Editing Worsted (section)

{{Short description|Fabrics manufactured from worsted yarns}}
[[File:Girl's blue worsted wool dress - DPLA - 842dcae8d89285714cdadde9daaf6a02 (page 1).jpg|thumb|A blue worsted wool girl's dress from the United States, made in approximately 1878, from the collection of [[Conner Prairie]].]]
'''Worsted''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|ɜːr|s|t|ᵻ|d}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|ʊ|s|t|ᵻ|d}}) is a high-quality type of wool [[yarn]], the [[fabric]] made from this yarn, and a [[yarn weight]] category. The name derives from [[Worstead]] (from [[Old English]]  ''Wurðestede'', "enclosure place"), a village in the  [[England|English]] county of [[Norfolk]]. That village, together with [[North Walsham]] and [[Aylsham]], formed a manufacturing centre for yarn and cloth in the 12th century, when pasture [[enclosure]] and [[liming (soil)|liming]] rendered the East Anglian soil too rich for the older agrarian sheep breeds. In the same period, many weavers from the [[County of Flanders]] moved to Norfolk.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://worsteadpc.norfolkparishes.gov.uk/category/worstead-heritage-trail/ |title=Worstead Heritage Trail &#124; Worstead Parish Council |publisher=Worsteadpc.norfolkparishes.gov.uk |date=26 July 2012 |access-date=15 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worstead.co.uk/history_village.htm |title=Worstead History - The Village |website=www.worstead.co.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927035226/http://www.worstead.co.uk/history_village.htm |archive-date=27 September 2011 }}</ref>  "Worsted" yarns/fabrics are distinct from [[woollen]]s (though both are made from sheep's wool): the former is considered stronger, finer, smoother, and harder than the latter.

Worsted was made from the long-staple pasture wool from [[List of breeds of sheep|sheep breeds]] such as [[Teeswater (sheep)|Teeswater]]s, [[English Leicester (sheep)|Old Leicester Longwool]] and [[Romney (sheep)|Romney Marsh]]. Pasture wool was not [[Carding|card]]ed; instead it was washed, gilled and [[combing|comb]]ed (using heated long-tooth metal combs), oiled and finally spun. When woven, worsteds were scoured but not [[fulling|full]]ed.<ref name="Jenkins">{{cite book |last=Jenkins |first=Geraint |title=The wool textile industry in Great Britain|publisher=Routledge Keegan Paul|year=1972|pages=[https://archive.org/details/wooltextileindus0000unse/page/26 26–33] |chapter=Chapter 2 |isbn=0710069790 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/wooltextileindus0000unse/page/26}}</ref>

Both worsted and woolen spun wool are used for knitted fabrics.<ref name="Moreno2016">{{cite book | first= Jillian |last=Moreno | date = 23 August 2016 | title = Yarnitecture: A Knitter's Guide to Spinning: Building Exactly the Yarn You Want |chapter=Fiber Preparations| publisher = Storey Publishing | pages = 41–42 | isbn = 978-1-61212-521-3 | oclc = 1090567721}}</ref> Worsted wool fabric is typically used in the making of tailored garments such as suits. In tropical-weight worsteds, the use of tightly spun, straightened wool combined with a looser weave permits air to flow through the fabric. Worsted is also used for [[carpet]]s, [[clothing]], [[hosiery]], [[glove]]s and [[baize]].