What is crochet thread?

At Lyn’s Crafts we sell a lot of crochet thread. Our customers love our Monaco, Aunt Lydia’s, Alize, and Lizbeth threads. But what is crochet thread? How is it made and what can you do with it?

What is it made of?

Crochet thread is a specially formulated thread, usually made from mercerized cotton, that is used for crafting decorative crochet items, such as doilies or, in the case of Lyn’s crochet patterns, flowers and other fine home decor. Crochet thread produces fabric of finer gauge that may be stiffened with starch or, when used with wires, shaped to make petals, leaves, etc.

The majority of crochet threads are made from 100% mercerized cotton giving it its characteristic luster and shine. To learn more about mercerization check out our post on the mercerization process here.

There are also crochet threads made from Flax Linen. We did a blog article on flax linen crochet threads that you can check out here.

Crochet thread sizes

Crochet threads come in many sizes, ranging from size 3 to size 100. Some are nearly as thick as yarn, while others are as thin as sewing thread. The key to understanding thread size is that the larger the number the thinner the thread.

For example: Size 3 is much larger than size 30. Conversely, size 10 is thinner than size 8 and so on.

Common crochet thread sizes are:

Size 3, 5, 8, 10, 20, 30, 40 .. up to size 100

So type of hook do I need?

Typically you use a metal hook with crochet thread. For more info on hooks and sizes check, out this post.

What is the most popular size crochet thread?

Size 10 is the most popular size followed by size 3.

What is the most popular brand of crochet thread?

By far, the most popular brand of crochet thread is Aunt Lydia’s. Made in India and Turkey, Aunt Lydia’s is the market leader. Not only are their treads the most popular but, they provide a large library of free patterns for use with their threads.

We did an article about the 10 most popular brands of crochet threads that you can read here.

Uses of crochet thread

Crochet thread is typically used when making something that requires fine details, like a doily. Given that threads are thinner and more vibrant than yarns, projects that require delicate details are well suited for crochet threads.

That said, for the most part, anything that you can make with yarn you can make with thread. You can make scarfs, hats, doily, accessories, home decor, socks, dish towels, etc.. Just find a pattern that uses thread so that you know the proper stitches and gauge.

Check out this post on the 10 best projects for crochet threads for ideas on what you can do with crochet threads.

Free Patterns

Here a Lyn’s Crafts we have dozens of patterns that you can use with crochet thread. Most are free, some are paid. Some I created, and most are from our suppliers (yes, we are allowed to share free patterns from our suppliers because we sell their yarn).

You can find our free pattern library here.

I hope you enjoyed this post and found it helpful. Yes, I know we have a lot of links to other post but we have answered may of the common questions about crochet threads in those articles. Taken together they should provide you with a good understanding of crochet threads.

Thanks,

Lyn