Did you know that there’s an association for the yarn industry as a whole? There is! It’s the Craft Yarn Council. They represent a number of major yarn companies, needle/accessory companies, magazines, books, teachers – and yarn lovers everywhere!
If you’re looking for the technical aspects of knitting, like understanding yarn weights, sizing standards, or what those pictures on your yarn ball mean, then this is the site for you. There’s also descriptions for what the abbreviations in patterns mean, symbols in charted patterns mean, and what the skill level symbols mean. Below, you can see the symbol for a medium (worsted) weight yarn and the symbol for an intermediate pattern:
Image Source: Craft Yarn Council’s
www.YarnStandards.com
My favorite section is the care symbols. These symbols are on almost every kind of garment and on your yarn ball information too! I can never remember what they all mean, so this is a handy list.
If you’re an advanced knitter, you should still check it out. These standards are important for designing knitwear and there’s also the option to become a certified instructor. (I’m adding this to my goals!)