If, like me, you have either yarns in your stash with no ball band or some hand-spun, and you’re not sure of the weight, the following Wraps-per-Inch test may be of help.
You can use anything to wrap your yarn around; anything from a pencil to a broom handle. However, the obvious is a ruler graduated in inches. Hold the yarn firmly (or secure with a piece of sticky-tape) and, without pulling too tightly, wrap your yarn evenly around the ruler starting at the 2” marker. Try to ensure that the yarn is untwisted and the wraps lay gently side by side. Count the number of wraps per inch. You can get a more precise measurement if you wrap the yarn round for a length of two inches, but remember to divide your total count by 2 to get the final “wraps-per-inch”. Finally, compare against the chart below!
YARN
| 3 ply/baby | 4 ply/ fingering | Sports Weight | Double Knit | Worsted | Aran | Chunky | Super Chunky |
WPIs
|
16 – 18
|
14
|
12
|
11
|
9
|
8
|
7
|
5 - 6
|
Top Tip! Although some knitters might skip the tedious “tension square” it really can save a lot of time and disappointment. I would always advocate knitting a sample (10cm x 10cm over your chosen pattern stitch) so a) your finished garment will have the correct dimensions and b) you like the look of the combination of your pattern and yarn.
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