How to Estimate the Ounces of Yarn Per Inch for Worsted Weight
Estimating the ounces for worsted weight yarn is entirely dependent on the yarn itself. For instance, silk and alpaca yarns are much heavier than wool yarns, and if you are dealing with a blended skein, it may be difficult to estimate without ball band information or a scale. Additionally, how a yarn is spun can affect its weight. Woolen spun yarns tend to be denser, and therefore heavier per inch than worsted spun. However, you can calculate a fairly accurate weight estimate if you have the information on your yarn's ball band.
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Instructions
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Examine the information on the ball band. Most yarn ball bands, tags and other accompanying information will provide you with the skein's yardage and weight in grams. On occasion they will provide weight in ounces. If you do not have the ball band information, you can look up the yarn or find similar yarns on Ravelry. Yarn information on Ravelry gives the yardage, weight, fiber content and gauge.
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Divide the weight of the yarn by the yardage. For instance, if your worsted yarn is 200 yards and its weight is 100 grams, it would equal .5 grams per yard. A yard is 36 inches, so if you further divide the number, you come up with approximately .014 grams per inch.
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Convert grams to ounces. One gram is equivalent to around .035 ounces. Multiply the grams by .035 to find an estimate for the weight. If the weight in grams for an inch of worsted weight yarn is .014 grams, then it converts to approximately .00049 ounces. Instant grams to ounces calculators are available on the Internet.
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Weigh the yarn. Since most scales available for home use do not measure fractions of an ounce, you may be able to estimate the weight yarn if you cut off a few yards of the yarn, weigh it, and then divide the weight by yards and inches.
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- Photo Credit yarn image by Liz Van Steenburgh from Fotolia.com
