Chart + finder

Yarn weight chart

All eight categories with the gauge, needle, hook, wraps-per-inch and yardage figures that go with them. If you do not know which one you have, measure it below instead of guessing from the label.

Wraps per inch

Wrap around a pencil for one inch, snug, no gaps. Count the wraps.

The full chart

Gauge is stitches per 4 inches (10 cm). Ranges are typical, not rules — a tight knitter and a loose one can sit a full category apart on the same yarn.

Weight	Also called	Knit /4 in	Needles	Crochet /4 in	Hooks	WPI	Yd/100g
0 Lace	Cobweb, 2-ply, crochet thread 10	33–40	1.5–2.25 mm US 000–1	32–42	1.4–2.25 mm	30+	≈800
1 Super fine	Fingering, sock, baby	27–32	2.25–3.25 mm US 1–3	21–32	2.25–3.5 mm	19–22	≈400
2 Fine	Sport, baby	23–26	3.25–3.75 mm US 3–5	16–20	3.5–4.5 mm	15–18	≈330
3 Light	DK, light worsted, 8-ply	21–24	3.75–4.5 mm US 5–7	12–17	4.5–5.5 mm	12–14	≈250
4 Medium	Worsted, afghan, aran, 10-ply	16–20	4.5–5.5 mm US 7–9	11–14	5.5–6.5 mm	9–11	≈200
5 Bulky	Chunky, craft, rug, 12-ply	12–15	5.5–8 mm US 9–11	8–11	6.5–9 mm	7–8	≈120
6 Super bulky	Super chunky, roving	7–11	8–12.75 mm US 11–17	7–9	9–15 mm	5–6	≈70
7 Jumbo	Roving, jumbo	1–6	12.75–25 mm US 17 and up	1–6	15–25 mm	1–4	≈40

How to measure wraps per inch

Hold a ruler or pencil steady and wrap the yarn around it for about two inches.
Push the wraps together so they touch, without stretching the yarn.
Count how many wraps fall inside one inch. Half wraps count as half.
Repeat in a second spot and average the two — yarn thickness varies along a ball.

Wraps per inch is the only measurement that works on unlabelled yarn, mill ends and inherited stash. It is also the fastest way to check whether a substitute yarn is genuinely the same weight as the one a pattern calls for.

Why the categories are not enough on their own

The Craft Yarn Council system groups yarns into eight bands, and each band spans a real range. Category 4 covers both worsted and aran; category 3 covers DK and light worsted. Two yarns in the same band can still knit at different gauges, which is why a pattern that specifies "worsted" can come out a size small in a yarn that is worsted by name and aran by measurement.

The practical fix is to treat the category as a starting point and the gauge as the truth. Swatch, measure, and if your gauge is off by more than about two percent, either change needle size or recalculate the pattern — the gauge converter does the arithmetic for you.

If you are substituting a yarn rather than identifying one, match the weight category first, then the wraps per inch, then the yardage. The substitution calculator turns that into a skein count.

Questions people ask

What are the yarn weights in order of thickness?

Lace (0) is the thinnest, then super fine (1), fine (2), light (3), medium (4), bulky (5), super bulky (6) and jumbo (7). These are the Craft Yarn Council categories.

How do I know the weight of a yarn?

Measure wraps per inch: wrap the yarn around a pencil for one inch, snug with no gaps, and count the wraps. 9–11 is medium, 12–14 light, 15–18 fine, 19–22 super fine, 30 or more is lace.

Is 8-ply yarn the same as DK?

In UK and Australian usage, yes — 8-ply is sold as DK. Ply is a spinning description rather than a standard, so the gauge figure is the reliable one.

How do I convert yardage to weight for yarn?

Most yarns list both. As a rule of thumb, medium (worsted) runs about 200 yards per 100 g, DK about 250, fingering about 400 and bulky about 120. Use the label figure when you have it.

What is the difference between worsted and aran?

Both sit in category 4 (medium). Aran is usually slightly heavier within the range and knits at the tighter end, around 16–18 stitches per 4 inches.