The weight of hand knitting yarn

To make things more interesting, yarn also comes in a variety of thicknesses, called “weights.” To complicate matters further, there are American and British names for each of these weights. Also, grouping yarns by weight is somewhat less than exact—there can be a lot of variety within one category. Still, knowing a yarn’s weight is important because if you ever want to use a different hand knitting yarn than the one called for by your knitting pattern, you’ll want to look for yarn of the same weight. Here are three of the most common yarn weights:

1) Fingering (or baby or 4-ply) weight: This very thin weight of yarn is good for making light, fine garments such as baby sweaters, socks, or a lacy shawl. 2) Sport (or double-knitting or DK) weight: Now here’s a very curiously named yarn weight. I mean, just what kind of sports item would you make out of this stuff? Sport weight yarn is roughly twice as thick as fingering knitting wool yarn, so at least “double-knitting” makes sense. It is a good of weight for socks and also works well for baby or children’s items. Many adult sweaters are also made out of it, albeit thin ones.3) Worsted (or Aran) weight: Despite its name, “worsted” might very well be considered the best yarn out there—it’s certainly the most common weight, and there are more kinds of worsted-weight yarn on the market than anything else. Worsted is about twice the thickness of sport yarn (Aran is just a tad heavier), and it’s great for making scarves, hats, sweaters, gloves, afghans, or just about anything else you want. It’s a great choice for beginners. Get to know worsted-weight yarn: It is your friend.