The structure of yarns

Yarns are made of fibres spun together.

There are different types of yarn. When making rope, we tend to use single-ply or double-ply yarn, but thin three-ply yarn can also be used.

Single-ply yarn is twisted in the same direction as the fibres. A simple and clear explanation of the twist direction is given here.

Two-ply yarn is made from twisting two single-ply yarns together in the opposite direction they are individually twisted.

Below is a table giving the natural orientation of a number of natural fibres and some yarn sample photos: