<p>As @abbie has explained, yarn is created by using twist to "stick" short fibers (of wool, or cotton, or hemp, or linen, or...) together to make a longer strand. When you spin yarn, you have to add twist to connect all of the shorter individual fibers together into a continuous longer piece of yarn. The more twist you add, the stronger the individual strand of yarn will be. Yarn that is made from one bunch of fiber twisted together is called single-spun, or is known as "singles".</p>

<p>Spinners talk about a twist as having energy; imagine a spring--when you push down on the spring you are building up energy, and when you let go, the spring pops back up to its neutral position, releasing that energy. Single-spun yarn with a high-level of twist is called "energized" and will tend to want to kink up on itself, and even after it is knit or woven into a garment, it will create an uneven fabric. This bag was knit with energized singles to, as the blog author put it, "create deeply textured effects."
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/hexIu.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/hexIu.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>It is the energy created by twist that leads a cord to want to untwist--it is trying to release the built up energy by untwisting. The way that spinners deal with this is that they twist two singles together in the opposite direction of the first spin. Because you are twisting the two strands in the opposite direction from the original twist, the energy that would go towards untwisting tends to balance out. This process is called plying, and the goal is to create "balanced" yarn. You can tell that a yarn is balanced by letting a loop hang--if it hangs freely, without forming kinks, it is balanced.</p>

<p>You mention in the comments that you are going to try using a braided cord, as per @whrrgarbl's suggestion. If you can't find a braided yarn that will work for you, another suggestion might be to double the strands that are hanging down--i.e. cut a piece of rope with a distance twice as long as the distance between the ceiling and the top of the lamp. Slide this cord through a hook (either on the lamp or the ceiling) and knot the other end together.  The two strands of the cord should work against each other and keep the cord from untwisting. </p>

<p>I know this goes far beyond what you needed to solve your particular problem, but I wanted to add more detail to better respond to your question about "chirality-neutral" string, and why there really is no way to "twist the yarn in a neutral manner." </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-21T14:20:45.843Z
Thanks for the info! Not so sure if "balanced" yarn would prevent the spinning. Braided yarn/filament *feels like* it would have the most resistance to twisting at rest (as compared to "balanced" yarn and possibly even Chenille), so I'll probably give that a try first. Also, I realized that while I intended the "*light* hanging object" I mentioned in my comment to the other answer might be taken to mean the opposite of heavy, it might be taken to mean the thing that emits electromagnetic radiation in the visible spectrum. I think you might have interpreted it as the latter; sorry about that :/
Bernard
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-21T21:30:56.607Z
I wasn't at all confused by your use of "light," but I appreciate the clarification just in case.  I agree that going with braided yarn is going to be your best bet--even a balanced yarn will definitely want to unspin over time. That's why I suggested using a double loop of yarn if the braided yarn doesn't work out, once you loop the yarn, the two ends will essentially be wound in opposite directions, and their tendency to spin will hopefully cancel each other out.
magerber
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-22T10:28:39.093Z
Could you please elaborate on the double loop?  If I take a piece of right-handed yarn and flip it, the yarn would still be right-handed, so the tendency to spin is still in the same direction, no?
Bernard
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-20T16:08:03.173Z
2017-06-20T16:08:03.173Z
magerber
<p>String and rope are usually composed of a few smaller threads twirled into a larger thread:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/Q5x7p.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Q5x7p.jpg" alt="Twisted string"></a></p>

<p>This causes the resultant string to tend to twist itself one direction more than the other.  In addition, when twisted in the direction opposite to the twirl, the string will unravel itself, and the result is ugly.</p>

<p>Are there string that has been twirled in a chirality-neutral manner (i.e. the string does not have an intrinsic "left/right-handedness"), so that it won't unravel when twisted in either direction?</p>

<p>Googling "chirality-neutral string" and "non-handed string" doesn't yield any good results, but obviously I'm not getting the name correct.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-20T12:21:59.363Z
What about braided cord? It's woven instead of spun, so it wouldn't separate due to twisting. You can get pretty thin and strong cord nowadays too (like paracord).
user812786
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-20T12:30:59.897Z
Yes, I think braided yarn might be the answer!  I don't need it to be particularly strong, so normal yarn should work.  Thanks!
Bernard
<string>
Chirality-neutral string
Bernard
# Chirality-neutral string

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-06-20)

String and rope are usually composed of a few smaller threads twirled into a larger thread:

[![Twisted string](https://i.sstatic.net/Q5x7p.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/Q5x7p.jpg)

This causes the resultant string to tend to twist itself one direction more than the other. In addition, when twisted in the direction opposite to the twirl, the string will unravel itself, and the result is ugly.

