Column On Your Way to the Masters Choosing your : Getting the right weight By Helen Pope

The first two steps for any proj- “Why a smooth yarn? Why a light col- stitches correctly, that your decreases are ect, even a Masters swatch, are choosing ored yarn—I like purple; can’t I use that?” perfectly even, placed exactly where the yarn and choosing the pattern. they belong, and practically invisible. Choosing , whether for the Masters These are good questions, and the With dark colors, the light is absorbed swatches or any other project, involves answer to both of them is pretty much into the piece, and it becomes very hard selecting for color, size (weight), and the same: so that you can see the - to see the individual stitches. While texture. Selecting the wrong yarn can es. A smooth, light-colored yarn allows dark-colored and textured yarns are fine turn a magnificent project into a flop you, and the people reviewing your for a finished product, where you’d like (examples excluded to protect the submission, to see the evenness of your your mistakes to be invisible, they are vanity of the author). stitches and the skill with which you not good choices for use in the made them. Smooth yarns also let you Masters program. The Masters instructions, like most pat- see texture-based patterns more clearly. terns, generally give recommendations Textured yarns, especially those that are Many knitting patterns, as well as some for yarn. However, unlike most patterns, of inconsistent thicknesses, can make of the required swatches and garments the Masters instructions do not identify your knitting appear uneven. When in the Masters program, describe the a particular yarn to use, and sometimes, submitting your Masters Level I swatch- needed materials in terms of yarn are completely silent on the issue. es, you need to demonstrate that you weight. When I first started Level II of Where there are recommendations, can produce an even fabric, that you the Masters Program, I skimmed over they’re made for a reason. For example, can work the various stitches properly, the instructions, and set out to make the the general instructions for most Masters and to prove that you are proficient in required vest, but I didn’t read the mate- swatches tell you to use a smooth, light- your craft. rial requirements. I made a wonderful colored yarn. This is a great rule of vest in worsted weight, handpainted thumb for learning any new technique. Light-colored yarns also allow you, and yarn in deep blues and purples. As pret- But, inquiring minds want to know: the judges, to see whether you did your ty as it was, the vest did not work for

Sample swatch worked in a light-colored, Sample swatch worked in a dark, smooth yarn. Sample swatch worked in a medium-colored, smooth yarn. Note how easy it is to see the Although if you look closely enough you can bouclé yarn. It is practically impossible to see stitch details. see details, it is much more difficult to do so. stitches or pattern. 14 cast on summer 2002 1 the program—had I read more carefully, flexibility of the fabric you make (as per pound, and the other indicates the I would have seen the part requiring “a does , but that’s a topic for number of plies in the particular yarn. light-colored yarn of DK or lighter another article). For example, 14/2 yarn is a two-ply weight.” There it was again: the light- yarn, and 14 skeins make a pound, colored yarn so that the reviewers could There are a number of different ways to while 20/1 is a single-ply yarn of which see how smoothly I picked up the describe the sizes of yarn, and if you 20 skeins make a pound1. Handknitters stitches along the armhole and neckline, are familiar with them you can comfort- tend to talk about yards or meters per and a DK or lighter weight yarn so that ably select yarns originally intended for ball or hank, but mostly refer to stitches there would be enough stitches to judge any other art. Spinners talk about per inch, thus categorizing yarns by my consistency. My vest didn’t fit either wraps per inch (wpi - see Technical “gauge.” Standard yarn weight designa- criteria! So, I had to knit another vest in Note), and yards per pound (ypp). tions include, from finest to heaviest, a pale color using DK weight yarn Weavers and machine knitters mostly , fingering, sport, DK, worsted, Aran, before submitting it. use coned yarns, whose labels indicate chunky, and bulky. Though there are the “grist” of the yarn. Handknitters some regional discrepancies in terminol- Wait a minute, you say. What does DK often find that coned yarns are wonder- ogy, there is enough consistency to mean? What does worsted weight mean? ful for knitting shawls and other large make learning these terms VERY useful And what difference does it make? DK items, for they provide a continuous (besides, you need to know most of this and worsted weights are two of many length of yarn that eliminates the need for Level I). I’ve included a handy chart designations for the weight (bulkiness or to join, but they are sometimes con- with the information presented at-a- fineness) of yarns. (See yarn weight fused by the designation on the label. glance below. chart below.) The weight of the yarn Grist is a ratio in which one number has a lot to do with the thickness and indicates the number of skeins of yarn

