Yarn Yardage Calculator for Knitting
How much yarn for a sweater, scarf, hat, socks, shawl, mittens or a blanket by size: yards, meters and skeins from yarn weight and gauge, as a rough estimate. How it works
Use the Yarn Yardage Calculator for Knitting
About the Yarn Yardage Calculator for Knitting
A medium sweater in worsted yarn at a gauge of 5 stitches per inch comes to 1,200 yards (1,097 meters), so 6 skeins of 220 yards. The knitting yarn yardage calculator multiplies a base yardage for the project by size and (gauge ÷ 5) factors and rounds up to whole skeins; the yarn weight sets the starting gauge and the skein length; the table values are the tool’s own and rough.
Medium, worsted, 5 stitches per inch, one piece
| Project | Yards | Meters | Skeins of 220 yd |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweater | 1,200 | 1,097 | 6 |
| Scarf | 400 | 366 | 2 |
| Hat | 150 | 137 | 1 |
| Socks | 400 | 366 | 2 |
| Shawl | 800 | 732 | 4 |
| Mittens | 200 | 183 | 1 |
5 stitches per inch is within the Craft Yarn Council range for worsted, 16 to 20 stitches per 4 inches.
Medium sweater by yarn weight
| Yarn weight | Starting gauge (st/in) | Yards per skein | Yards | Meters | Skeins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lace | 9 | 400 | 2,160 | 1,975 | 6 |
| Fingering | 7.5 | 350 | 1,800 | 1,646 | 6 |
| Sport | 6 | 300 | 1,440 | 1,317 | 5 |
| DK | 5.5 | 275 | 1,320 | 1,207 | 5 |
| Worsted | 5 | 220 | 1,200 | 1,097 | 6 |
| Bulky | 3.5 | 120 | 840 | 768 | 7 |
| Super Bulky | 2.25 | 80 | 540 | 494 | 7 |
Each row uses the gauge the tool fills in for that yarn weight, the middle of the Craft Yarn Council range (worsted: 5, the top of its 4 to 5 range). Type another gauge and the yards follow it. Skein lengths are the tool’s defaults; real skeins vary by brand, so type yours in Yards per Skein.
How to use this tool
- Knit a swatch in your yarn and count the stitches across 4 inches, then divide by 4 for stitches per inch; or count across 10 cm and set the gauge unit to Stitches per 10 cm.
- Enter that gauge with the project, the size and the yarn weight.
- Type the yards per skein printed on your ball band. Left blank, the tool uses its table value for the yarn weight (220 yards for worsted).
Frequently asked questions
- How much yarn do I need for a sweater?
- In this tool a medium sweater is 1,200 yards in worsted, 1,320 in DK and 1,800 in fingering weight, each at the starting gauge the tool fills in for that yarn (5, 5.5 and 7.5 stitches per inch). An XL in worsted is 1,500 yards, 7 skeins of 220. The base figures are rough and not from a pattern, so use your pattern’s yardage when it gives one.
- How many yards of yarn for a hat, scarf or socks?
- Medium, worsted, 5 stitches per inch: a hat is 150 yards (1 skein), a scarf 400 (2 skeins), socks 400 (2 skeins), mittens 200 (1 skein) and a shawl 800 (4 skeins).
- How many skeins do I need?
- Divide the yards by the yards in one skein and round up. 1,200 yards of worsted at 220 a skein is 5.45, so 6 skeins. Type your ball band’s figure in Yards per Skein: the same 1,200 yards is 3 skeins of 400 yards or 8 of 150. No margin is added unless you type one in Extra yarn: 20% on 1,200 yards is 1,440 yards, 7 skeins of 220 instead of 6.
- How does gauge change how much yarn I need?
- The tool multiplies by gauge ÷ 5, so 4 stitches per inch gives 960 yards for the medium worsted sweater, 5 gives 1,200 and 6 gives 1,440. For the same finished size a denser fabric has more stitches, and each stitch is smaller, so yardage rises roughly in proportion to gauge. Yarn weight does not scale the yardage a second time; it only sets the starting gauge, so a medium sweater in Super Bulky at its starting 2.25 stitches per inch is 540 yards and in Lace at 9 stitches per inch is 2,160; use a pattern’s yardage when you have one. A gauge given over 4 inches divides by 4: 18 stitches is 4.5 per inch. For a gauge per 10 cm, pick Stitches per 10 cm: 20 per 10 cm is 5.08 per inch, which makes the medium worsted sweater 1,219 yards.
- How much yarn do I need for a blanket?
- Type the finished width and length and the calculator works from the area: width × length × 0.58 yards per square inch at 5 stitches per inch, times gauge ÷ 5. A 36 × 48 inch worsted blanket is 1,002 yards, 5 skeins of 220; a 20 × 60 inch wrap is 696 yards and a 10 × 10 inch square 58. The 0.58 is the tool’s own estimate for stockinette, not a yarn maker’s figure, so textured stitches need more.
- How do I work out the cost?
- Enter the price of one skein. The cost is whole skeins times that price: 6 skeins at $8.50 is $51.00. With the price blank the cost shows as a dash.
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