How do you figure out the weight of recycled yarn?

#1

I’m thinking of making a felted bag with some recycled yarn I dyed but I don’t know what weight it is, I know I’ll need to double it (it isn’t very thick) but I want to make sure to use the right needle size to get a good felted result. Any suggestions? Or maybe someone could tell me how loose the stitches are supposed to look?

#2

The best thing to do is the wraps per inch (WPI) method. There are a few good places online to check this out. This one has a simple way of explaining it along with a simple chart to work out your needle sizes.

Cathy

Edit: don’t forget to felt a test swatch first, you don’t want to do all that work and find that your lovely recycled yarn won’t felt.