Stitchboard Admin message #2
Re: Yarn standards
July 17, 2013 at 3:24:27 PM  (in response to BetwixtTheStitch message #1)
 
Thank you for starting this discussion!    It's one I've wanted to have for a long time.

Here's the link to the CYC standards page:
http://www.craftyarncouncil.com/weight.html

My take on it is this: these are supposed to be standards, but sadly, I find they're all over the place.  I wrote about it some time ago in my (sorely neglected) blog:
/stitchgoddess/?p=17

Until manufacturers and publishers are held to exactly the same standards, it's going to be dicey.  Some manufacturers still don't use these numbers, either!

I don't mind looking at a yarn label and seeing a gauge, rather than the craft yarn council "standards," but I mind when the gauge is, say, knitted with a lightweight yarn on ridiculously large needles, because then I can't really tell a single thing about the yarn.

As long as a yarn can be given any one of a number of designations, the system is pretty unhelpful to me.  While it works fine for a known knitting worsted or a known sport weight, it doesn't really work when a sport and a baby yarn can be similarly classified with a #2 rating, though the baby weight may be far thinner.  Yet with the "old" way of doing things, I would know that if I was looking for a thinner yarn, I'd look for baby weight, and a sport weight would do if I wanted something a bit thicker, yet not as thick as a worsted.

LOL, you can probably tell I've known this kind of frustration from painful experience! 

How have your experiences been with the "new" standards? 

---

Stitchboard Admin message #5
Re: Yarn standards
July 18, 2013 at 9:36:56 PM  (in response to BetwixtTheStitch message #3)
 
I'm so glad you've wanted to have this discussion, too!    Gauge is such an important issue!

I definitely agree...anyone who is new to crochet or knitting needs to know there can be a huge difference between a "standard" and what works for them.  Everything must be swatched first.

IMO, it's a big disappointment that the standards aren't purely across the board.  Or that going with the new standards has replaced the old standards in some cases.  If the new standards worked, it would be a different story, but they're too nebulous and open to interpretation.

Like honesty, swatching and blocking are always the best policy.  I hate swatching for so many reasons...it's time consuming and (unlike what I was incorrectly told years ago) you really can't simply undo the swatch after you've blocked it and reuse the yarn.  OTOH, what's a little swatching compared to finding a garment is much too big or much too small?  Starting something over from scratch (unless you're talking about small doll clothes) is even more time consuming than swatching.  I'd much rather make a sweater once than make it twice.

As for blogs, I'm afraid I'm quite long-winded.    Feel free to use our blogs here to write a simple sentence or two about what you're doing, should the mood strike.  The software should be improving, but for now, if you'd merely like to discuss your project du jour or thoughts on whatever, we'd love to hear, even if it's only a couple of lines! 

---