<p>Weaving yarns are described by two numbers separated by a slash, eg 2/5, 3/10, etc.</p>
<ul>
<li>The smaller number is the number of plies</li>
<li>The larger number represents the size of each ply.</li>
</ul>
<p>So, a 2/5 yarn has 2 strands of size 5 thread. A 3/10 yarn has 3 strands of size 10 thread. Different sources are inconsistent about which number comes first. Usually the smaller number is the number of plies and the larger number is the size number, but for very fat yarns the size number can be larger than the number of plies.</p>
<p>Each fiber type has a different scale for the size numbers, so you have to look at a table of wool yarn sizes. This table from <a href="https://woolery.com/yarn-weights-helpful-explanation/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">woolery.com</a> has the smallest wool weaving yarn sizes I could find listed:</p>
<pre><code>Material | Weight | yds./lb. | m/kg   | SETT 
Wool     | 20/2   | 5,600    | 11,289 | 20-30 
Wool     | 18/2   | 5,040    | 10,160 | 20-30 
Wool     | 8/2    | 2,240    | 4,516  | 12-16 
Wool     | 8/3    | 1,490    | 3,004  | 10-15 
Wool     | 6/2    | 1,600    | 3,225  | 8-16 
</code></pre>
<p>As you can see, your desired sett of 44 EPI is tighter than the smallest yarn on this chart. I couldn't find a chart that goes any smaller than this, but I know that wool yarns smaller than that do exist. So you know you want a 2-ply wool yarn smaller than 20/2 or 2/20.</p>
<p>When you purchase weaving yarn, sometimes they don't tell you the yarn size. Instead, all they tell you is yards per pound. So it would be useful to know how many yards per pound your desired yarn will have. It will have about twice as many yards per pound as a wool yarn with a sett of 22 EPI. So, probably around 10,000 yards per pound.</p>
<p>The yarn you want is much smaller than what is usually sold for home weavers. Yarns this small are more common in commercial weaving. So, you may want to shop for mill ends, which are yarns leftover from commercial weaving. Suppliers that sell mill ends may also have regular product lines that meet your needs.</p>
<p>Typically with mill ends, once a yarn is sold out it's gone for good. So be sure to buy enough for your project. Here are a few sources of mill end weaving yarns. Some of these I already knew about, but I found others by googling &quot;weaving yarn mill ends.&quot; You might also have success with terms like &quot;remnants&quot; and &quot;production excess.&quot;</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://colourmart.com/yarns/view/AND_*_wool_*_in_stock.*.rank.*.show_all" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Colourmart.com</a> - At the moment they have <a href="https://colourmart.com/yarns/view/2-42NM_cobweb_wt_wool,_zi_48_3_for_2_offer!_s_yarn/0/0/0/in_stock.*.asc_hue.*.show_all" rel="nofollow noreferrer">a 2/42 wool yarn</a> with 10,320 yards per pound. (They don't provide yard per pound measurements, but they do tell you how many ounces and yards each cone of yarn is, so you can calculate yards per pound yourself.)</li>
<li><a href="https://oldmillyarn.info/shop/ols/categories/wool--wool-blend-yarns" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Oldmillyarn.com</a> has a more limited selection, but they do show the yards per pound right on the search page. At the moment they have some in the 12,000+ YPP range, and some in the 7,000-8000 range.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.yarn.com/categories/mill-end-weaving-yarns" rel="nofollow noreferrer">WEBS</a> is usually a good source of mill end yarns, but they don't have any at the moment. Probably something to do with COVID and supply chains. In their regular weaving yarn section they have a 40/2 linen, but no wool yarn even close to as small as you want.</li>
</ul>
<p>Note: If you are making a garment or something you want to be soft enough to touch skin, be sure the wool you purchase is garment-quality wool, not rug-quality. If the product description doesn't specify, contact the seller before buying. Rug-quality wool (often just called rug wool or carpet wool) is very scratchy.</p>
<p>If you have a hard time finding wool yarn for your purpose, consider looking at other fiber types. The narrower sizes of yarn are more commonly available in silk, linen, tencel, cotton and rayon than in wool.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-06T14:34:44.320Z
WOW! I took a sample that weighed 345.53g which was 46.25inx67in and it came out to 9996.856332 yards per pound
