International Yarn Weight Conversionchart

International Yarn Weight Conversion Chart

Do you have a pattern that gives you a yarn weight that you are not sure of? Or are you spinning and want to know how to classify your yarn? I hope this might help…

USA UK Australia Suggested needle (mm) Laceweight 2ply 2ply 1.5–2.25 mm Light Fingering 3ply 3ply 2.25— 3 mm Fingering 4ply 4ply 2.25— 3.25 mm Sport Light DK 5ply 3.25— 3.75 mm DK/Light Worsted DK 8ply 3.75— 4.5 mm Worsted No equivalent, suggest Aran 4.5— 5.5 mm Aran Aran 4.5— 5.5 mm Bulky Chunky 12 ply 5.5— 8 mm Super Bulky Super Chunky 8 mm and up Conversion Charts

Yarn Weight/Gauge/Tension/Ply Conversion

The chart below is a rough guide to yarn conversion. There are many different charts that attempt to classify all the different yarn terminologies and gauges. This is very difficult and no 2 charts are the same.

You will also notice there is some overlap even within the classes, for example, a yarn with 24 stitches per 10cm can fit in the 5 or 8 ply classification. Likewise, in the USA and UK, baby yarn covers 2 classes. Lastly, the definition of ply is not a strict one. Technically 2 ply, is 2 separate strands of yarn plied together, however this term has expanded to refer to a thickness of yarn, so 10 ply does not necessarily mean there are 10 separate strands of yarn.

When substituting yarn, it is important to look at the tension panel on the yarn ball itself, which specifies the stitches per 10cm and needle size (see our Substituting Yarn info sheet). Look for something similar, and also try to keep the fibres as similar as possible. For example, a sweater knitted in 8ply cotton will have a very different look to one knitted in 8ply alpaca. Lastly, even if you don't normally knit a tension swatch, definitely knit one when you are substituting.This will not only give you a chance to alter the needle size, but also to see whether you like the look of the fabric with a different yarn to that specified in your pattern.

*Lace weight yarn is usually knitted on large needles in order to create the open lace, so gauge is not strictly applied. Stitches per USA UK Needle (mm) Aus/NZ 10cm(4") 2/3 ply Laceweight 2/3 ply 1.5 - 33 - 40* Baby Light fingering Baby 2.25 Sock 4 ply 2.25 - 4 ply Fingering 27 - 32 Baby 3.25 Baby Sport 5 ply 3.25 - 5 ply 23 - 26 Baby Lightweight 3.75 8 ply DK 8 ply 3.75 - 21 - 24 DK Light worsted DK 4.5 Worsted 10 ply 10 ply 4.5 - Aran 16 - 20 Aran Aran 5.5 Afghan Bulky Triple knit 5.5 - 12 ply 12 - 15 Chunky Chunky 8 Sport 14 ply Super bulky 8mm + 6 - 11 Super chunky

Needle Conversion

Size (mm) USA UK 2.00 0 14 2.25 1 13 2.50 1 - 2.75 2 12 3.00 2 11 3.25 3 10 3.50 4 - 3.75 5 9 4.00 6 8 4.50 7 7 5.00 8 6 5.50 9 5 6.00 10 4 6.50 10.5 3 7.00 10.75 2 7.50 - 1 8.00 11 0 9.00 13 00 10.00 15 000 12.00 17 -

Inches to Centimetres (to nearest 0.5cm) in cm in cm in cm in cm 1 2.5 21 53.5 41 104 61 155 2 5 22 56 42 106.5 62 157.5 3 7.5 23 58.5 43 109 63 160 4 10 24 61 44 112 64 162.5 5 12.5 25 63.5 45 114.5 65 165 6 15 26 66 46 117 66 167.5 7 18 27 68.5 47 119.5 67 170 8 20.5 28 71 48 122 68 172.5 9 23 29 73.5 49 124.5 69 175.5 10 25.5 30 76 50 127 70 178 11 28 31 78.5 51 129.5 71 180.5 12 30.5 32 81.5 52 132 72 183 13 33 33 84 53 134.5 73 185.5 14 35.5 34 86.5 54 137 74 188 15 38 35 89 55 140 75 190.5 16 40.5 36 91.5 56 142.5 76 193 17 43 37 94 57 145 77 195.5 18 45.5 38 96.5 58 147.5 78 198 19 48.5 39 99 59 150 79 200.5 20 51 40 101.5 60 152.5 80 203

Yards to Meters

Multiply by 0.9144 Example: 525 yards = 525 x 0.9144 = 480.06 metres

Meters to Yards

Divide by 0.9144 Example: 480 metres = 480 / 0.9144 = 524.934 yards