Ask the Knitters

Dear Knitters,

Some of the yarns that I have no longer sport their labels.  I know that if you wind the yarn around (how many wraps per inch) you can find out what the weight is.  Where can I find a reliable chart that would tell me " x wraps per inch = fingering/sport/worsted weight" etc.?

Sincerely,

Label-less in LA

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Comments

[Kathy]

Here's what I found:
http://www.woolfestival.com/articles/WPI.htm

One extremely popular knitting magazine now prints wpi with each pattern yarn but no weight information. Why?? It irks me to no end.

Kathy

[Diane]

well this is just non-expert me talking (not like you other gals)- but even if yarns tell you their wt - all yarn weights don't knit up the same - or look or feel the same - some fingering wts, sport wts, etc. are thicker or thinner than others - if it was me - I would compare it to what else I had in my stash that looked a similar wt. and then knit a swatch on maybe 2 different needle sizes that you think you'd want to use with that yarn- maybe a 2 - 3 inch swatch to see how that came out - then save the swatch and pin it to the yarn for future reference. (but I don't have that patience always to swatch - I know you're supposed to - but I get lazy in that dept.) I CAN identify with you on losing lables though :-)

[BunnyQueen]

I agree with Diane, but to at least get a starting point, I like Spinderella's chart available at http://www.spinderellas.com/patterns/yarnchart.html .

[Sandy Kuhbander]

I love all the pastel sock yarns-they are inspiring!
Sandy Kuhbander
[email protected]
5407 Apache Rd
Louisville, KY 40207