Knitting tips: 2/16, 3/32

Below is part of an article excerpted from Thrums, the central
Ohio Weaver's Guild Newsletter.  Complements of Pat Bullen.
Figuring out just what the numbers above mean is/can be
confusing.  Most of the time I have seen them reference coned
weaving yarns, although some of us, myself included , are using
those for knitting too.

I send this along for completeness.  It's true that the first
numbers above, 2 & 3, are the plys, the bottom numbers 16 & 32,
are the finess ( usually) of the yarn, 32 's being twice as fine
as 16's.  For more see below.

********** (knitting tips article below)
The size of any particular yarn is referred to as the count.
Usually the higher the number, the finer the yarn. (The exception
to this is the count for rayon and certain other man-made
fibers, in which, the lower numbres denote the finer yarns.
For metallics and other novelty yarns, refer to the manufactureres
specifications.)  The count system is based on a key number that
is the number of yards, or standard lengths of material that
are spun from a pound of raw fiber (knitting patterns blog).  This key number, then, is
the basic number for yarn of that fiber.

  The general formula is:

  Size divided by ply X key number =

  The key number for cotton is 840.  For example, to find yarnds
  per pound for 5/3 cotton, divide the size (5) by the ply (3) and
  multiply by standard or key number (840) which gives you
  1400 yards per pound.

  There are two systems for wool, the first being the Philadelphia
  system based on a cut of 300 yards.  The formula for this is

   Size multiplied by 300, divided by ply.

  In general, you will see this system is used for tweeds and
  single ply.  For example, 6 cut equals 1800 yards per pound.

  The most common system for wool is based on the key number 560.
  For example, using the general formula, a 2/8 yarn would have
  2240 yards per pound.

  The system for linen is based up a lea, which is 300 yards, making
  300 the key number for the linen formula.  For example a 4/1 linen
  would have 1200 yards per pound.

  Note that conventionally, for cotton and linen, the yarn size is
  above the ply (8/2, 20/2).  Wol and worsted are the opposite with
  the ply above the size (2/8).

Cheers, Vickie

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