'Fancy yarns' are those produced with some deliberate discontinuity introduced either into the color or form of the article with the intention of producing an enhanced aesthetic impression. Most fancy yarns are produced by specialist spinners using machines modified or specially developed for the purpose; others are produced from 'fancy slivers' used as minor components of yarns made by spinners with normal equipment; still others are made exclusively by filament yarns, using adaptations of the air jet texturizing process.This is the first reference book to be devoted to the design and manufacture of these complex yarns. It describes the major yarn types, yarn structures and manufacturing processes. It provides a detailed analysis of all types of fancy yarns, not only in terms of the technical requirements for their production, but also in relation to their impact on fabric and garment design and the marketing effort required to place them effectively within the market as a whole.The text is well illustrated with diagrams, drawings and black and white and color photographs of yarn structures and the equipment used to create them. It contains close-ups of the yarns themselves together with an analysis to show how appearance and texture can be varied by changing the feedstock or machine settings. Textile historians and conservationists will find the book especially useful in helping to identify yarn types in historical fabrics and in developing an understanding of the variety of yarns available in antiquity and typical uses for them.