Staci, thanks so much for yet another wonderful video. I haven't been able to find an official wpi tool, thinking that I had to have a "real" tool because I thought the diameter of the device was integral to the measurement. Now I understand it's not about the tool as long as it isn't tapered, but rather how many times the yarn can fit next to itself within the space of 1 inch. (I suppose you could cut short lengths of yarn, lay them next to one another, and use a ruler to measure how many pieces could lay side-by-side. That would be a waste of yarn, but it would be the same principle. I only say this to show that it's not about the diameter of the device, which I had always assumed to be important. ) I am going to use an old straight aluminum knitting needle from my early knitting days to make my wpi tool! Thanks for the video. May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and keep you always.
Staci this is excellent I was given a bunch of yarn with no labels and now I can practice and tell what I am dealing with...Thanks so much and Merry Christmas...
Thanks for this video. In my country, most of the locally sold yarn brands don't come with yarn weight info at all, not even needle size suggestion, not like in the US! This is a great help, at least some guide for me to figure out things instead of mostly going blindly. Thanks.
Putting medical tape on the pencil is a brilliant idea! Much easier than wrapping yarn around a ruler. This will work with weaving to calculate EPI. Thank you.
Great video, thanks! I love to combine leftover yarns or just use two or three strands of unknown yarns for my projects so that I can use up leftovers. So, now I know how to figure out the WPI (thanks for the ravelry link), but how do I know what size knitting needle to use for my "special" size? If you have a link for this, I would so appreciate it! BTW: your videos are fantastic: well organized, clear, crisp steps with no annoying loud music in the background! You are brilliant!
I believe the link to the yarn weight yarn I provide in this video gives suggested needle sizes...in case it doesn't once you determine the yarn weight you can use the needle size in this chart: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarn_weight
Thank you so much for all your great videos! I always look forward to look at the newest upload :) Very helpful! Which music always plays at the beginning of your videos? It sounds vaguely familiar from some 60s or 70s TV show :D
I just KNEW you would have a video for this. :) I'm going to be going through all my little loose balls tonight and putting the matching sizes together.
This was very helpful! I have 5 bags of random yarn a friend bought without labels and then gave to me when she moved. I'm still very much a beginner knitter so had no idea what to do with it all or what projects they are suitable for but now I know! Thankyou!
Thank you for this! 😊 Can you tell me how to use this to determine what size needle to use? Beginning knitter here and I was gifted some yarn with no labels.
Thank u so much for this video. I just found 2 skeins of beautiful yarn in my basement without bands. I used your method to figure the weight. You are wonderful!
Do you ever see a time were yarn weight is standardized globally? At my yarn shop we always joke because I learned to knit in Germany and needles are always metric only. I always say it's so much easier. I think only using wpi for example would be a good standardizing method...anyway food for thought :)
+Al Malmsten - it would be nice if there was a worldwide standard! But I don't see it happening in my lifetime. Here in the US, we're pretty stuck on our own systems. When I was a little kid in the 70s, there was a big push in American schools to teach the metric system...and then it was quickly forgotten about. As far as yarn weights go, the names of the different weights are all over the place!
+NgocDung Nguyen - I suggest finding a sweater pattern you like on Ravelry (www.ravelry.com) and using the yarn they recommend. Really, any yarn can be used for a sweater, but different patterns require different yarn weights, so it's best to follow a pattern.
this was a great video..but what do we use it WPI for? what id like to know is How do i determine how many balls or skeins i need to make a sweater so that i don't end up with excess yarn or skeins that i have no use for in the end once Im done my sweater. That is how i ended up with a crazy stash that I cannot stand. thanks
+Ella Marie - my recommendation is to follow a pattern, and use the yarn amounts listed in the pattern. There are some standards for the amount of yarn needed for sweaters of different sizes...but the fact is that different yarn weights, different stitches, different gauges - these all make the estimates less accurate than the amounts listed in each pattern. I always have leftover yarn after a project, and I use that yarn in projects I knit specifically to use up the leftovers, like this one: verypink.com/2012/02/15/log-cabin-scrap-blanket/
VeryPink Knits Wow, that is a beautiful blanket that you've linked me too. Thank you. Yes, I feel the same way that its best to choose a pattern and use the yarn amounts listed there to figure it out. I know there are so many variables to determine the amount of yarn necessary to make a sweater. There is so much to consider that its impossible to make this accurate, I know i will always have some balls left or skeins, but i'll have much more success if i just follow a pattern and stay as true to that as possible. I know this isn't an exact science and that a lot of it is basic trial and error, practice and a lot of swatching. Thank you so much. You're videos are great. I wish you much success.
+safia musadaq - there is no real answer to that...I highly suggest finding a pattern you like that gives you a yarn weight and needle size. There are tons of baby sweater patterns available on www.ravelry.com, many of them are even free!
Nice video! Are there any good ways to determ the yarn content in an unknown yarn? I sometimes buy yarn in second hand stores and often the ballbands are not there.
