Long ago, before this new website began 5 years ago I published a tip a month on the old site. There are over 100 and they are on this website. I think many new weavers must see these tips because the numbers say that for all of my most popular Top Ten tips, there were at least 3,600 visitors!!
Yarn Count Explained:
Understanding the labels on yarn packages
Yarn CountThere are official standards for measuring the number of yards in one pound of yarn. These standards were created by cloth manufacturers in the nineteenth century. The standards refer to the weight given to a given length of thread. For cotton, they used a reel with a circumference of 1 1/2 yards or 54″; for linen, one of 2 1/2 yards or 90″; for woolens, one of 2 yards or 72″. Silk uses the cotton reel. A 1 ply thread of cotton wound around its reel = 1 1/2 yards; 80 threads = one skein or 120 yards; and 7 skeins = one hank or 840 yards or one pound! So, now we know that there are 840 yards (one hank) of one ply cotton thread in one pound. This is the base measure or the “one-count.” Linen is calculated in leas, where 1 lea = 300 yards of one ply linen = 1 pound. Worsted is measured by counts. One count = 560 yards of single ply worsted = one pound. See the Table of Base Counts of Threads for some other base measures (one-counts).
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Simple! Unfortunately, some yarn makers put their fractions upside-down. Usually, you can consider the smaller number to be the plies and the larger number to be the size. If after your calculations you get a number that makes no sense, try flipping the fraction and recalculating. If you have the yarn in your hands, you can count the plies, so you can tell which part of the fraction refers to it. Taken from: Book 1: “Winding a Warp and Using a Paddle” |
Thanks once again. I have finished reading the beginners guide you sent me but not yet winding a warp by using a paddle. So hadn’t got to that yet.
Being Australian makes it more difficult as our millers use names, such as DK or 8 ply, 5 ply, 12 ply, Worsted, 4 ply, meaning sports weight I think, etc.mainly designed for knitters. And so you have to check the small print to get the information you talk about AND convert it to metric.
I am,printing this table and sticking it up next to one of my looms.
R
Johanna
Whoever knew it was so complicated! Thanks for the chart.