Yarn Yardage Calculator

Yarn yardage is the total length of yarn needed to complete a knitting or crochet project. Because yarn is sold by weight, not length, you must know the yards-per-gram (or yards-per-ounce) of your specific yarn to buy the right amount.

Core formula: Yards Needed = Pattern Yardage Requirement × (Project Size ÷ Pattern Size)

Yardage from weight formula: Yards per gram = Label Yardage ÷ Skein Weight in grams Yards in your skein = Skeins Purchased × Label Yardage per Skein

Weight-based conversion: Grams needed = Yards Needed ÷ Yards per gram Skeins needed = Grams Needed ÷ Grams per Skein (round UP)

Where:

• Pattern Yardage: listed in the pattern; if not listed, use weight category reference below
• Project Size Adjustment: scale up or down if your gauge differs from the pattern, or if making a larger/smaller size
• Yards per gram: critical: a lace-weight yarn may have 400+ yards per 100g; bulky yarn may have only 100 yards per 100g
• Round UP on skeins: always buy one extra skein; dye lots change between production runs and you cannot always rematch color later

Reference: average yardage by yarn weight (per 100g):

• Lace: 400–1,000 yards
• Fingering/Sock: 350–500 yards
• Sport: 250–350 yards
• DK (Double Knit): 200–260 yards
• Worsted: 150–220 yards
• Bulky: 100–160 yards
• Super Bulky: 50–100 yards

Reference: typical project yardage needs (worsted, knitted):

• Baby hat: 80–110 yards
• Adult beanie: 110–150 yards
• Adult scarf: 250–350 yards
• Mittens, a pair: 100–150 yards
• Baby blanket: 500–800 yards
• Adult sweater: 1,100–1,500 yards
• Throw blanket: 1,200–2,000 yards

The yarn weight trap, and why this page used to get it wrong

There is a neat-sounding argument that goes: the sweater is the same size and made of the same fibre, so it holds the same amount of wool whichever yarn you knit it in. If that were true, yardage would scale straight off the yards-per-100g figure, and fingering at 400 yards per 100 g would take 2.2 times what worsted at 180 does.

It is not true, and the published patterns say so plainly. A medium pullover runs 1,900 yards in fingering and 1,300 in worsted, a ratio of 1.46. Push those through the grams and the fingering version weighs about 475 g while the bulky one weighs 769 g. A thicker yarn knits a thicker, warmer, heavier cloth at its own proper gauge. Same garment, same measurements, different fabric.

This page ran on the 2.2 figure for a while, which sent people out for half again as much fingering-weight yarn as they needed. The multipliers now come off the per-size table in the sweater yardage calculator:

Worked example: Knitting an adult sweater in worsted. The base is 1,300 yards, plus the 10% margin is 1,430. Your chosen yarn: 220 yards per 100g skein.

• Skeins needed = 1,430 ÷ 220 = 6.5 → buy 7 skeins
• Total yarn weight = 7 × 100g = 700g
• Always purchase all skeins from the same dye lot, checking the lot number printed on the label.

Gauge swatching can shift yardage needs by ±15%; always swatch before purchasing your full quantity.

This page or the knitting one?

This page is the one that handles crochet. Pick the technique and it adds the 27% that crochet stitches cost over knitted ones, and it works from the actual yardage printed on your skein rather than a typical figure, so the skein count is the one your shop will sell you. Four weight classes, average adult sizing.

The yarn yardage estimator for knitting is knit-only but goes finer: six weight classes including sport and super bulky, socks, and sizes XS through XL rather than one average. If you are knitting and you know your size, take that one. Both work from the same base yardages and the same weight multipliers, so they agree.