+Madeleine Hansson - there is a "burn test" you can do to determine fiber content, but I've never actually done it myself. I usually just try spit splicing the yarn (th-cam.com/video/8uLiFOVmcUU/w-d-xo.html), and if it works and it felts, then I know what I have is an animal fiber or an animal fiber blend that is mostly animal fiber.
+Madeleine Hansson - trying to felt the yarn doesn't give you great detail about it. But if it felts really strongly it is probably 100% wool (or another animal fiber), if it felts but not very strongly it is likely a wool blend, and if it doesn't felt much at all it is probably a blend with low wool content, or no wool content. I need to give the burn test a try to see if it provides more detail.
Thanks for showing all the great products and giving the cool methods of knitting!
Staci, thanks so much for yet another wonderful video. I haven't been able to find an official wpi tool, thinking that I had to have a "real" tool because I thought the diameter of the device was integral to the measurement. Now I understand it's not about the tool as long as it isn't tapered, but rather how many times the yarn can fit next to itself within the space of 1 inch. (I suppose you could cut short lengths of yarn, lay them next to one another, and use a ruler to measure how many pieces could lay side-by-side. That would be a waste of yarn, but it would be the same principle. I only say this to show that it's not about the diameter of the device, which I had always assumed to be important. ) I am going to use an old straight aluminum knitting needle from my early knitting days to make my wpi tool! Thanks for the video. May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and keep you always.
As a Canadian, I can tell you that metric is easier--everything divides by 10 - :)
So much easier with metric! Same with hook sizes.
Unfortunately the USA is backward in adopting the metric system. Nice there are online conversions for both metrics and British Imperial system.
Staci this is excellent I was given a bunch of yarn with no labels and now I can practice and tell what I am dealing with...Thanks so much and Merry Christmas...
Thanks for this video. In my country, most of the locally sold yarn brands don't come with yarn weight info at all, not even needle size suggestion, not like in the US! This is a great help, at least some guide for me to figure out things instead of mostly going blindly. Thanks.
Raverly is a great resource. So much helpful information. This video is great to explain WPI and yarn weights.
This was so helpful. I've always wondered how to tell the weight of yarn. Thanks for your research and video.
Wow, I had no idea you could do that. Very cool! Thanks for sharing yet another great tip :)
This is excellent. I'm going to try it on the 'bulky' I'm using now... It's just not working up like a true bulky should.
thanks for showing this because I have seen EXPENSIVE little gadgets sold to do what you did with less then a dollar
Putting medical tape on the pencil is a brilliant idea! Much easier than wrapping yarn around a ruler. This will work with weaving to calculate EPI. Thank you.
Great video, thanks! I love to combine leftover yarns or just use two or three strands of unknown yarns for my projects so that I can use up leftovers. So, now I know how to figure out the WPI (thanks for the ravelry link), but how do I know what size knitting needle to use for my "special" size? If you have a link for this, I would so appreciate it! BTW: your videos are fantastic: well organized, clear, crisp steps with no annoying loud music in the background! You are brilliant!
I believe the link to the yarn weight yarn I provide in this video gives suggested needle sizes...in case it doesn't once you determine the yarn weight you can use the needle size in this chart: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarn_weight
Thak you! Just what needed with a good visual
Thank you so much for all your great videos! I always look forward to look at the newest upload :) Very helpful! Which music always plays at the beginning of your videos? It sounds vaguely familiar from some 60s or 70s TV show :D
I just KNEW you would have a video for this. :) I'm going to be going through all my little loose balls tonight and putting the matching sizes together.
thank you so much. I threw away my yarn labels and couldn’t figure out how to check whether they are DK or worsted weight yarn. This is so useful!
thank you great explanation
I have a cotton 4 weight when I wrap it itnonly gives me 11. In theory then i could us it in a dk pattern?
Great info--I do have unknown yarn weights - thanks!
This was very helpful! I have 5 bags of random yarn a friend bought without labels and then gave to me when she moved. I'm still very much a beginner knitter so had no idea what to do with it all or what projects they are suitable for but now I know! Thankyou!
Thank you, I was never entirely sure how to do this!
Thanks Staci! I'm going to use this tip with my handspun.
+Rawrmnstr - that's a great idea! I don't spin yarn, so the that idea didn't even occur to me. Thank you for the comment!
Hi. Why is there no crochet gauge on this chart please? How can I determine it?
Just what I been looking for!!! Great explanation!! Thank you so much,Staci!!!!!
This was very helpful. Thank you!
Thank you for this! 😊
Can you tell me how to use this to determine what size needle to use? Beginning knitter here and I was gifted some yarn with no labels.
Thank u so much for this video. I just found 2 skeins of beautiful yarn in my basement without bands. I used your method to figure the weight. You are wonderful!
Thanks for explaining this. Here in the U.K., wool used to be labelled with the ply, but not anymore.
I bought super fine #1 yarn to make socks but cannot find a pattern is it possible to make socks with super fine yarn?
