A couple of days ago, I received an e-mail from a customer. She was upset because, when she got home, she weighed her skeins of wool and they were not all the same weight. She felt that I had either shortchanged her, or this particular supplier was ripping me off. She commented that she was well connected in her local fibre community and this did not reflect well on my shop.
Now, I don’t weigh every single skein of wool that comes into the studio. In fact, before this e-mail, I didn’t know anybody who weighed their wool to ensure that the label matched the number on the scale. I knew right away that it was time for some wool lessons!!!
When you purchase a skein of wool, it will come with a label that gives you the weight of the skein (i.e. 4 oz/113 g) and yardage (i.e. 215 yds/196 m). Some suppliers go a step further and add the word “approximately”. Why is this? Because there are a number of factors that will impact these measurements.
First, it’s important to know how a skein of wool is created at a mill. After the wool has been spun, it is wound onto bobbins, plied, then wound onto cones, after which it is taken to a machine that will wind up the skein. The operator can program the machine for a specific yardage. This ensures consistency in the length of yarn in each and every skein. If the wool is going to be sold in its natural colour, it will then be removed from the skeiner and twisted into the familiar shape of a hank or skein of wool.
So, imagine you take this single skein of wool and weigh it – and it comes out to exactly 113 g or 4 oz. Now you wind a number of skeins of wool and take them to the dye bath. Today, you’re going to make green, purple and red colourways, and leave some of the wool in its natural white state. Did you know that dying wool can affect the weight of the skein? Red and purple are the worst culprits because, in order to create these rich colours, you require more dye than you would use if you were creating a soft pink, green or blue. Have you ever noticed, when you are knitting, that red or purple wool feels a little thicker than a white wool? That’s because of the dying process. When the wool goes into the dye bath and it comes out again, the yardage in the skein of wool has not changed, but the weight may have changed.
So – if you purchase a skein of red wool and a skein of white wool, both perhaps a worsted weight from the same manufacturer and, when you take them home and weigh them, they are both exactly the same weight, you will have more yardage in your white skein than in your red skein! That is why the yardage indicated on the skein’s label is more accurate than the exact weight. Dying affects the weight of the skein but not the yardage.
If you would like to see spun wool being wound into a skein, take a peek at Fleece and Harmony’s video at the link below. Fast forward to approximately 1:13:30 to see the skein winder in action.
https://youtu.be/_Yg1kJU0mPU?si=4vfazwauMrvT06XD&t=4410
Hope this helps to alleviate any confusion. And, as always, happy knitting!
Now, I don’t weigh every single skein of wool that comes into the studio. In fact, before this e-mail, I didn’t know anybody who weighed their wool to ensure that the label matched the number on the scale. I knew right away that it was time for some wool lessons!!!
When you purchase a skein of wool, it will come with a label that gives you the weight of the skein (i.e. 4 oz/113 g) and yardage (i.e. 215 yds/196 m). Some suppliers go a step further and add the word “approximately”. Why is this? Because there are a number of factors that will impact these measurements.
First, it’s important to know how a skein of wool is created at a mill. After the wool has been spun, it is wound onto bobbins, plied, then wound onto cones, after which it is taken to a machine that will wind up the skein. The operator can program the machine for a specific yardage. This ensures consistency in the length of yarn in each and every skein. If the wool is going to be sold in its natural colour, it will then be removed from the skeiner and twisted into the familiar shape of a hank or skein of wool.
So, imagine you take this single skein of wool and weigh it – and it comes out to exactly 113 g or 4 oz. Now you wind a number of skeins of wool and take them to the dye bath. Today, you’re going to make green, purple and red colourways, and leave some of the wool in its natural white state. Did you know that dying wool can affect the weight of the skein? Red and purple are the worst culprits because, in order to create these rich colours, you require more dye than you would use if you were creating a soft pink, green or blue. Have you ever noticed, when you are knitting, that red or purple wool feels a little thicker than a white wool? That’s because of the dying process. When the wool goes into the dye bath and it comes out again, the yardage in the skein of wool has not changed, but the weight may have changed.
So – if you purchase a skein of red wool and a skein of white wool, both perhaps a worsted weight from the same manufacturer and, when you take them home and weigh them, they are both exactly the same weight, you will have more yardage in your white skein than in your red skein! That is why the yardage indicated on the skein’s label is more accurate than the exact weight. Dying affects the weight of the skein but not the yardage.
If you would like to see spun wool being wound into a skein, take a peek at Fleece and Harmony’s video at the link below. Fast forward to approximately 1:13:30 to see the skein winder in action.
https://youtu.be/_Yg1kJU0mPU?si=4vfazwauMrvT06XD&t=4410
Hope this helps to alleviate any confusion. And, as always, happy knitting!
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