Write the pattern's yarn in the left column and the skein you have fallen for in the right. The quantity and the fit tally up as you go — no buttons, no waiting.
Fill in both columns and the comparison will appear here. Every check is a warning system, not a guarantee — the swatch has the last word.
The Craft Yarn Council standard, with the names you will actually hear used across a festival field. Gauge is measured over 10cm (4in) on the recommended needle or hook.
| Category | Also called | Knit gauge | Needle | Crochet gauge | Hook | Typical yd/100g | WPI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 · Lace | Cobweb, thread, 2-ply | 33–40 sts | 1.5–2.25mm | 32–42 dc | 1.6–1.4mm steel | 600–1,000+ | 18+ |
| 1 · Super Fine | Fingering, sock, 4-ply | 27–32 sts | 2.25–3.25mm | 21–32 sc | 2.25–3.5mm | 380–480 | 14–18 |
| 2 · Fine | Sport, baby | 23–26 sts | 3.25–3.75mm | 16–20 sc | 3.5–4.5mm | 300–380 | 12–14 |
| 3 · Light | DK, light worsted, 8-ply | 21–24 sts | 3.75–4.5mm | 12–17 sc | 4.5–5.5mm | 230–300 | 11–13 |
| 4 · Medium | Worsted, aran, afghan, 10-ply | 16–20 sts | 4.5–5.5mm | 11–14 sc | 5.5–6.5mm | 160–230 | 9–11 |
| 5 · Bulky | Chunky, craft, rug, 12-ply | 12–15 sts | 5.5–8mm | 8–11 sc | 6.5–9mm | 110–160 | 6–8 |
| 6 · Super Bulky | Super chunky, roving | 7–11 sts | 8–12.75mm | 7–9 sc | 9–15mm | 50–110 | 5–6 |
| 7 · Jumbo | Giant, arm-knitting | 6 sts or fewer | 12.75mm+ | 6 sc or fewer | 15mm+ | under 50 | under 5 |
More than a hundred vendors bring hand-dyed yarn, farm yarn and millspun to the fairgrounds each September. Dyers know their own bases better than any calculator — and most will happily wind off a swatch length so you can try before committing to a sweater quantity.
See who is vending →No. The categories are deliberately broad — category 4 runs from a light worsted at 230 yd/100g to a dense aran at 160. Compare length per 100g as well, and read the gauge on the band.
You cannot buy two thirds of a skein. The margin covers swatching, the fact that your tension is not the designer's, and the very common decision to add length. It also guards against dye lots — a hand-dyed yarn you return for in January may not match the one you bought in September.
Sometimes, but expect a different garment. Cotton has almost no memory and grows where wool springs back; alpaca and silk drape and can lengthen under their own weight; superwash behaves differently from untreated wool of the same thickness. Cables lose definition in slippery or hairy fibres. Treat it as a design decision, not a swap.
That is the easier case — switch the left column to “given as total length” and enter it directly. You will lose the length-per-100g comparison unless you also enter the original weight per skein, but the quantity works out fine.
Yes, the arithmetic is identical. Bear in mind crochet generally eats noticeably more yarn than knitting over the same area, so if you are converting a knitting pattern, set the margin to 20% and more for dense stitch patterns.
Gauge, needle and hook ranges follow the Craft Yarn Council's Standard Yarn Weight System, which is what most published patterns and ball bands use. Yardage and WPI are typical observed ranges, so treat them as orientation rather than rule.