Medium and worsted weight yarn (CYC 4)

What is medium (worsted) weight yarn?

Medium (CYC 4) includes worsted, afghan and aran yarns, around 10 ply in UK and Australian terms. It is the most common weight in American crochet patterns and in big-box craft stores, and it works up quickly into a sturdy, warm fabric.

Standard specs and real data

The Craft Yarn Council standard places 4 – Medium yarns with a recommended crochet hook of 5.5–6.5 mm and a gauge of 11–14 single crochet stitches in 10 cm (4 in). Use these ranges as a starting point: the hook and gauge printed on each ball band, listed in the table below, always take priority.

Our database lists 50 yarns in this group from 18 brands. Their linear density averages 173 m per 100 g, ranging from 84 to 300 m per 100 g, and the average ball holds 240 m in 141 g.

Manufacturers recommend hooks from 3.5 to 6.5 mm for these yarns. 25 of them publish a reference gauge, averaging 17.7 stitches in 10 cm.

Most common main fibres in the group: Acrylic (21), Cotton (16), Wool (6).

Best projects and how much yarn you need

Worsted weight suits blankets and afghans, hats, scarves, bags, home décor, dishcloths in cotton and amigurumi. Large value skeins in this weight make big blankets affordable with fewer joins.

With the average ball of this group (240 m), a 1,100 m throw blanket needs about 5 balls and a 220 m hat about 1 balls. For an exact figure for your pattern, size and stitch, use the yarn calculator.

How to choose and substitute

Compare yarns by meters per 100 g rather than by brand or ball weight: two yarns within about 10 % of each other in density, with overlapping hook ranges, usually give the same fabric. Sort the table by density or hook size to find close matches quickly.

Before swapping yarns in a pattern, convert the number of balls by total length, buy every ball from the same dye lot and work a 12 × 12 cm swatch. Our side-by-side comparisons below show the exact ball conversion and a technical verdict for the most searched pairs.

Calculate yarn for a whole project → Granny square blanket calculator →