Yarn Weights

The Craft Yarn Council (CYC) established the Standard Yarn Weight System, which can be found on their website, that classifies yarn by its thickness. It is a numerical system that starts from 0 (the thinnest) and goes up to 7 (the thickest). The CYC created an icon that includes the numerical weight so yarns are easy to identify.

Ravelry, a well-trusted knitting and crochet community, also created the Ravelry Standard Yarn Weight System, which can be found on their website through that link. It is the system that their pattern designers follow when they create a listing. It differs slightly from the CYC, which is why it is included in the discussion. But they don’t include a crochet gauge, unfortunately.

The yarn weight system is helpful because you can expect similar results by substituting yarn within the same weight class. This is perfect if you don’t have access to the yarn listed in the pattern or you already have yarn on hand.

If you want to learn more about each yarn weight, click the yarn weight icon and explore more about its unique features and get pattern ideas. Whether you are a pattern designer or pattern follower, it’s good to have a baseline for what yarns pair well with certain types of projects.