Yarn count (Ne)
Yarn count is a number for how fine a spun yarn is. In the cotton system (Ne, English count) it is the number of 840-yard hanks that weigh one pound, so a higher number is a finer, lighter yarn: 40s is fine shirting yarn, 10s is a coarse bag yarn.
Count runs inversely to thickness, which is why it confuses buyers new to woven spec. A plied yarn is written as, say, 2/20s, meaning two 20s yarns twisted together — roughly the thickness of a single 10s but stronger and rounder. Count, along with ends and picks per inch, sets a fabric's weight, cover and hand far more precisely than a GSM figure alone.
When you order from a mill
When you send a construction, the first numbers are the warp and weft counts. If you only have a weight and end use, we choose the counts that hit it.