In the preparation stage, it is possible to create two types of fancy yarn: yarns with loose hairs and knop yarns.
In the first case, the effect is obtained by adding loose hairs to the blend, giving the yarn a fuzzy appearance and a silky hand. The presence of loose hairs generally necessitates three passages through the blending chambers, the second one involving an extended pause, long enough to allow the blend to “rest”.
Loose hairs are generally fibres of animal origin (sheep, camel, reindeer), although sometimes synthetic fibres can be used (Trital, three-lobe fibres). These however give the yarn a more “brindled” appearance.
In the second case, the fancy yarn is obtained by adding pills of felted wool to the blend. Again, the blend must pass through the blending chambers three times, in order to ensure even distribution of the pills in the blend. To prevent opening of the pills during carding, the initial slashing should be particularly thick as it will be gradually eliminated along the carding line.
The presence of the pills gives rise to a diffuse and uneven swelling of the yarn section along its entire length. This is a result of the imperfect carding and the colour, too, will have a melange appearance.

In carding it is possible to obtain knop, malfilé and slub yarns.

The first, obtained through the insertion (using a special distributor) of pills on the second card web, will have a different appearance from the type described earlier. In this case, carding is carried out according to the normal slashing parameters, therefore the section of the yarn is larger only in the proximity of the pill, whose colour stands out and therefore does not give rise to a melange effect.
A malfilé yarn is characterised by its unevenly distributed thick and thin places. This yarn can be obtained using a blend of long fibres (L > 40 mm), which account for 60-70% of the total and short, noil-type fibres, accounting for the remaining 30-40%. This undergoes imperfect carding, with thick slashing for resisting the action of worker and stripper cylinders and comber rollers.
To obtain a slub yarn, carding is carried out as normal and the effect is inserted at the stage of the condenser card, prior to the divider.

A special, computerised device, programmed according to the size and frequency of the slubs, intervenes pneumatically on the fly cylinder, increasing both its descent on the drum and, therefore, its extraction of fibres from the clothings.
On the spinning machine, meanwhile, it is possible to produce doubled yarns, obtained by feeding two or more rovings into the machine’s draft range: the resulting yarn is bulky with few twists.
Another interesting opportunity is offered by the friction spinning machine, which, normally employed to produce yarns for technical uses (automotive industry, protective clothing, filters…) and for the furnishing sector (covers, carpets), can also be employed to produce fancy yarns.