Ever picked up a pattern that calls for "worsted" or "DK" and had no idea what to buy? Here is the whole yarn weight chart in one place, with the numbers that actually matter: how many stitches you get over 10 cm, and which needles to reach for. Then we go through the eight weights one by one, with yarns from our own library you can click straight into.
The yarn weight chart 🧶
| # | Category | Also called | Sts per 10 cm | Needle (mm) | Needle (US) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Lace | Lace, 2-ply, light fingering | 32–39 | 1.5–2.25 | 000–1 |
| 1 | Super fine | Fingering, sock, 4-ply | 27–31 | 2.25–3.25 | 1–3 |
| 2 | Fine | Sport, baby | 23–26 | 3.25–3.75 | 3–5 |
| 3 | Light | DK, light worsted, 8-ply | 21–24 | 3.75–4.5 | 5–7 |
| 4 | Medium | Worsted, aran, 10-ply | 16–20 | 4.5–5.5 | 7–9 |
| 5 | Bulky | Chunky, 12-ply | 12–15 | 5.5–8 | 9–11 |
| 6 | Super bulky | Super chunky, roving | 7–11 | 8–12.75 | 11–17 |
| 7 | Jumbo | Jumbo, blanket yarn | 6 or fewer | 12.75 and up | 17 and up |
Those stitch counts come from the Craft Yarn Council's Standard Yarn Weight System, which publishes them per 4 inches. We have converted them to stitches per 10 cm, so they can sit half a stitch away from charts you find elsewhere. Both are right. They are just measuring different lengths.
Why two systems exist 🤔
In Norway and the rest of the Nordics we describe yarn by gauge. A ball band says "22 stitches on 4 mm needles" and that is the whole story. It is precise, and it is exactly how we sort our yarn library and our yarn alternatives.
English-language patterns usually describe yarn by category instead: lace, fingering, sport, DK, worsted, bulky. It is quicker to say and easier to shop by, but it tells you roughly how thick a yarn is, not what it will do on your needles.
So a yarn weight chart is really a translation table between the two. Here is each category, and what it looks like in real yarn.
0 — Lace 🕸️
32–39 sts per 10 cm · 1.5–2.25 mm · US 000–1
The finest yarn there is. Think shawls, heirloom knitting and very open fabric on big needles. In our library this is a small, specialist group: Pascuali Pinta, Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 3 Ply and Patons Dreamtime Merino 3 Ply.
One thing that surprises people: fine silk mohair is not filed here. A follower thread like Tynn Silk Mohair is almost never knit alone, so we record it at the gauge it gives when you hold it with something else. Look for it in the DK and bulky groups below, as part of a combination.
1 — Fingering 🧦
27–31 sts per 10 cm · 2.25–3.25 mm · US 1–3
Classic sock yarn and fine merino, and the biggest category in Nordic sweater knitting by a long way. If a Norwegian pattern says 27 masker på pinne 3, this is where you are. Sandnes Garn Sunday, Knitting for Olive Merino, Sandnes Tynn Peer Gynt, Dale Baby Ull, Sandnes Alpakka Silke and Knitting for Olive Pure Silk all live here.
It is also the weight most often held together with a mohair, which is how you get a light sweater with a bit of halo without moving up a category on your own.
See all fingering weight yarns →
2 — Sport 🌾
23–26 sts per 10 cm · 3.25–3.75 mm · US 3–5
A little heavier than sock yarn, a little finer than DK. Sport is the quiet workhorse for baby knits, light cardigans and anything you want to drape rather than stand up. Drops Baby Merino, Rauma Finull, Dale Lille Lerke, Isager Highland, Rauma Tumi and Drops Alpaca are all in this range.
3 — DK 🧵
21–24 sts per 10 cm · 3.75–4.5 mm · US 5–7
"Double knitting", and one of the most common sweater weights in the world. Fast enough to keep you interested, fine enough to wear indoors. Drops Karisma, Dale Lerke, Drops Merino Extra Fine, Cascade 220 Superwash and Dale Alpakka Magic sit here.
So do a lot of held-double combinations, which is worth knowing if you like a fuzzier fabric: Sandnes Sunday + Tynn Silk Mohair and Knitting for Olive Merino + Soft Silk Mohair both land at DK gauge. More of those in our favorite yarn combinations.
4 — Worsted and aran 🧥
16–20 sts per 10 cm · 4.5–5.5 mm · US 7–9
Thick, quick and forgiving. This is jacket and mitten territory, and the weight to pick when you want to see progress. Drops Air, Drops Nepal, Knitting for Olive Heavy Merino, Sandnes Børstet Alpakka, Sandnes Kos, Cascade 220 and Drops Big Merino are all in range.
Worsted and aran are usually treated as the same category. Aran tends to sit at the heavier end, around 16–18 sts, and worsted around 18–20. Check the gauge, not the word.
