Yarn Calculator

The calculator multiplies your project's area by a yards-per-square-inch figure for your yarn weight, then adjusts it for your stitch.

We anchored the numbers to a well-known benchmark: a 50 × 60 inch throw in worsted double crochet takes about 2,250 yards, the middle of the 1,800–2,500 yards commonly published. That's 0.75 yards per square inch. Other weights are scaled using the Craft Yarn Council's standard gauges, because finer yarn means more stitches to cover the same area:

Stitch adjustments, compared with double crochet: single crochet +22%, half double +8%, treble −12%, granny clusters −8%, moss stitch +2%, and textured stitches such as bobbles and waffle +35%.

A 50 × 60 inch throw in worsted and double crochet, with a 10% buffer and 210-yard skeins:

1. 1.Area: 50 × 60 = 3,000 square inches
2. 2.Base yardage: 3,000 × 0.75 × 1.00 = 2,250 yards
3. 3.With a 10% buffer: 2,250 × 1.10 = 2,475 yards
4. 4.Skeins: 2,475 ÷ 210 = 11.8, so buy 12 skeins, leaving about 45 yards spare

The same blanket in single crochet would need about 2,745 yards before the buffer, and in bulky yarn about 1,710.

It's a solid planning estimate, typically within 10–20% for common projects, but it can't know your tension, your exact stitch pattern or how wide your border will be. For a number you can really rely on, use the swatch method: weigh a swatch made in your project's stitch, convert grams to yards from the yarn label, and scale up by the project's area. Our blanket yarn guide walks through it with an example.