Diving Into Your Yarn Stash: Part 2

Identifying Fiber Content, Amounts and Yardage

If you are following along with our Blog Series you have already read Part 1 and have your skeins or balls of yarn all labeled with the Yarn Weight/Size, recommended Hook Size, and Gauge.  If you have not read Part 1 and want to know where to start sorting your yarn stash, head back to the main page and read about that there.

Fiber Content: What Is Your Yarn Made Of?

Fiber Content determines the yarn’s characteristics. It tells you things like texture, strength, warmth, durability, and how it should be cared for.

There are several tests to determine what your yarn is made of. Knowing that will help you decide which yarns are appropriate for which projects. You may need to do only one of these tests to know right away what you have, or you may need to perform several tests. If your findings feel inconclusive, you may want to set that yarn aside for something where content does not matter.

Touch and Sight Test

The simplest test is to examine your yarn.

• Animal Fibers: Wool is warm to the touch, springy, and elastic. Silk is smooth and lustrous. Wool appears dull and has a matte finish. 
• Plant fibers (like cotton and linen): Feel cooler, have little to no stretch, and may have a crisp, more rigid texture.
• Synthetic Fibers (like acrylic and nylon): These have a variety of textures, they may feel soft or not but most have a very consistent thickness.  Some have a shine in the light.

Burn Test

The most common and effective method to identify yarn fibers.  By observing how a piece of yarn burns, its smell and the residue afterward, you can determine the content.

Be Safe! 

• Work in a well-ventilated area.
• Hold a piece of yarn with tweezers.
• Work over a non-flammable surface like your sink or a metal or ceramic dish or bowl.
• Use a lighter or a candle flame to test yarn.
• Keep water nearby.

What You Will Observe

• Protein (wool, silk, etc.): yarn will curl away, burn slowly, and often put itself out completely. You will smell burning hair. The burn will leave a small black bead at the end of the yarn that can be crushed into a gritty powder.
• Cellulose (cotton, linen, hemp, etc.): Will ignite quickly, burn with a bright flame, and will continue to burn after being removed from the flame. You will smell burning paper or wood. The residue is a fine, feathery, grey ash. Mercerized cotton leaves a black ash.
• Synthetic (acrylic, nylon, polyester): PROCEED WITH CAUTION!!! Melts, shrinks, and burns with black smoke. It will continue to burn even after the flame is out so take care and use the water! You will smell chemical or plastic-like odors. Acrylic has a very strong, even fishy smell.  The residue is a hard, solid plastic-like bead that cannot be crushed.

The Bleach Test

Simple observation of reactions here, no more fire!

• Place a piece of yarn in a clear, glass jar with a lid.
• Cover the yarn with household chlorine bleach.
• Seal the jar and observe, this may take 12 to 24 hours.

Different fibers will have different reactions:

• Animal Fibers (wool, silk, etc): will bubble or fizz and then dissolve completely.
• Plant Fibers (cotton, linen, etc): will not dissolve but the yarn’s color will fade or disappear.
• Synthetics (acrylic, nylon): will be mostly unaffected.
• Blends: only the animal fibers will be affected. They will dissolve, leaving only the other fibers intact. While this may not tell you exactly what your blend is made of, you will at least know your fiber is a blend.

The Felting Test

Confirm if your yarn is wool or another animal fiber.

• Cut two small, frayed pieces of yarn and dampen them with a small amount of water.
• Rub the two damp, frayed ends together between your hands.
• If the ends stitch together and form a felted knot, it is likely an animal fiber like wool. Plant and synthetic fibers will not felt.

The Stretch and Break Test

• Stretch: Stretch the yarn to see if it has elasticity.  Wool is springy and elastic, plant fibers have little to no elasticity.
• Break: Try to snap a piece of yarn.  Wool will often break, strong synthetic fibers are difficult to break.

Now that you have tested your yarn, record your observations on your yarn label.

Fiber Amounts: How Much Yarn Do You Have?

The amount of fiber you have is based on Weight (ounces/grams) and Yardage (length in yards/meters). 

Weight, Using A Scale

• Yarn Weight is a category of yarn, 0–7, Lace–Jumbo. 
• Weight of Yarn refers to actual, physical weight

Weight of Yarn is measured in ounces/grams. A kitchen scale works well for this. Once you have the weight of your yarn, record it on the label. If you do not have a scale, keep reading to learn how to deduce your weight from measuring the length of your yarn.

Yardage, Measuring The Length

• Use a Yarnswift or a Niddy-Noddy. Both are common tools for a spinner, or someone who commonly winds their own yarn. If you are curious about these tools but don’t know them yet, the terms have links if you'd like to learn more.
• If neither of these tools are available you can use the back or legs of a wooden chair. Use a tape measure to measure the circumference of the chair back or two back legs (turn the chair upside down). You could also use a piece of cardboard or a book if you have a smaller piece of yarn.

Your swift or niddy-noddy will have a standard measure. Each time you wind around them you will have one yard or two yards, depending on your tool. With a chair or other tool you must measure. 

Once you know what one wind around will be, you simply count the number of times you wind around and multiply that by the measure of one time around. If you have measured in inches and you want it in yards, divide your total by 36(inches) to find the number of yards.

Formula: [Number of wraps] X [Circumference of tool] = Total Length of Yarn

Total Length (in inches) ÷ 36 = Total Length (in yards).

This process gives you the length of yarn, now you know how much you have and can record it on your label. 

Weight Calculation

If you still want to know the weight(ounces/grams) of your yarn, you have what you need to calculate that. You may not get an exact weight, but you can get a close estimate that will give you enough to know if it is what you need for a particular project.

• Identify your yarn’s category (check that label you are making).
• Reference the chart below, which has the common yardage of each category per 100g skein.

Common Yardage for Yarn Weights

• 0–Lace—Thread weight: 600 + yards
• 1–Super Fine—Fingering/Sock weight: 380–600 yards
• 2–Fine—Sport/Baby weight: 300–380 yards
• 3–Light—DK/Light Worsted weight: 230–300 yards
• 4–Medium— Worsted weight: 170–230 yards
• 5–Bulky/Chunky—Rug Yarn/Craft weight: 100–170 yards
• 6–Super Bulky—Roving weight: Under 100 yards
• 7–-Jumbo—Extra Bulky Roving/Ultra weight: Less than 50 yards

Example: You have a ball of DK yarn that measures 260 yards. You know you have a 100g ball because that is the approximate yardage of that yarn per 100g.

Now you can add all this information to your DIY yarn label and be relatively sure of what you have. The next time you start a project you will be more prepared to Dive Into Your Yarn Stash!!

Ready to take on a new project? Maybe you need to find just the right stitch for that project? The Stitch Dictionary at Design Crochet is just where you need to go. There are stitches in there that may even be new to you and you are sure to find something you like. 

Need help figuring out how much yarn you need? The Yarn Estimator is there to help you calculate that!