Editing Plying (section)

{{Short description|Twisting two or more single strands of yarn together to produce stronger yarn}}
In the [[textile arts]], '''plying''' (from the French verb ''plier'',<ref>Collins Dictionary of the English Language, 2nd Edition, London, 1986, p.1181</ref> "to fold", from the Latin verb ''plico'', from the ancient Greek verb {{lang|grc|πλέκω}}.<ref>Cassell's Latin Dictionary, Marchant, J.R.V, & Charles, Joseph F., (Eds.), Revised Edition, 1928, p.421</ref>) is a process of twisting one or more [[String (structure)|strings]] (called strands or plies) of [[yarn]] together to create a stronger yarn.<ref>{{Cite book|title=An Introduction to Textile Terms|publisher=[[Textile Museum (Washington, D.C.)|The Textile Museum]]|year=1997|location=Washington, DC|pages=5}}</ref> Strands are twisted together in the direction opposite that in which they were [[spinning (textiles)|spun]]. Plied yarns will not unravel, break, or degrade as easily as unplied yarns. When enough twist is added to the plies to counter the initial twist of each strand, the resulting yarn is "balanced", having no tendency to twist upon itself. 

The number of strands used to make the yarn is usually the same as the number of plies it has. Two-ply yarn means two strands were used, three-ply yarn means three strands were used, etc. [[Embroidery thread|Embroidery floss]] is generally a six-ply yarn, for example.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Primary Structures of Fabrics|last=Emery|first=Irene|publisher=[[Textile Museum (Washington, D.C.)|The Textile Museum]] and Watson-Guptill Publications|year=1995|isbn=0-8230-4394-0|location=New York, NY|pages=10}}</ref> There are some exceptions to this, most notably in [[#Chain plying|chain plying]].