How to Read a Textile Yarn Table Chart

Baby, bulky, fingering, sock --- traditional descriptions of yarn sizes are not very specific.

Knitting and crochet patterns, especially those published by yarn manufacturers, tend to describe the yarn needed only with the name of a particular product. Under the influence of industry groups such as the Craft Yarn Council, however, publishers and makers of yarns and needlework tools are working in the 21st century on a set of standard names, descriptions and label information to help crafters follow patterns or calculate improvisations on published patterns. An important part of that effort is a move from vague names for yarn weights to a number system. The numbers appear on compliant manufacturers' labels and in some recently published patterns.

Things You'll Need

• Yarn labeled with Craft Yarn Council logos
• Knitting or crochet pattern with only descriptive or brand identification of yarn

Instructions

Yarn-Label Logos

1. Look on the label of the yarn you're considering for a small drawing of a skein of yarn with a number in white on the black band around its middle. The numbers range from 0 to 6 and may also have generic names shown underneath --- lace for 0, superfine 1, fine 2, light 3, medium 4, bulky 5, and super bulky 6.

2. Compare the standard labeling to any other identification on the label of the yarn. For instance, yarn in both standard sizes 0 and 1 may be labeled "fingering," and yarn meeting the standard size 1 is also commonly labeled "sock" or "baby" yarn. Baby yarn may also be size 2, fine, which is also labeled "sport yarn."

3. Look for other yarns in the store with the same descriptive labels and consider how they compare to the yarn bearing a standardized label.

Identifying Yarn in a Pattern

1. Look in the beginning of the pattern for a list of materials and tools needed and the number of vertical rows and horizontal stitches used to test for gauge --- the proportions on which the pattern is based for appearance or the fit of a garment.

2. Locate several products in the yarn store that use the same descriptive label as your pattern. If the pattern gives only a product name, find that product if you can. Check for standard labels on the various yarns and separate the different sizes for further comparison.

3. Look on each yarn label for a suggested size of needle or hook and rows and stitches for gauge using those tools. Yarn manufacturers that use the standardized weight labels may include this information in other logos near the weight drawing, showing a hook or crossed needles with the size inside a textured square with two of its sides labeled. A 4-inch square has long been the standard gauge swatch for any yarn project.

4. Match the tool size and gauge from your pattern as closely as possible to the information given on the yarn labels. In most cases, each standard yarn weight carries recommendations for tools and gauge-swatch sizes within a narrow range, though because tool-size standardization is still a work in progress, you may find some continuing variation.

Tips & Warnings

• Crochet threads have long used a numeric system for weights, although the threads with the highest numbers are finer than those with lower numbers. Size 10 crochet cotton falls under the 0 yarn weight in the Craft Yarn Council's standards. Size 3 cotton generally works in patterns that call for size 2 yarn.

• Be prepared to adjust for your own style in needlework by shifting up or down a tool size once you make an actual gauge swatch.

References

• Craft Yarn Council: Standards and Guidelines for Crochet and Knitting
• Craft Yarn Council: Standard Yarn Weight System