Are there string that has been twirled in a chirality-neutral manner (i.e. the string does not have an intrinsic "left/right-handedness"), so that it won't unravel when twisted in either direction?

Googling "chirality-neutral string" and "non-handed string" doesn't yield any good results, but obviously I'm not getting the name correct.

**Tags:** string

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: What about braided cord? It's woven instead of spun, so it wouldn't separate due to twisting. You can get pretty thin and strong cord nowadays too (like paracord).  
> **username_0**: Yes, I think braided yarn might be the answer!  I don't need it to be particularly strong, so normal yarn should work.  Thanks!  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-06-20. Score: 2

As @abbie has explained, yarn is created by using twist to "stick" short fibers (of wool, or cotton, or hemp, or linen, or...) together to make a longer strand. When you spin yarn, you have to add twist to connect all of the shorter individual fibers together into a continuous longer piece of yarn. The more twist you add, the stronger the individual strand of yarn will be. Yarn that is made from one bunch of fiber twisted together is called single-spun, or is known as "singles".

Spinners talk about a twist as having energy; imagine a spring--when you push down on the spring you are building up energy, and when you let go, the spring pops back up to its neutral position, releasing that energy. Single-spun yarn with a high-level of twist is called "energized" and will tend to want to kink up on itself, and even after it is knit or woven into a garment, it will create an uneven fabric. This bag was knit with energized singles to, as the blog author put it, "create deeply textured effects."
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/hexIu.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/hexIu.jpg)

It is the energy created by twist that leads a cord to want to untwist--it is trying to release the built up energy by untwisting. The way that spinners deal with this is that they twist two singles together in the opposite direction of the first spin. Because you are twisting the two strands in the opposite direction from the original twist, the energy that would go towards untwisting tends to balance out. This process is called plying, and the goal is to create "balanced" yarn. You can tell that a yarn is balanced by letting a loop hang--if it hangs freely, without forming kinks, it is balanced.

You mention in the comments that you are going to try using a braided cord, as per @whrrgarbl's suggestion. If you can't find a braided yarn that will work for you, another suggestion might be to double the strands that are hanging down--i.e. cut a piece of rope with a distance twice as long as the distance between the ceiling and the top of the lamp. Slide this cord through a hook (either on the lamp or the ceiling) and knot the other end together. The two strands of the cord should work against each other and keep the cord from untwisting.

I know this goes far beyond what you needed to solve your particular problem, but I wanted to add more detail to better respond to your question about "chirality-neutral" string, and why there really is no way to "twist the yarn in a neutral manner."

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks for the info! Not so sure if "balanced" yarn would prevent the spinning. Braided yarn/filament *feels like* it would have the most resistance to twisting at rest (as compared to "balanced" yarn and possibly even Chenille), so I'll probably give that a try first. Also, I realized that while I intended the "*light* hanging object" I mentioned in my comment to the other answer might be taken to mean the opposite of heavy, it might be taken to mean the thing that emits electromagnetic radiation in the visible spectrum. I think you might have interpreted it as the latter; sorry about that :/  
> **username_2**: I wasn't at all confused by your use of "light," but I appreciate the clarification just in case.  I agree that going with braided yarn is going to be your best bet--even a balanced yarn will definitely want to unspin over time. That's why I suggested using a double loop of yarn if the braided yarn doesn't work out, once you loop the yarn, the two ends will essentially be wound in opposite directions, and their tendency to spin will hopefully cancel each other out.  
> **username_0**: Could you please elaborate on the double loop?  If I take a piece of right-handed yarn and flip it, the yarn would still be right-handed, so the tendency to spin is still in the same direction, no?  

---