Jason Pyeron
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-06T14:36:36.113Z
The summary I am taking away, is finer threads are sold by weight per distance, not thread diameter. The approximate weights above are very helpful in understanding the transition from size to weight.
Jason Pyeron
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-06T15:19:12.850Z
"mill ends, which are yarns leftover from commercial weaving" is there a different terminology for the supply chain in commercial weaving?
Jason Pyeron
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-06T19:51:46.220Z
@JasonPyeron Weaving yarns have different terminology than knitting yarns. I don't know what the terminology for commercial weaving would be, since I've never tried to shop for it. I was assuming you're trying to produce on a small scale. If you need the kind of bulk quantities that would be used in a factory, that's way outside my knowledge and the scope of this site.  Maybe see if you can find an industry group for weaving manufacturers.
csk
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-29T22:44:00.917Z
2020-11-29T22:44:00.917Z
csk
<p>This is a commercial fabric, I would like to produce something similar. When I search on the internet the closest I find is lace weight wool yarns for sale (retail or wholesale), which are 2 to 3 times thicker for the smallest lace weight yarn found.</p>
<p>I measured it at 72 WPI (wraps per inch), when in the woven fabric it has an epi (sett) of about 44.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/QeSFt.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/QeSFt.jpg" alt="imperial ruler on fabric" /></a>
Imperial ruler on fabric</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/FH2uj.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/FH2uj.jpg" alt="metric ruler on fabric" /></a>
Metric ruler on fabric</p>
<p>The thread/yarn is two-ply.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/fidI9.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/fidI9.jpg" alt="thread ply separated" /></a></p>
<p>It is supposed to be wool, what I will weave will be from 100% wool.</p>
<p><strong>How can I find similar yarn in order to weave similar fabric?</strong></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-22T21:29:13.263Z
You described it as wool thread/yarn. Do you know for a fact that it's actually wool, or are you using the word wool in the sense where it just means yarn or fiber?
csk
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-22T21:31:33.707Z
If you don't know what the fiber content is, you should do a burn test. There are lots of guides for this test, eg [this one](https://www.fabricmartfabrics.com/Burn-Test-Chart.html) or you can find others by googling "fiber content burn test." I recommend looking at multiple charts because the descriptions are somewhat subjective, particularly the descriptions of odors.
csk
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-24T05:05:36.370Z
It is supposed to be wool, what I will weave will be from 100% wool - I have not done a burn test as it is someone's garment.
Jason Pyeron
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-24T17:28:49.963Z
If you know the fiber content, the WPI, the EPI and the number of plies, what are you asking for help with? It seems like you already know enough to fully describe the yarn.
csk
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-28T16:34:06.790Z
Based on what I measured and described, I google searched and found no results. So am I wrong, misdescribed/wrong terms, or is it just nowhere on the internet? Something is not adding up.
Jason Pyeron
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-28T17:56:43.013Z
I'm still a little confused. Where did you get the yarn in the photo? Is it from something you wove already, and you just don't remember where the yarn came from? Is it a commercial fabric that you're trying to reproduce? Why are you trying to "find it on the internet" - are you hoping to buy more of this yarn?
csk
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-28T19:11:52.183Z
It is a commercial fabric, I would like produce something similar. When search on the internet the closest I find is lace weight wool yarns for sale (retail or wholesale), which is 2 to 3 times thicker for the smallest lace weight yarn found.
Jason Pyeron
<fabric><yarn><weaving><wool><thread>
I am trying to identify / describe this wool thread / yarn
Jason Pyeron
# I am trying to identify / describe this wool thread / yarn

