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A numbered skein icon on a ball band, giving a yarn's thickness category.
Also known as: Yarn weight category, Skein symbol, Standard yarn weight
The yarn weight symbol is a small skein outline containing a number from 0 to 7, giving a thickness category from lace to jumbo. It is a voluntary American industry scheme rather than a standard, and it does not map cleanly onto the British names knitters use — 4-ply, double knitting, aran — which is a large part of why a substituted yarn produces the wrong gauge. The ball band's stated tension over ten centimetres is the reliable figure; the symbol is a first sort.
A small twisted skein outline with a numeral set inside it, printed on a paper band around a ball of yarn.
Both are care and specification marks on a textile.
The ball band supplies the yarn and the chart supplies the structure.