----Brenda Paternoster <[email protected]> wrote:
>From what I understand of the American terms for knitting yarns 'sock yarn and
>fingering are similar, if not the same.----
That's the way I've understood the terms. However, in Brenda's article on
yarns, the "official" numbering system lists "fingering" under #0 (lace
weight), #1 (sock weight), and #3 (DK weight).
I think decades ago (in the US), the main categories of yarn were "worsted"
(4-ply), "sport" (3-ply), and "baby" (2-ply). I also remember the term
"fingering", but don't remember if it was sized with "sport" or with "baby" in
those days. In those days, yarn was either wool or acrylic, and there were
none of the eyelash, lurex, furry, etc. things we can get now.
You'd think the new number system would make it easy. But I am looking at a
knitted lace pattern ("Forest Path Stole" by Faina Letoutchaia, in the book
"The Best of Interweave Knits") that has me confused. It says to use
"fingering weight (#1 Super Fine)" and size 3 (3.25 mm) needles. Now, I was
just knitting with sock yarn on #3 needles and it's not lacy at all--if you
stretch the swatch (like blocking) you can see the holes, but the stitches
between the holes are quite solid. The pictures of this shawl show a much
lacier piece, with a lot of visibility even in the "solid" areas. It has to be
done with lace weight yarn (#0), not sock yarn (#1). Crazy!
Robin P.
Los Angeles, California, USA
[email protected]
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