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@triber wrote:I have no idea what most of these are, what knitting yarn has filaments?
artificial filament
artificial monofilament
artificial staple fibre
synthetic filament
synthetic monofilament
synthetic staple fibre
vegetable textile fibre
I guess I could put it all under other textile material
As a textile historian, maybe I can help with this one. "Filament" in textile manufacturing refers to the "strand" of which textiles, yarns and things like carpets are made of. Many filaments are twisted to form a larger strand, which can then be woven into cloth, carpets, etc. or twisted with other strands to form hanks of yarn.
"Artificial" means a chemical filament, i.e. not a product derived from a natural source. Examples of artificial filament are polyester (made from petroleum), nylon, Orlon, Dacron and other chemical derivatives. The difference between filament, monofilament and staple fibre is in the manufacturing process -- a monofilament is a single, uninterrupted, extruded strand (like a wire) -- think very thin, unbroken spaghetti. Nylon is often produced in monofilament -- invisible nylon thread is an example, or fishing line.
An artificial filament is usually 2, 3 or 4 strands tightly spun together. Most artificial garment textiles and yarns are examples, as are most polyester sewing threads. An artificial staple fibre is one that consists of spun elements of shorter lengths, producing a softer, fluffier texture, depending on length and fineness. Polyester intended for garments that mimic wool would be an example of something made from an artificial staple fibre.
A nylon knitting yarn is an artificial product, and if it's soft and lightweight, probably an artificial staple fibre. The same applies for Orlon knitting yarns. I doubt it really matters which of the 3 types you pick, as long as you choose one of the "artificial" item codes.
The same designations apply to synthetic fibres - filament, monofilament and staple fibre. Synthetic fibres are man-made but derived from natural sources. These are the rayons, cuprominiums, Tencel and other synthetically-produced fibres that use plant material as the raw input, which is then chemically treated in various ways to produce a finished product. Most cheap rayon is made from wood fibre, but there are new rayons made from bamboo and other plant products. Because they are inherently weak fibres, they do not make good monofilaments, and are usually spun into multi-strand filaments during the extrusion process.
Natural fibres can also be classified according to whether they are filament, monofilament or staple fibres. Silk is a good example of a fibre that can be easily produced in all 3 types. Cotton, linen and wool can't be produced as monofilaments unless highly treated chemically (and then what would be the point?). They are almost always staple fibres, of varying fineness and length -- the very best cottons and wools are extremely fine, long fibres (like Merino wool or Pima/Egyptian cotton). One of the oddest natural monofilament fibres I've ever seen made into a garment was spider silk, collected and woven into an incredibly lustrous golden cape. I forget how many pounds of spider silk were needed!
This is probably more than you wanted to know on this subject, right? 
