Article Info

Article Title
The Law of Diminishing Returns
Author
Greta Cornejo
Issue date
Spring 2024
Issue number
44
Description
The law of diminishing returns is the principle that after a certain point, increasing a particular input (such as more plies in a yarn) will result in progressively smaller increases in the result. Have you ever wondered how adding more plies to a yarn affects its thickness, durability, and other qualities? As spinners, we know adding plies makes a yarn thicker than the singles, and when working with 2-ply and 3-ply yarns in knitting, we notice how yarnovers in lace with 2-ply yarns open to create a more dramatic lace. We also know yarns with more plies take longer to spin and usually pill less than a singles yarn. So when is it worth adding another ply to our yarn construction? That’s what we’re going to find out!
Article topic list
2-ply, 3-ply, 4-ply and beyond, durability