Understanding S & Z Twist

 

Having the initials P S Z, I offer this hint to my students. Think of how your hand moves when you BEGIN to print a big letter Z, your hand moves to the right in the same direction we read, and the same as the hands on an old-fashioned clock. 

So, when you start the drive wheel the same way as you start the letter Z, moving to the right you are making Z twist, like the gray yarn shown here. 

• Z twist 
• Right-hand twist
• The wheel or spindle going clockwise as you look at it 

Those terms all describe the same twist direction Z, the "conventional" (but not required) direction for singles. 

Furthermore, when a fiber that was standing straight up is pushed to the right by your hand (starting like the letter Z) you have the forward slash - / and a visual of the slant you look for when trying to identify Z twist in a singles yarn that is already spun. 

Fortunately, it also holds that if you BEGIN to print a large letter S, your hand moves to the left which is backward to reading and clock hands, so it is counterclockwise. 

When you start the wheel by moving it to the left, like the start of the letter S, you are making an S twist, left-hand twist, and counterclockwise twist. And the other good news your fiber visual will be like a back(ward) slash \ and the slant you will see on S spun fibers looks like the twist on the multicolor yarn here. By the way, it is always easier to see on thicker yarn. 

Likewise, the above terms are all describing the same S direction, the "conventional" (not required) direction for plying, as shown on the blue control yarn in the lower photo.

• S Twist 
• Left-hand twist
• The wheel or spindle going counterclockwise as you look at it 

In textile technology, the correct terms to describe twist are still only Z and S.  

Incidentally, for me knowing how to identify spinning S & Z was the only way I could tell which slash was which on a computer keyboard when doing computer addresses. 

 Backslash - S \ or Z / - Forward slash. 

Patsy Sue Zawistoski