibres. Their main use is as fibre prepared for spinning, but they may also be used for specialised ...

, slivers or

wool top Topmaking mills make ''wool top'', a semi-processed product from raw wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as ...

– anything with the fibers all lined up parallel to the yarn. It is generally spun from long stapled fibers. Short draw spun yarns are smooth, strong, sturdy yarns, and dense. Huebscher Rhoades, Carol. "Spinning Basics: The Short Draw." ''SpinOff'' Spring 2005: 30–31. Short draw spun yarns also tend to not be very elastic. These characteristics make them good for use in

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal th ...

. Short draw spinning is most often contrasted to the

long draw Long draw is the spinning (textiles), spinning technique used to create woolen yarns. It is spun from carding, carded rolags. It is generally spun from shorter staple (wool), stapled fibers. Long draw spun yarns are light, lofty, stretchy, soft, ...

technique used to spin

woolen Woolen (American English) or woollen (Commonwealth English) is a type of yarn made from carded wool. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air. It is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting yarn. Woolen yarn is in contrast t ...

yarns.

Technique

The two main characteristics of the short draw technique is that the spinner keeps their hands close to each other, at slightly more than the distance of the fiber length or staple length, and that the twist is kept between the second hand and the wheel – there is never any twist between the two hands. There are three subtypes within the short draw technique, depending on which hand is active. In forward short draw, the hand closest to the wheel is the active hand. The passive hand stays in the same place throughout, gently holding the fibers fanned out into a triangle shape known as the drafting triangle. The active hand moves forward as it pulls fibers from the drafting triangle, and then back as it allows twist into the newly created yarn. Generally about an inch of fibers are pulled from the drafting technique, much less than the fiber length. While drafting (pulling the fibers from the drafting triangle) the twist is kept out of the yarn, and is only allowed in as the active hand moves back towards the passive one. The twist is never allowed to get between the active and the passive hand. When the active hand is back at the distance of the staple length from the passive, the whole technique repeats. Huebscher Rhoades, Carol. "Spinning Basics: The Short Draw." ''SpinOff'' Spring 2005: 30–31. In backwards short draw, the hand closest to the wheel is the passive hand. It pinches new fibers, but these are drawn out by the other hand, the one farther from the wheel, as it moves backwards. Once the fibers are all drawn out, the active hand is moved forward, and twist is allowed into the new yarn as it passes through the passive hand. The difference between backwards and forwards short draw is simply which hand is active. In each, one hand is active, and the other is passive. The combination short draw is simply a combination of the other two, with both hands being both active and passive, depending on the moment.

Preparation

Traditional preparation for short draw spinning is

combing Combing is a method for preparing carded fibre for spinning. Combing is divided into linear and circular combing. The Noble comb is an example of circular combing. The French comb is an example of linear combing. The process of combing is ac ...

, as combing requires the long stapled fibers preferred for the short draw technique, and it also leaves the fibers parallel, which is a characteristic of short draw spun yarns. The combed fiber can then be drafted to form a

sliver Sliver may refer to: Entertainment *Sliver (novel), ''Sliver'' (novel), a 1991 novel by Ira Levin **Sliver (film), ''Sliver'' (film), a 1993 film adaptation of the novel **Sliver (soundtrack), ''Sliver'' (soundtrack), the soundtrack to the 1993 fi ...

(if the fibers are twisted slightly after drafting, it is called a roving—if not, it is a sliver), or spun directly. The short draw technique can be done from carded

rolag A rolag (Scottish Gaelic: roileag) is a roll of fibre generally used to spin woollen Woolen (American English) or woollen (Commonwealth English) is a type of yarn made from carded wool. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air. ...

s, as well, but this does not produce a strictly

yarn. Yarns spun from a rolag will not have all the fibers parallel to the yarn though, with the short draw technique, many will be. Drum carded fiber, however, does have the fibers all parallel to each other, and thus can be used to create a strictly worsted yarn.

In use

Short draw is one of, if not the first method that a handspinner will learn when they learn to spin. It is simpler, and requires less confidence and practice to create an even yarn, than the long draw technique. However, many handspinners will use a combination of short draw and long draw techniques. For example, it is common for a handspinner to allow the twist to get between the two hands, as is done in long draw. Though the spinner may follow the short draw technique in all other points, this is not technically short draw, and doesn't have a commonly recognized name of its own. Short draw is much more widespread in its use than long draw, as many spinners do not know how to use the long draw technique. The lack of elasticity in short draw spun yarns make them perfect for weaving, especially for the

warp Warp, warped or warping may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books and comics * WaRP Graphics, an alternative comics publisher * ''Warp'' (First Comics), comic book series published by First Comics based on the play ''Warp!'' * Warp (comics), a ...

. It makes them less desirable for

knitting Knitting is a method by which yarn is manipulated to create a textile, or fabric. It is used to create many types of garments. Knitting may be done by hand or by machine. Knitting creates stitches: loops of yarn in a row, either flat or i ...

in general, as the yarn doesn't fluff up and fill out the stitch, though it does make for good stitch definition. The original spinning machinery was based on the short draw technique. Instead of an active and passive hand, the drafting was done by two sets of rollers moving at different speeds. However, the short draw characteristics remain: the fibers in the resulting yarn are all parallel, and there is no twist in the drafting area. Even in the modern day, many spinning machines are based on this principle.

References

{{Spinning Spinning