Worsted weight yarn comparison

leopard danio

Worsted weight acrylic yarn is called  100% acrylic yarn, worsted weight, medium weight, or number 4. (Outside North America, it may also be called 10 ply or aran weight.)

Thickness, loft (bounciness), stretchiness,softness, shininess – all these properties vary wildly between different yarnsall marked as worsted weight acrylic, and that’s why it’s not  a good idea to mix yarns within an amigurumi.

These are 8 samples of worsted weight acrylic yarnsin a different colour for each so we can recognize them later:

1.    Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice (yellow)

2.   Caron Simply Soft (purple)

3.   Hobby Lobby ILove This Yarn! (grey)

4.   Patons Canadiana (beige)

5.   Red Heart Soft (brown)

6.   KnitPicks Brava (red)

7.    Loops & Threads Impeccable (green) – Michaels’store brand

8.   Bernat Satin (lime)

Yarn thickness is often measured in terms of wrapsper inch (WPI). To find the WPI, you wrap the yarn around something (e.g. aruler) so the wraps are touching but not squashed tightly together, and counthow many wraps fit into 1 inch. A higher WPI number means a finer yarn.

If you crochet with very consistent tension, youwill see  the samples varied in sizeconsiderably:

So my little caution is to watch out – even ifyou’re buying the same brand and type of yarn, it may not have exactly the samethickness.

Arranging all the flattened samples by size here, youcan see the difference visually too – 0.3mm per stitch may not sound like much,but you can see that it really makes a difference, even in a small amigurumipiece:

Now here’s the results. The yarns are arranged inthe same order as in the photos above. Italics show the thinnest yarns, and bold shows the thickest.

Yarn	Sample  Colour	WPI	Stitch width  / mm	Stitch  height / mm
B Satin	lime	12	5.3	4.7
P  Canadiana	beige	13	5.3	4.7
RH Soft	brown	13	5.3	4.7
C  Simply Soft	purple	13	5.4	4.8
KP  Brava Worsted	red	13	5.6	5.0
HL I Love This Yarn!	grey	12	5.9	5.0
LB  Vanna’s Choice	yellow	11	6.2	5.5
L&T  Impeccable	green	11	6.3	5.5

But it’s not just weight that plays a part; theyarns’ appearance and feel also vary. Old-fashioned acrylics felt hard andlooked matte, whereas many modern ‘soft’ acrylics feel silkier to work with,and have more of a sheen to them. You may prefer a firmer, more rigid yarn foramigurumi, or like the shinier, softer look and feel. Anyway, it’s not a goodidea  to mix them in one project.

So, I’d use any of the top 4 yarns (Bernat, Patons,Red Heart, Caron) interchangeably – they have a similar weight and sheen tothem, and the size difference is no more than that between different shades ofthe same type of yarn. Of the remaining four, they make 2 pairs in terms ofweight, but the KnitPicks and Lion Brand are far softer than the Hobby Lobbyand Michaels’ store brands, and have more sheen, so I wouldn’t mix them.

Recommendations

·        Although someworsted weight yarns are thicker than others, all make good amigurumi! The onlydifference is the size of the finished result – they will scale correctly sousing the same pattern with a thicker yarn will give you a taller, wider and deeper amigurumi – it will remain in proportion to the originaldesign.

·        These resultsaren’t so important if you’re making simple amigurumi e.g. a brown bird with ayellow beak and feet, but if you’re making multi-coloured amigurumi with colourchanges within the pieces, or more complex shaping, I recommend you use myresults (and/or do your own test first), to make sure the yarns you’re selectedare comparable in thickness, feel, and appearance before you start.

·        Don’t believethe gauge info when you’re comparing yarns for amigurumi! Only half the yarns Itested had crochet-specific gauge info, but according to those that did, you’dexpect Vanna’s Choice (one of the heaviest yarns I tested) to be thinner thanRed Heart Soft (among the lightest yarns in my test) – that’s clearlyincorrect. The other gauge information (for recommended hook/needle sizes andknitting) seemed equally random/incorrect compared with my tests.

Note: These tests have been made by  June Gilbank.

Sash/NeLi

                               
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Danaquinn

                               
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2022-1-2 18:58
This is so accurate I have such a hard time with deciding what outcome because yarn is about as cons ...

Uuuf, that's so true.

Danaquinn

This is so accurate I have such a hard time with deciding what outcome because yarn is about as consistent as womens jeans sizes

quelu74

Muy buen aporte... Si bien uso traductor, totalmente entendible... Gracias por tan generosa explicación. Saludos cordiales ;)

mimimami

Thank you for sharing, this is very useful! It drives me crazy when I try to use scrap yarn, and the yarn weight is different...

Saltandpepper

What a great and valuable information, thank you for the time you gave so we could learn from your experience !

sophiasisi4

Thanks a lot for the information, I tried to understand with the translator. Very nice, thanks for sharing

molina

Thanks a lot for the information, I tried to understand with the translator. Very nice, thanks for sharing :loveliness:

Jane Doe

Thank you for that great information and all in one place! Its so helpful and really appreciated.

dove2

Excellent summary!  The last image is "worth a thousand words."

sonae

This is an interesting comparison. I never knew they could be so different.

sundrop016

thanks for sharing.

LilyMaid

thanks for sharing :)

ldwire

Very informative! Many thanks for sharing!

LucyLocket

Thank you for sharing this - being a spinner I know that 'everything' affects the yarn you spin. It can be different from one day to the next using the same prepared fleece. So, different brands are bound to be different in texture, in ply, in feel.............., so many variables.:)

crolady

Thank you for such a comprehensive explanation :)

Crochet123Queen

Wow thanks for this, very informative.  I use a lot of those yarns and the picture of them all worked up into little hats next to each other is really helpful!

Sonnoprofondo

Interesting!!!! Thanks, I'm learning a lot form this thread :)

JECKK

This a such a valuable read to have as a support aide, thank you for sharing this bit of magic!

ALVAR

Very informative:loveliness: