YARN THICKNESS AND COUNTS

Following are the thickness sizes of yarns, along with further explanation of the sizes and how yarns are typed so you can better match your patterns and make interchanging yarns much easier.

YARN THICKNESS/LENGTH STANDARDS AND COUNTS

Yorkshire Wool 256 yds/lb. Linen 300 yds. lb. Worsted 560 yds/lb. Cotton 840 yds/lb. Spun Silk 840 yds/lb. One spinning of one pound of raw fiber produces 'x' yards/pound of that raw fiber. One spinning of one pound of raw worsted wool or acrylic produces 560 yards. One spinning of one pound of cotton or silk produces 840 yards. All calculations go from there. The primary standard to determine yarn thickness for wool and acrylic is worsted-weight at 560 yards/pound . Yarn thickness is determined by the number of times the standard length of yarn is spun. The thickness number is calculated using the thickness of a single strand of spun yarn. The number of spinnings and the number of plies (strands) produce the yarn 'count'. The thinner the yarn, the higher the number and the more yards to the pound. Example: 3/9 yarn count for wool or acrylic yarn The first number of the fraction (3) is the number of plies. A ply is a single strand, so this is 3-ply yarn. The second number of the fraction (9) is the yarn thickness. This yarn thickness means the yarn has been spun 9 times the standard length of 560. 9 x 560 = 5,040. So, for this 3-ply yarn, the thickness number (5,040) is divided by the number of strands (3) = 1,680 yds/lb. Good for standard and mid-gauge machines or doubled for the bulky at 840 yds/lb. Example: 2/30 yarn count for wool or acrylic yarn 2-ply yarn and (30 x 560) = 16,800 2 = 8,400 yds/lb. Good for standard double-bed

jacquard work. Example: 4/18 count yarn 4-ply yarn and (18 x 560) = 10,080 4 = 2,520 yds/lb. Good for standard single bed work or doubled for mid-gauge and bulky. Situation Let's say you take a trip to England this summer and see some British hand-knitting yarn in 100-gram skeins that say 302 meters each and you want to buy it, but there's no one around who can convert this to yards or pounds so you can know how much to buy. There are two ways to handle this, really three. (1) First, you can just know how to convert from meters to yarns and pounds because you're smarter than most of us. (2) You can simply calculate it for yourself. (3) Or, you can always be a good Girl or Boy Scout and carry the following handy little chart with you. You can use this same chart if you know the yarn count or an approximation of meters per 100 grams. Meters per 100 Grams 1 1692 1600 1510 1410 1310 1208 1108 1007 846 806 755 705 677 655 604 554 Approximate Count 20/2 Cotton 2/32 2/30 2/28 2/26 2/24 2/22 2/20, 3/30 10/2 Cotton 2/16, 3/24 2/15 2/14 8/2 Cotton 3/20 2/12, 3/18 2/11 Approximate Yardage/Pound 8,400 8,000 7,500 7,000 6,500 6,000 5,500 5,000 4,200 4,000 3,750 3,500 3,360 3,333 3,000 2,750 with Heavier Yarn Jacquard for Passap and Japanese Machines - or As Strander/Filler DOUBLE BED Average Machine

554 507 504 453 423 402 338 302 252 254 202 101

2/11 6/2 Cotton 2/10, 3/15 3/14 5/2 Cotton 2/8, 3/12 4/2 Cotton 3/9 3/8 3/2 Cotton 2/4, 4/8 2/2, 404

2,750 2,520 2,500 2,333 2,100 2,000 1,680 1,500 1,333 1,260 1,000 500 BULKY-GAUGE MACHINES - or Doubled for Bulky Gauge SINGLE BED Single Strand for Standard Gauge and/or Mid-gauge

If you're more comfortable working with the yardage of a 50-gram ball, simply divide the first column by two. If you're more comfortable working with a bag of (10) 50-gram balls, you can multiply the first column by five. But as with all yarns, there can be overlap between machines. You can use bulky yarns on both standard and mid-gauge machines, as you can use fingering yarns on mid-gauge and bulky machines. It all depends on how they are being used.

CONVERTING NUMBERS ON LABELS

302 Meters/100 Grams to Yards/Pound: Multiply the meters (302) by the number of grams per pound (454) to the hundredth: 302 x 4.54 = 1,371 meters per pound Then, multiply the 1,371 meters per pound by the conversion factor from meters to yards (1.094) -or- divide the 1,371 meters per pound by the conversion factor from meters to yards (0.9144) 1,371 meters x 1.094 = 1,500 yards per pound and 1,371 meters 0.9144 = 1,500 yards/pound

1,500 Yards/Pound to Meters: Multiply the total yards/pound (1,500) by the conversion factor from yards to meters (0.9144) 1,500 yards x .9144 = 1,371 meters

Then to find out how much yarn there is per 100 grams, divide the total meters (1,371) by 4.54 1,371 meters to a pound 4.54 = 302 meters per 100 grams

CONVENIENT CONVERSIONS
1 oz. = 28 (28.349) grams 1 pound = 454 (453.584) grams 500 grams = about 17.6 oz. 450 grams = about 1 lb. (15.9 oz.) 400 grams = about 14.1 ounces 350 grams = about 12.5 ounces 250 grams = about 8.8 ounces 100 grams = about 3.5 ounces 50 grams = about 1.75 ounces 25 grams = about 7/8 ounce