Awesome!!! Love how you made your own tool with the pencil and medical tape. Brilliant !!
I love watching your info videos, you are clear plain and make me want to run and knit immediately. Thank you I have learnt so much
obviously if you had a thicker pencil you would have less wraps???
No - I explain it in the video...you're not measuring around the pencil (or other object). You're measuring how the yarn "stacks" up next to itself.
awesomeness. i love thrifting yarn and often i just test a few diff needles til i get a look, i desire. thank you
Does it matter how thick the pencil or knitting needle is you are wrapping around??
No, that doesn't matter.
Thank you for doing this!
Do you ever see a time were yarn weight is standardized globally? At my yarn shop we always joke because I learned to knit in Germany and needles are always metric only. I always say it's so much easier. I think only using wpi for example would be a good standardizing method...anyway food for thought :)
+Al Malmsten - it would be nice if there was a worldwide standard! But I don't see it happening in my lifetime. Here in the US, we're pretty stuck on our own systems. When I was a little kid in the 70s, there was a big push in American schools to teach the metric system...and then it was quickly forgotten about. As far as yarn weights go, the names of the different weights are all over the place!
Hi Ms. Staci, I don't know what kind of yarn is good for sweater. Would you please help me to choose the right one? Thank you very much
+NgocDung Nguyen - I suggest finding a sweater pattern you like on Ravelry (www.ravelry.com) and using the yarn they recommend. Really, any yarn can be used for a sweater, but different patterns require different yarn weights, so it's best to follow a pattern.
Thank you ♥️
Perfect!! Completely helped!! Thank you
How about wrapping around a ruler, with the inches already marked? I think I read that once.
+Eva Schonfeld - yep, that works! I mention it in the video.
this was a great video..but what do we use it WPI for? what id like to know is How do i determine how many balls or skeins i need to make a sweater so that i don't end up with excess yarn or skeins that i have no use for in the end once Im done my sweater. That is how i ended up with a crazy stash that I cannot stand. thanks
+Ella Marie - my recommendation is to follow a pattern, and use the yarn amounts listed in the pattern. There are some standards for the amount of yarn needed for sweaters of different sizes...but the fact is that different yarn weights, different stitches, different gauges - these all make the estimates less accurate than the amounts listed in each pattern. I always have leftover yarn after a project, and I use that yarn in projects I knit specifically to use up the leftovers, like this one:
verypink.com/2012/02/15/log-cabin-scrap-blanket/
VeryPink Knits Wow, that is a beautiful blanket that you've linked me too. Thank you. Yes, I feel the same way that its best to choose a pattern and use the yarn amounts listed there to figure it out. I know there are so many variables to determine the amount of yarn necessary to make a sweater. There is so much to consider that its impossible to make this accurate, I know i will always have some balls left or skeins, but i'll have much more success if i just follow a pattern and stay as true to that as possible. I know this isn't an exact science and that a lot of it is basic trial and error, practice and a lot of swatching. Thank you so much. You're videos are great. I wish you much success.
do you have a video for shadow wrap?
This was so helpful!! Thank you!!!
Can you share the link to the gauge? I missed it in the video.
+Dorothée Caulfield - are you asking about the standard weights chart?
www.ravelry.com/help/yarn/weights
+VeryPink Knits YES! And thank you so much! I always learn so much from you, thanks for all you do.
+Dorothée Caulfield You're the best!
Dorothée Caulfield b
hi can yo tell. me that 2month baby sweater cast for knittning
+safia musadaq - there is no real answer to that...I highly suggest finding a pattern you like that gives you a yarn weight and needle size. There are tons of baby sweater patterns available on www.ravelry.com, many of them are even free!
Great communicator
I got 19 wpi with 2ply yarn is that mean the is in fingering weight? Ty
You'll want to refer to the chart I link to in the video description - 19 wpi is probably lace weight or lighter.
+VeryPink Knits thank you:) you are the best!
That was fun!
thanks
Thank you
Nice video!
Are there any good ways to determ the yarn content in an unknown yarn? I sometimes buy yarn in second hand stores and often the ballbands are not there.
+Madeleine Hansson - there is a "burn test" you can do to determine fiber content, but I've never actually done it myself. I usually just try spit splicing the yarn (th-cam.com/video/8uLiFOVmcUU/w-d-xo.html), and if it works and it felts, then I know what I have is an animal fiber or an animal fiber blend that is mostly animal fiber.
+VeryPink Knits How does that work if it's an blend, for example acrylic and wool?
+Madeleine Hansson - trying to felt the yarn doesn't give you great detail about it. But if it felts really strongly it is probably 100% wool (or another animal fiber), if it felts but not very strongly it is likely a wool blend, and if it doesn't felt much at all it is probably a blend with low wool content, or no wool content. I need to give the burn test a try to see if it provides more detail.
+VeryPink Knits Please do, would be nice with a little video on this topic ;) Thank you so much for your prompt answers!!!