See all worsted and aran yarns →
5 — Bulky 🧶
12–15 sts per 10 cm · 5.5–8 mm · US 9–11
Big yarn on big needles, and where a weekend sweater lives. A lot of the thicker mohairs land here too: Rauma Tjukk Mohair, Sandnes Silk Mohair, Un-told Chunky Mohair, Drops Melody, Viking Garn Mohrino and HipKnitShop Fluff.
6 — Super bulky 🐻
7–11 sts per 10 cm · 8–12.75 mm · US 11–17
Very thick, very fast, and usually very warm. Drops Snow, Drops Wish, Camilla Pihl Fnugg and Un-told Bear Bouclé are the ones people reach for, along with doubled combinations like Drops Air + Air.
Our library goes down to 10 stitches per 10 cm, so the very lightest end of this category is the practical floor.
7 — Jumbo 🛋️
6 sts or fewer per 10 cm · 12.75 mm and up · US 17 and up
Extra thick yarn for blankets, cushions and arm knitting. We do not carry this weight in the yarn library, because it is not really garment yarn and our design tool is built for garments. If you want something in this range, hold a super bulky double and swatch it.
The bit most charts leave out ⚠️
Categories are guidelines, not rules. Two yarns in the same category can knit up to different gauges, and one brand's worsted can be noticeably thicker than another's. Fiber content changes it too. A wool-and-mohair blend blooms after washing, and a cotton yarn does not.
There is also the part nobody can standardize: you. Two knitters can use the same yarn and the same needles and end up two stitches apart over 10 cm, and both are knitting perfectly well.
That is why the ball band tells you what the manufacturer expects, and your swatch tells you what you will actually get. When they disagree, the swatch wins.
Using the chart to substitute yarn 🔁
The chart is at its most useful when a pattern calls for a yarn you cannot get. Here is how we would do it:
- Find the gauge the pattern asks for, in stitches per 10 cm. Not the yarn name, the gauge.
- Look up the category that gauge falls into in the chart above.
- Open that category's link and pick something with a similar fiber content and a similar amount of twist.
- Swatch it, wash it the way you will wash the finished garment, and measure again.
If you would rather skip steps 1 to 3, our Yarn Swapper does the matching for you by gauge.
Worth knowing: holding two yarns together adds thickness, but not by simply adding the two gauges. Two fingering yarns held double usually land somewhere around DK to worsted, and a fingering yarn held with a lace mohair barely moves the gauge at all while changing the whole feel of the fabric. Swatch it.
Yarn weights in yards and meters 📏
Category tells you thickness. Yardage tells you how far a ball goes, and the two are related. As a rough guide for 50 g:
- Lace: 200–400 m (220–440 yd)
- Fingering: 175–230 m (190–250 yd)
- Sport: 125–175 m (135–190 yd)
- DK: 100–125 m (110–135 yd)
- Worsted and aran: 75–100 m (80–110 yd)
- Bulky: 50–75 m (55–80 yd)
If a substitute yarn has very different meters per 50 g from the original, that is your early warning that the gauge will not match, whatever the label says.
Frequently asked questions
What is a yarn weight chart?
A table that lines up the eight standard yarn categories, from lace (0) to jumbo (7), with the gauge and needle size each one usually knits at. It lets you translate between a pattern that says "worsted" and a ball band that says "18 stitches on 5 mm".
What is DK yarn equivalent to?
DK is category 3, light worsted. It usually knits at 21–24 stitches per 10 cm on 3.75–4.5 mm needles, and it is called 8-ply in Australia and New Zealand.
Is worsted the same as aran?
Nearly. Both sit in category 4. Aran is usually the heavier end of it, around 16–18 stitches per 10 cm, while worsted runs 18–20. Many patterns use the words interchangeably, so check the gauge rather than the name.
How do I know what weight my yarn is if the ball band is gone?
Knit a swatch on the needle size you would normally use for that thickness, wash it, and measure the stitches over 10 cm. Then find that number in the chart above. Wraps per inch is a decent backup, but the swatch is more reliable.
Can I substitute one yarn weight for another?
Yes, if you adjust the pattern for the new gauge. That means recalculating stitch and row counts throughout, which is the part most knitters would rather not do by hand.
Or skip the translating altogether
If all of this feels like homework, that is because it is. In our design tool you pick the yarn you actually own and the gauge you actually knit, and the pattern is calculated around both. No category, no substitution table, no maths on the back of an envelope. It works the same way whether you are designing your first sweater or something more involved.
You can see how the pattern generator works here, and if you are just getting started, our beginner tips are a good next stop.
Dreamknit Pro is 99 kr a month, with a 14-day money-back guarantee, so you can try the maths on your own yarn before you commit.
