Tartan Weight

[M. A. C. Newsome]

What is the difference in Strome and 16oz Heavy Weight & Worsted Wool ?

Like Ron said, "Strome" is simply Lochcarron's name for their range of 16 oz weight (heavy) cloth. Other mills will have different proprietary names, for example, Strathmore called their 16 oz W100 and their 13 oz W60. Dalgleish calls their 16 oz K/1. I'm not sure why, but there you go.

"Worsted" does not refer to the weight of the cloth, but the type of yarn it is woven from. Most all kilt cloth today is worsted. Without going into the technical details, worsted wool has that smooth, non-fuzzy feel to it. A generation or so ago, it used to be much more common for kilt makers to offer a choice between worsted wool and saxony. The latter has a softer, fuzzier texture. But it fell in popularity, and now pretty much every mill offers the worsted only. Regimental weight cloth, by the way, is woven with worsted yarns in one direction and saxony in the other (can never recall which is warp and which is weft). This is why Regimental cloth has that "fuzzier" feel to it.

[Spc. Scott]

~snip~

Regimental weight cloth, by the way, is woven with worsted yarns in one direction and saxony in the other (can never recall which is warp and which is weft). This is why Regimental cloth has that "fuzzier" feel to it.

I just got a kilt in regimental weight and was curious why it looked the way it looked. Thanks Matt!

[Robertson]

Thanks Matt and to add, this is what Kathy Lare said A Strome tartan is woven with a slightly different loom which adds a twist to the wool which makes it more durable, therefore a bit more expensive. It is carried by Lochcarron who name the weights of their wools as 16 oz. Strome, 13 oz. Braeriach, 11 oz. Reiver. The Scottish mills all carry fine wools. I had asked Kathy the same question. Hope she doesn't mind me putting it on here. Thanks all of you for
the help...