I have inherited a box of yarns that have no sleeves on them. Is there a way I can find out what they are? The person I inherited them from did not purchase top rated yarns.
Determining Yarn colors and brands
Welcome to KnittingHelp!
You can determine the weight or thickness of the yarn by measuring the wraps per inch. Use a ruler to wrap a strand of yarn for 1 inch. You can use a knitting needle as the base, a pencil, whatever you have then measure out the length to figure out wraps.
A table like this one converts wraps to yarn weight although this is an approximation it is a bit more information.
https://www.craftyarncouncil.com/standards/how-measure-wraps-inch-wpi
It’s not going to be easy to figure out the exact yarn brand and type however.
A burn test can help you work out the fibre content. There are lots of tutorials on how to do it – I can’t recommend one in particular because I haven’t done it myself.
You can test for machine washable or not by trying to felt a short length of yarn. Wet the yarn, fold it in half, and rub it vigorously between your palms for a couple of bouts of 30 seconds or so. If it sticks to itself, you’ve got a feltable yarn (wool or alpaca content). You can also make a small swatch and run it through the wash.
Thank you!