Crochet tool
Crochet yarn weight chart
What weight is my yarn, and what else is it called?
medium · Number on the label
4
US names: worsted, afghan, aran
UK name: aran
Australian name: 10 ply
Wraps per inch: 9 to 12
Yarn weights: numbers, names and wraps per inch
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
| Yarn weight | Number on the label | US names | UK name | Australian name | Wraps per inch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| lace | 0 | fingering, 10-count crochet thread | 1 ply or 2 ply | no name the sources agree on | 30 to 40 or more |
| super fine | 1 | sock, fingering, baby | 4 ply | 4 ply | 14 to 30 |
| fine | 2 | sport, baby | no usual UK name | 5 ply | 12 to 18 |
| light | 3 | DK, light worsted | DK (double knitting) | 8 ply | 11 to 15 |
| medium | 4 | worsted, afghan, aran | aran | 10 ply | 9 to 12 |
| bulky | 5 | chunky, craft, rug | chunky | 12 ply | 6 to 9 |
| super bulky | 6 | super bulky, roving | super chunky | no name the sources agree on | 5 to 6 |
| jumbo | 7 | jumbo, roving | no name the sources agree on | no name the sources agree on | 1 to 4 |
- Weight here means thickness, not what a ball weighs.
- Where a cell gives no name, the charts we read give none for that country or do not agree on one.
- Wraps per inch change with how tightly you wrap, and the ranges overlap. Use them to place a yarn between two neighbors, then swatch.
How it works
- To find the weight of a yarn with no label, wrap it round a pencil or a ruler so that the strands lie side by side, neither squeezed nor gapped, and count how many fit in one inch (2.5 cm).
- Two yarns of the same weight are not sure to replace each other. Work a gauge swatch in the new yarn before you trust it.
- When you replace a yarn with one of the same fiber, compare the length for the weight on the two labels (yards to the ounce, or meters to 100 grams). The closer they are, the more likely the new yarn is to stand in for the old.
- In UK and Australian names such as 4 ply and 8 ply, ply names a thickness, not a number of strands. Do not count the strands of your own yarn to find its weight; count its wraps per inch.
Worked examples
- What weight is worsted yarn?
- Medium, number 4. In the UK the nearest name is aran, and in Australia 10 ply.
- What is DK yarn in US terms?
- A light (3) yarn, also called light worsted. In Australia it is 8 ply.
- What weight is 4 ply yarn in the UK and Australia?
- In UK and Australian names 4 ply is a super fine (1) yarn, which US patterns call fingering. Worsted is a medium (4) yarn: in Australian names, 10 ply.
Questions
- Is aran the same as worsted?
- Both are medium (4) yarns, and aran is the nearest UK name for worsted. The names do not match exactly from one country to the other, so swatch before you swap them in anything that has to fit.
- Is chunky the same as bulky?
- Yes. Chunky is the usual UK name for a bulky (5) yarn, and the name is used in the US as well.
- What does the number in the yarn symbol on a label mean?
- It is the weight category: the charts we read run from 0 for the finest (lace) to 7 (jumbo).