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-11-21)

This is a commercial fabric, I would like to produce something similar. When I search on the internet the closest I find is lace weight wool yarns for sale (retail or wholesale), which are 2 to 3 times thicker for the smallest lace weight yarn found.

I measured it at 72 WPI (wraps per inch), when in the woven fabric it has an epi (sett) of about 44.

[![imperial ruler on fabric](https://i.sstatic.net/QeSFt.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/QeSFt.jpg)
Imperial ruler on fabric

[![metric ruler on fabric](https://i.sstatic.net/FH2uj.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/FH2uj.jpg)
Metric ruler on fabric

The thread/yarn is two-ply.

[![thread ply separated](https://i.sstatic.net/fidI9.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/fidI9.jpg)

It is supposed to be wool, what I will weave will be from 100% wool.

**How can I find similar yarn in order to weave similar fabric?**

**Tags:** fabric, yarn, weaving, wool, thread

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: You described it as wool thread/yarn. Do you know for a fact that it's actually wool, or are you using the word wool in the sense where it just means yarn or fiber?  
> **username_1**: If you don't know what the fiber content is, you should do a burn test. There are lots of guides for this test, eg [this one](https://www.fabricmartfabrics.com/Burn-Test-Chart.html) or you can find others by googling "fiber content burn test." I recommend looking at multiple charts because the descriptions are somewhat subjective, particularly the descriptions of odors.  
> **username_0**: It is supposed to be wool, what I will weave will be from 100% wool - I have not done a burn test as it is someone's garment.  
> **username_1**: If you know the fiber content, the WPI, the EPI and the number of plies, what are you asking for help with? It seems like you already know enough to fully describe the yarn.  
> **username_0**: Based on what I measured and described, I google searched and found no results. So am I wrong, misdescribed/wrong terms, or is it just nowhere on the internet? Something is not adding up.  
> **username_1**: I'm still a little confused. Where did you get the yarn in the photo? Is it from something you wove already, and you just don't remember where the yarn came from? Is it a commercial fabric that you're trying to reproduce? Why are you trying to "find it on the internet" - are you hoping to buy more of this yarn?  
> **username_0**: It is a commercial fabric, I would like produce something similar. When search on the internet the closest I find is lace weight wool yarns for sale (retail or wholesale), which is 2 to 3 times thicker for the smallest lace weight yarn found.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-11-29. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Weaving yarns are described by two numbers separated by a slash, eg 2/5, 3/10, etc.

The smaller number is the number of plies
The larger number represents the size of each ply.

So, a 2/5 yarn has 2 strands of size 5 thread. A 3/10 yarn has 3 strands of size 10 thread. Different sources are inconsistent about which number comes first. Usually the smaller number is the number of plies and the larger number is the size number, but for very fat yarns the size number can be larger than the number of plies.
Each fiber type has a different scale for the size numbers, so you have to look at a table of wool yarn sizes. This table from woolery.com has the smallest wool weaving yarn sizes I could find listed:
Material | Weight | yds./lb. | m/kg   | SETT 
Wool     | 20/2   | 5,600    | 11,289 | 20-30 
Wool     | 18/2   | 5,040    | 10,160 | 20-30 
Wool     | 8/2    | 2,240    | 4,516  | 12-16 
Wool     | 8/3    | 1,490    | 3,004  | 10-15 
Wool     | 6/2    | 1,600    | 3,225  | 8-16 

As you can see, your desired sett of 44 EPI is tighter than the smallest yarn on this chart. I couldn't find a chart that goes any smaller than this, but I know that wool yarns smaller than that do exist. So you know you want a 2-ply wool yarn smaller than 20/2 or 2/20.
When you purchase weaving yarn, sometimes they don't tell you the yarn size. Instead, all they tell you is yards per pound. So it would be useful to know how many yards per pound your desired yarn will have. It will have about twice as many yards per pound as a wool yarn with a sett of 22 EPI. So, probably around 10,000 yards per pound.
The yarn you want is much smaller than what is usually sold for home weavers. Yarns this small are more common in commercial weaving. So, you may want to shop for mill ends, which are yarns leftover from commercial weaving. Suppliers that sell mill ends may also have regular product lines that meet your needs.
Typically with mill ends, once a yarn is sold out it's gone for good. So be sure to buy enough for your project. Here are a few sources of mill end weaving yarns. Some of these I already knew about, but I found others by googling "weaving yarn mill ends." You might also have success with terms like "remnants" and "production excess."

Colourmart.com - At the moment they have a 2/42 wool yarn with 10,320 yards per pound. (They don't provide yard per pound measurements, but they do tell you how many ounces and yards each cone of yarn is, so you can calculate yards per pound yourself.)
Oldmillyarn.com has a more limited selection, but they do show the yards per pound right on the search page. At the moment they have some in the 12,000+ YPP range, and some in the 7,000-8000 range.
WEBS is usually a good source of mill end yarns, but they don't have any at the moment. Probably something to do with COVID and supply chains. In their regular weaving yarn section they have a 40/2 linen, but no wool yarn even close to as small as you want.

Note: If you are making a garment or something you want to be soft enough to touch skin, be sure the wool you purchase is garment-quality wool, not rug-quality. If the product description doesn't specify, contact the seller before buying. Rug-quality wool (often just called rug wool or carpet wool) is very scratchy.
If you have a hard time finding wool yarn for your purpose, consider looking at other fiber types. The narrower sizes of yarn are more commonly available in silk, linen, tencel, cotton and rayon than in wool.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: WOW! I took a sample that weighed 345.53g which was 46.25inx67in and it came out to 9996.856332 yards per pound  
> **username_0**: The summary I am taking away, is finer threads are sold by weight per distance, not thread diameter. The approximate weights above are very helpful in understanding the transition from size to weight.  
> **username_0**: "mill ends, which are yarns leftover from commercial weaving" is there a different terminology for the supply chain in commercial weaving?  
> **username_1**: @JasonPyeron Weaving yarns have different terminology than knitting yarns. I don't know what the terminology for commercial weaving would be, since I've never tried to shop for it. I was assuming you're trying to produce on a small scale. If you need the kind of bulk quantities that would be used in a factory, that's way outside my knowledge and the scope of this site.  Maybe see if you can find an industry group for weaving manufacturers.  

---

