All Yarn

Which weight do you need?

Weight is the thickness of the strand. It sets the needle or hook size, how fast a piece grows and how the fabric hangs. Most patterns name a weight, so start there. From finest to thickest:

• Fingering: 2.25 to 3.5 mm. Doilies, lace shawls, baby garments and amigurumi.
• Sport: 3.5 to 4 mm. Light children's clothes and socks.
• DK: 4 mm. The everyday weight for jumpers, cardigans, blankets and baby wear.
• Aran: 5 to 5.5 mm. Warmer jumpers, school wear and blankets you want finished sooner.
• Chunky: 6 to 9 mm. Hats, scarves and fast blankets.
• Super chunky: 10 mm and up, to 20 mm for arm-knit throws.

Acrylic, cotton or wool?

Acrylic is the practical default. It machine washes, wears hard and comes in the most shades, which is why school jumpers and baby blankets are usually made in it. Cotton is cool and has no spring, so it holds a shape: summer tops, dishcloths, bags and amigurumi. Wool and wool blends add warmth and bounce for cold mornings, and a blend with 20% wool keeps most of acrylic's easy care.

How many balls?

Buy by metres, not by grams. Two yarns of the same weight can be very different lengths. In Stitches Milk Cotton, a DK, has 112 m to its 100 g ball. YarnArt Angora Active, also a DK, has 500 m. If your pattern was written for another yarn, multiply the balls it asks for by that yarn's metres per ball, then divide by the metres on the ball you are buying. Round up by one ball per color.

Buy everything for a garment at once, from one dye lot. Shades shift slightly between lots, and the change shows across a jumper front.