Indian yam

Much of the wool classed as East Indian is collected from the adjacent countries. Indian wools are mostly sent to Liverpool, where they are sold by auction every two months. All contain much grey hair. Joria is the finest type. The best sort gives a springy, full yam and cloth, but the lower sorts are coarse and burry. Kandahar are good carpet wools, used largely for native Indian carpet manufacture. Kelat, from Beluchistan, is inferior and shorter in staple than Kandahar. Pao Pathan is similar. Kashmir goat wool resembles poor sheep wool. Tibet wool is brought over the frontier, sold, and packed in Calcutta. This wool requires much sorting. The export has increased largely in recent years owing to the opening up of the country. The Punjab Government has bestowed some attention on the improvement of the indigenous breed of sheep, and merino rams are said to have fared well in two districts. The Civil Veterinary Department, Lucknow, United Provinces, concerns itself with the improvement of breeds. Bombay and Karachi are the principal ports of export for Indian wools.

(See knitting). All yarns used for knitting are termed hosiery yarns in Leicester, but in America only yarns actually used for knitted footwear come under this term. These yarns are much softer than required for weaving. Miscellaneous Yarns - Goat wools, such as llama and alpaca are employed in spinning. yarns for the knitting trade. Vicuna and camel yarns are used to a limited extent. Ramie yarn is specially employed for knitting gas mantle fabrics. Soft spun flax yams have been used for making underwear fabric. Chenille and other manufactured threads are used to a small extent in warp knitting. Composite yarns, such as union yarns - spun from a mixture of wool and cotton fibres; cordon yarns - cotton and worsted singles, doubled together; wool and rayon or spun silk, cotton and rayon or spun silk are largely used to produce self or two-colour effects. Fancy yarns, such as slub yams, voiles, and curled and loop yarns are also employed. Hosiery Yarns (Cotton) include condenser, hosiery, condenser lisle thread, mercerised and sewing cottons. Condenser yarns are spun in coarse counts from low-grade cotton, Indian and American. They are carded, condensed and mule spun, and possess little twist. Hosiery cotton yarns vary considerably in counts and qualities, practically all varieties of Indian, American and Egyptian being used in varying proportions to obtain suitable mixture for quality and price. Cheaper yarns are carded and mule spun. American and Egyptian cotton yarns are combed mainly with the object of removing seed particles. High-class Egyptian and Sea Islands cotton yarns are super-combed. The chief features of a hosiery cotton yam should be: (1) Regularity; (2) cleanliness; (3) fullness. Regularity prevents the making of cloudy fabric, showing thick and thin places. Cleanliness is essential, as the seed particles clog the eyelet hole in the yam guides and cause breakages. Fullness is desirable to cover the loop interstices. Elasticity and pliability are quite as essential as tensile strength. Yams are usually soft spun and if two-fold soft doubled, average twists in two-fold being 2/10's 6¹/₂T., 2/20's 8¹/₂T., 2/30's 10T., 2/40's 16T., 2/80's 20T. Softer twist less 25 to 30 per cent of average (T= turns per inch). Lisle thread is a comparatively hard-twisted and doubly-gassed thread in which there are no projecting fibres. It is always of a two-fold character, and the doubling twist varies from 24 to 34 turns per inch in 2/60's. It is used largely in the manufacture of ladies' hose tops and feet and for lace hosiery. Mercerised yams are used largely in the fancy trade, a comparatively soft twist again being employed. Sewing cottons for seaming, linking and making-up are specially prepared in two to six cord open and reverse twist. Woollen and Worsted Yarns include lamb's wool, wheeling, skein yarns, gala yams (woollens), worsted, crossbreds, fingering, cashmere, dry spun botany (see under each name). Worsted and crossbred yarns of various qualities are used. These yams are spun softly with " hosiery twist." The drawing may be open, cone or French, and the spinning may take place on cap, ring or flyer frames. The chief essentials of hosiery yarn are softness of fibre, fullness, minimum of twist consistent with the requisite tensile strength, regularity, pliability and elasticity. Cashmere Yarns, as used in the knitted goods industry, are spun from short, loose and weak wools as well as from better qualities by French drawing and mule spinning. A small proportion of real cashmere is used for outer garments. In recent years nylon yarns have been largely employed.

Much of the wool classed as East Indian is collected from the adjacent countries. All contain much grey hair, Joria is the finest type. The best sort gives a springy, full yam and cloth, hut the lower sorts are ccarse and burry. Kandahar are good carpet wools used largely for native Indian carpet manufacture. Kelat from Beluchistan, is inferior and shorter in staple than Kandahar. Poa Pathan is similar. Kashmir goat wool resembles poor sheep wool. Tibet wool is brought over the frontier, sold and packed in Calcutta. This wool requires much sorting. The export has increased largely in recent years owing to the opening up of the country. Bombay and Karachi are the principal ports of export.

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Indian-made carpets. Goat's hair yam is used for pile on a jute or cotton ground. The pile has a beautiful lustre, finer, even than silk. Patterns are of the fantastic geometrical character. The ends of the warp and weft terminate in a web-like prolongation and these are striped in colours to give a fancy fringe.

A striped East Indian fabric made of bast fibres mixed with silk. Made on hand looms in twill weaves. The yam usually contained about 10 per cent of silk.