Free knitting & crochet tools
Yarn Yardage Calculator
How much yarn do I need? Give it the finished size, the yarn weight and your stitch, and get yards, meters and skeins to buy, with a margin built in so you never run out three rows from the end.
How the yardage is estimated
The calculator multiplies the finished area by a yards-per-square-inch figure for your yarn weight, scales it for the stitch you're using, and then adds the safety margin. The yards-per-square-inch figures are calibrated to published patterns: a 50 × 60 inch throw in worsted-weight stockinette comes out around 2,100 yards before the margin, which is what most worsted throw patterns call for.
| Yarn weight | CYC | Knit gauge (sts / 4 in) | Yards per sq in, stockinette |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lace | 0 | 33 to 40 | 1.28 |
| Fingering | 1 | 27 to 32 | 1.05 |
| Sport | 2 | 23 to 26 | 0.93 |
| DK | 3 | 21 to 24 | 0.87 |
| Worsted | 4 | 16 to 20 | 0.7 |
| Bulky | 5 | 12 to 15 | 0.47 |
| Super bulky | 6 | 7 to 11 | 0.32 |
| Jumbo | 7 | 1 to 6 | 0.22 |
Finer yarn needs more yards for the same area, even though the finished piece weighs less: a fingering-weight blanket takes about half as much again as the same blanket in worsted. Heavier yarn covers ground fast, which is why super bulky blankets are quick and expensive at the same time.
Knitting versus crochet
Crochet builds fabric from more yarn per square inch than knitting, because each stitch wraps the hook several times and the fabric is thicker. The calculator applies a multiplier for the stitch you pick:
| Stitch | Yarn used, relative to knit stockinette |
|---|---|
| Knit, stockinette | ×1 |
| Knit, garter stitch | ×1.15 |
| Knit, seed or moss stitch | ×1.1 |
| Knit, ribbing | ×1.2 |
| Knit, cables | ×1.35 |
| Crochet, single crochet | ×1.5 |
| Crochet, half double crochet | ×1.35 |
| Crochet, double crochet | ×1.25 |
| Crochet, granny squares or clusters | ×1.2 |
| Tunisian crochet | ×1.6 |
These are typical figures. Tension, hook size relative to the yarn, and how tightly you pull each stitch move them by 10 to 20% either way, which is what the margin is for.
How much yarn do I need for a blanket?
Worsted-weight estimates for the common blanket sizes, including a 10% margin. Pick the row for your size, or set the size in the calculator above and change the yarn weight and stitch to match your plan.
| Blanket | Size (in) | Knit, stockinette | Crochet, double crochet | Crochet, single crochet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stroller | 30 × 36 | 832 yd | 1,040 yd | 1,247 yd |
| Baby / crib | 36 × 52 | 1,441 yd | 1,802 yd | 2,162 yd |
| Lapghan | 36 × 48 | 1,331 yd | 1,663 yd | 1,996 yd |
| Throw | 50 × 60 | 2,310 yd | 2,888 yd | 3,465 yd |
| Twin | 66 × 90 | 4,574 yd | 5,717 yd | 6,861 yd |
| Full / double | 80 × 90 | 5,544 yd | 6,930 yd | 8,316 yd |
| Queen | 90 × 100 | 6,930 yd | 8,663 yd | 10,395 yd |
| King | 108 × 100 | 8,316 yd | 10,395 yd | 12,474 yd |
Buy the extra skein
Yarn is dyed in lots, and two skeins of the same color from different lots can differ visibly across a blanket. Buy everything for a project at once, from the same lot, and buy one skein more than the estimate if the piece is large or the stitch is textured. An unused skein is a hat; a missing one is a stripe you didn't plan.
For garments, use the yardage on the pattern rather than a rectangle estimate. Sleeves, shaping and ribbing don't reduce to an area, and pattern designers have already measured what their sample took. The gauge calculator will tell you whether your swatch matches theirs.