Medium / worsted yarn

Worsted and aran are commonly grouped in category 4, medium. This broad group covers a typical stockinette gauge of 16–20 stitches per four inches; the names do not promise identical fabric.

Gauge and tools

Category
4
Common names
Worsted, aran, afghan
Stockinette stitches per 4 inches
16–20
Needles (mm)
4.5–5.5
Hooks (mm)
5.5–6.5

These are starting ranges. Follow the gauge in your pattern and measure the washed fabric.

Working with this weight

Sweaters, blankets and visible stitch textures. Texture samples matter here: cables, ribbing and dense crochet can consume yarn differently from a smooth rectangle. Use the project stitch when judging hand, thickness and quantity, particularly for a large blanket.

Compare a replacement

A 50 g ball and a 100 g ball can both be medium weight. Their mass is package quantity, not the weight category. Convert the required metres or yards before replacing one put-up with another.

Calculate replacement yarn and compare washed gauge

Worked check

Nine hundred metres at 105 m per ball requires nine whole balls. That length comparison says nothing by itself about whether the new aran fabric matches the original worsted gauge.

Calculate your gauge difference