All about Yarn Weights - thickness of yarn

What is yarn weight?

Yarn weight refers to the thickness of yarn used by knitters, weavers, crocheters and other fibre artists.

Each weight of yarn has a recommended needle size and tension – this is usually written on the ball band.

What is ply? 

Ply refers to the number of strands that are plied or twisted together during the spinning process to create a single strand of yarn.

How are different yarn weights named?

This is where it can be confusing as there are a number of different systems. The United States has a different system of terms to Ireland and the UK. In Europe the weight is often called by the size needle to be used and other parts of the world have other terms. Drops wool, sold in The Crafty Rock, uses a grading system of A -E!

To try to simply this we have drawn up this comparison chart and hope you find it useful.