Yarn labels can be daunting for the novice knitter. Luckily, they have become fairly well standardised, so once you can decipher one, you can read most of ’em.

A typical ball of yarn

The pic above shows brand “Artesano” and name “Superwash Merino”

Detailed ball band information

Showing 1. fibre content, 2. weight, 3. manufacturing details, 4. care information, 5. gauge information, 6. yardage, 7. needle info and anything else the yarn company want to tell you.

The gauge is probably the most important piece of information. A DK weight yarn like this one will typically knit up so that a 10cm wide piece of knitting will be 22 sts, and a 10cm long piece of knitting will be 30sts. Or, as usually written, 22 sts x 30 rows = 10cm over stocking stitch. That grid symbol is used a lot, so look out for it on other ball bands.

Prising the ball band out so you can check ALL the info

This pic shows colour/shade number and dyelot number.

Some manufacturers put critical info like tension right at the end of the label, inside the ball, I’ve no idea why! Check it’s okay with the sales assistant first before you take the ball apart – they might have all the info you need in a folder or on a colour card (a card with a small sample of the yarn on it in each of the available colours). Don’t be afraid to check all your balls are from the same dyelot.

Hope this helps!

Got a weird ball band you can’t decipher? Send over a pic and I’ll try decipher it for you!

Happy New Year!