AVERAGE YARN AMOUNTS NEEDED

The following approximation lists should be helpful to you for 'guestimating' how much yarn to buy for a particular garment. However, please be aware you may use a bit more yarn when machine knitting than when hand-knitting, primarily because of the need to make and treat swatches before knitting. The same yarn called for in a pattern in a different color from the pattern color on two different, but identical, machines on a dry day versus a humid day will produce two different final gauges for stitches and rows. My Brother 270/ Knitking CompuKnit Bulky and yours may give different gauges for the same yarn under these conditions. Being off only c inch when multiplied by 20 inches gives or takes away 5 inches! Whatever it was going to be, it surely won't be, at least not the way you thought it would be! And we don't like to keep knitting and pulling out and knitting again because the yarn will lose its elasticity. Besides that, hand knitters can simply change needles and/or knit tighter or looser. Machine knitters must select three or four different variations of the same stitch size (or have three or four different needle choices), depending upon which machines are being used. Remember, however, that doing the same pattern in fairisle, jacquard or tuck will always vary the amount of yarn needed, with a tuck pattern usually requiring as much as 20% to 25% MORE yarn! Man's or Lady's Sweater (Small, Medium, Large) 1 lbs to 2 lbs.

Lady's Suit 2 lbs to 4 lbs. Lady's Straight Skirt Less than 1 lb. Lady's Skirt (Fuller than Straight and Pleated) 1 lb to 2 lbs. Slacks 1 to 2 lbs. Baby Items Less than 1 lb. Child's Sweater Less than 1 lb. Scarf, Mittens and Cap Sets 2+ lbs.

COTTON AND COTTON BLEND YARNS

Cotton is a completely different animal from wools and acrylics. It generally doesn't stretch. Instead it fuzzes. Therefore, for a newer knitter, it may be much more difficult to use. However, for summer, wearing wool and acrylic, which is not a woolray, isn't always the most comfortable thing we can do, so knowing a little about cotton yarns may be helpful. When gauging cotton, simply reverse the numbers from those shown for wool and acrylic, as most cotton is 2-ply (or a multiple of 2) and the 2 is usually the denominator of the fraction rather than being the numerator of the fraction. Example: 3/2 Cotton then becomes 2/3 for purposes of gauging the size needed Use the Cotton Standard of 840 yards/pound, not the Wool Standard of 560 yards/pound when calculating.

COTTON WEIGHTS
YARN COUNT 3/2 Cotton 4/2 Cotton YARDS/POUND 3 x 840 2 = 1,260 yards/pound 4 x 840 2 = 1,680 yards/pound STRANDS/MACHINE Single: Standard or Mid-Gauge Single or Doubled for Bulky Single: Standard or Mid-Gauge Single or Doubled for Bulky Single: Standard Single/Double on Mid-Gauge Doubled on Bulky Single: Standard Doubled on Mid-Gauge Doubled on Bulky Single: Standard (Jacquard)

5/2 Cotton

5 x 840 2 = 2,100 yards/pound

6/2 Cotton

6 x 840 2 = 2,520 yards/pound

8/2 Cotton

8 x 840 2 = 3,360 yards/pound

Doubled on Mid-Gauge Doubled or Tripled on Bulky Single: Standard (Jacquard) Doubled or Tripled on MidGauge Single: Standard (Jacquard)

10/2 Cotton 20/2 Cotton

10 x 840 2 = 4,200 yards/pound 20 x 840 2 = 8,400 yards/pound

TYPES OF COTTON
RAW COTTON Cotton growing in a field and unusable for knitting. If you've seen cotton balls, you've seen pretty much what raw cotton on the plant resembles. CARDED or COMBED COTTON Cotton that has been 'combed', the first stage of processing, to remove plant residue before spinning to a specific thickness. Usually quite soft, not at all recommended for fitted skirts due to 'seating' out problems, with a tendency to separate into plies, can break easily, will lose color easily from washing, and will pill often. MERCERIZED COTTON Carded cotton that has been spun to a specific thickness and then treated in an acid-solution bath to both set the yarn fibers and the colors. This yarn is usually quite strong, holds its color quite well and is much less likely to pill. Can sometimes be plied, twisted or basket-woven. GASSED COTTON Mercerized cotton that has had all or most of the excess lint and/or fuzz burned off to bring the color to the surface. Gassed cotton often gives the illusion of iridescence. The price of cotton increases with the added treatment to it. Therefore, mercerized cotton will cost more than carded cotton, and mercerized, gassed cotton will cost more than just plain mercerized cotton. Then add in the country-of-origin of the cotton and the manufacturer=s name, and the price varies again. American cotton is the least expensive, while Egyptian and Pima cotton are the most expensive, and there is no cotton that holds its shape and its color better or pills less than Mako Egyptian mercerized and gassed cotton. All cottons can be hand- or machine-washed and tumble dried. However, the use of bleach and heavy detergents in the water will eventually cause the colors to fade and wash out. So, the use of soaps rather than detergents, hand-washing rather than machine-washing, and flat drying rather than machine tumble drying will extend the life of your cottons and allow them to keep their color and shape much longer and can be used many, many seasons.