Knitting Reference – Needle Sizes
Knitting needles in the UK are now sold in metric measurements. However, if you’ve inherited your great-grandmother’s knitting bag you may have needles with the old UK ratings so these have been included for your information. Where there is a gap in the table this is where there is no direct equivalent size.
| US | Metric | Old UK |
| 0 | 2mm | 14 |
| 1 | 2.25mm | 13 |
| 2 | 2.75mm | 12 |
| 3mm | 11 | |
| 3 | 3.25mm | 10 |
| 4 | 3.5mm | |
| 5 | 3.75mm | 9 |
| 6 | 4mm | 8 |
| 7 | 4.5mm | 7 |
| 8 | 5mm | 6 |
| 9 | 5.5mm | 5 |
| 10 | 6mm | 4 |
| 10½ | 6.5mm | 3 |
| 7mm | 2 | |
| 11 | 8mm | 1 |
| 13 | 9mm | 0 |
| 15 | 10mm |
Knitting Reference – Yarn Types
While many people speak English all over the world, we tend to have different names for the same thing and this is certainly true of yarn types.
| Australia/UK | US |
| 1 ply | lace weight |
| 2 ply, 3ply | baby, fingering |
| 4 ply | sport weight |
| 8 ply, double knit, dk | worsted weight |
| 10 ply, Aran | fisherman or medium |
| 12 ply, Chunky | bulky |