09/10/2026
A question that often gets asked here at the shop is "what does "DK" mean?", so I thought that's a great subject for today's Stitching through History post!
"DK" stands for "double knitting", a yarn weight that is heavier than sport, but lighter than worsted. In much of yarn production history, starting around the Industrial revolution, yarn weight was often referred to by "ply", the amount of strings that make up a strand of yarn. What we know as fi*****ng or sock was 4-ply, sport was 6-ply, etc. Some yarns made today are still labeled as such, even though ply construction is now very different. Knitters of yesteryear would often hold two strands of 4ply together to make "double stranded knitting", which, as time went on and language continued to change, became "double knitting". Around WWII, the production of industrial quantities of wool yarn changed with new innovations, leading to uniform standards of yarn weights, so mills started making DK-weight yarn, no stranding needed.
Although it is made that weight now without the plying together, the name stuck. Today it's one of the most common weights to use, giving warmth, drape, and lighter fabric in many garments, knitted or crocheted, such as sweaters, skirts, shawls and even dresses.
I hope this was as entertaining as it was educational! Go forth and create!
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