Descriptive Name Rec. Gauge Rec. Needle Size wpi ypp m/100g

lace weight, 29-32 + sts/10 cm 00-2 US, 2-3 mm 18+ 2600+ 600-800 superfine, ultra fine, baby weight 7.25–8+ sts/in (2-3 ply in UK/NZ/Aus) fingering weight, 25-32 sts/10 cm 2-4 US 16 1900-2400 400-480 fine, baby weight 6.25–7 sts/in 3–3.75 mm (3-4-ply in UK/NZ/Aus) sport, light 23-24 sts/10 cm 4-6 US 14 1200-1800 300-400 (4-ply in UK/NZ/Aus) 5.25 – 6 sts/in 3.75–4.5 mm DK, medium 22 sts/10 cm/ 5-7 US 13 1100-1400 240-300 (8-ply in UK/NZ/Aus) 5.5 sts/in 3.75-4.5 mm worsted weight, 17-20 sts/10 cm 7-9 US 12 900-1200 200-240 heavy weight 4-5 sts/in 5-6 mm (10-ply or double knitting Usually 5 sts/in in UK/NZ/Aus) Aran (12-ply or triple-knitting 4.5 sts/in 8-9 US 10-11 700-900 160-120 in UK/NZ/Aus) chunky 4 sts/in 9-10 US 10 600-700 110-130 (double double in the UK) bulky yarn 13-16 sts/10cm 10-10 1/2 US 9-10 600-800 120-100 (14-ply, double double 3-4 sts/in 6.75-7.5 mm in UK/NZ/Aus) Very bulky, 9-12 sts/10 cm 13-15 US 8< 400-500 <100 super bulky 2-3 sts/in 9-10 mm

2 cast on summer 2002 Suitable “The weight of the Uses yarn has a lot to

Lace weight yarn is often used for mak- because these yarns have a large “halo” do with the ing lace shawls, and sometimes worked effect. is a very light yarn that on much larger needles than recom- works up with fewer stitches to the inch mended for a more open airy effect. It than you would expect. This is because thickness and can also be used for extra fine gauge of the halo, or fuzz, that fills in the knitting, for making a thin fabric, and spaces between stitches. flexibility of the for multicolored stranded knitting to create a fairly thin but warm fabric. If you can’t find the yarn you want in fabric you make.” the gauge you want, you can combine Fingering weight is used for socks, tradi- multiple strands to get a bulkier gauge. tional baby wear, and other delicate or Ann Cannon-Brown of Elann Fibre fine gauge items. When knitting socks, Company has offered up this rule of many knitters go down one needle size thumb: multiply the approximate gauge to create a firmer, more durable fabric. for a single ply of a yarn by .72 to get the gauge for two strands. The common Sport and DK weight yarns are com- lore is that two strands of fingering monly used in sweaters, for children’s weight give you the same gauge as one and baby projects, and for lightweight strand of sport weight; two sport weight throws. When stranded, they are a good strands are the equivalent of one strand choice for mittens and hats. They have of worsted, and two worsted strands are the advantage of not being so thick to the equivalent of one bulky. References be too warm for indoor garments, and not so fine as to take forever when used Compton, Jo, The Knitting Book, 1990, in knitting an adult sweater. A&C Black, London, pp 11-13

Worsted weight is a very popular yarn Technical Note Ligon, Linda, Homespun Handknit, 1987, size, and is used for everything from Interweave Press, p 10 thick cozy socks to mittens, hats, To determine the wpi of a yarn, take a scarves, sweaters, baby blankets, standard ruler (the wooden or plastic Nicholson, Heather Halcrow, Knitters’ type) and wrap the yarn around the ruler, Know-How, 1988, Pittman Publishing, afghans, vests, purses, and almost any- laying each wrap right next to the previ- Auckland, NZ, pp 35-52 thing else you can think of. ous one. The number of wraps needed to cover one inch of the ruler is your wpi. Aran sweaters give this yarn its descrip- Znamierowski, Nell, Step by Step tive name, and is used often for those , 1978, Golden Press, New slightly heavy and wonderfully cabled York, p 21 garments. It also works well for mittens and hats. Vogue Knitting magazine, Fall, 2001, p 96 (and other issues) Chunky yarn is halfway between Aran and bulky, and is sometimes called Patternworks Catalog, 2002, p 1 “double double” in England. It is often used in Icelandic sweaters. http://www.lionbrand.com/yarns/ yarnguide.htm Bulky and super bulky yarns yield a very heavy fabric, perfect when extra 1The length of the skein depends on the sys- http://www.cs.oswego/~ebozak/knit/ warmth is desired. tem used and the fiber content of the yarn. In esb-patterns/yarn-sizes.html the dernier system it is a 1600-yard skein of run (unplied); a 560-yard skein of worsted One caveat to the above: mohair and (plied) wool; a 300-yard skein of , or a http://knitting.about.com/library/ angora behave somewhat differently 840-yard skein of or spun . blyarnweight.htm

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