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InternationalStandards
@InternationalStandards

I'm not going to hold myself to going sequentially through these standards, but you know what, it's a great way to start.

ISO 2 defines one small piece of terminology in textiles: when fibers are twisted this way (gestures at the left diagram in the header) that's called an "S" twist, and when they're twisted that way (gestures at the other diagram) that's called a "Z" twist, and when you look at the picture you can tell why. The blue yarn in the photo is Z-twisted and then S-twisted.

They don't tell you which to do. But it's good to keep track of and give a name to. When you're making yarn, for example, you'll want to spin the thinnest fibers together one way, then ply the twisted strands you spun together the other way.

This wonderfully clear web page explains how the S twist vs. Z twist relate to what you do with a spinning wheel, and why you might prefer to twist in the less usual way -- S and then Z -- if you're making yarn for crocheting.

Textile makers used this terminology long before ISO, of course. ISO's purpose is to write down something people are already doing. They're just saying, this is good terminology, so if we all use it we can understand each other.

ISO 2 was published in 1973, somehow before ISO 1 was converted to a numbered published standard in 1975. Unlike ISO 1, they have never needed to change it.


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in reply to @InternationalStandards's post:

That just made something click for me - the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art had an exhibition by Tauba Auerbach that was named S v Z after this! https://www.sfmoma.org/exhibition/tauba-auerbach-s-v-z/

The exhibition's book has an illustration of these spirals on its spine. It's kind of hard to read though, since all the text in the first half is skewed counterclockwise by an angle of 45°, and the text in the second half is skewed clockwise by 45°.