Crochet tool
How many skeins of yarn for a crochet blanket
How many skeins of yarn do I need for a blanket this size?
Example
Yarn to buy, an estimate
12 balls of 100 g about 1,129 g (39.8 oz) about 2,101 yd (1,921 m)
Your swatch (6 × 6 in, 11 g) times the area of the finished piece (56 × 60 in, border included) over the area of the swatch, which is 93.3 times, plus 10 percent for tails and seams. Our suggestion
Type your own numbers to change it.
This is an example swatch, so that you can see an answer. Replace its size and weight with your own: the answer is only as true as the swatch. Our suggestion
Balls or skeins to buy, an estimate
12 balls for about 2,101 yd (1,921 m) of yarn
The yarn to buy over 100 g a ball, rounded up to whole balls. A ball here is one unit of yarn as it is sold, whatever its label calls it: a ball, a skein or a hank. Buy the rest together, from one dye lot.
“Our suggestion” marks advice that is this site’s own, not a figure from a published chart.
The blanket sizes this page offers
| Blanket | Width by length, in inches | In centimeters |
|---|---|---|
| receiving blanket | 32 by 32 in | 81 by 81 cm |
| baby blanket | 33 by 44 in | 84 by 112 cm |
| toddler blanket | 33 by 45 in | 84 by 114 cm |
| child's blanket | 42 by 46 in | 107 by 117 cm |
| teen blanket | 54 by 60 in | 137 by 152 cm |
| lap blanket | 36 by 48 in | 91 by 122 cm |
| throw | 56 by 60 in | 142 by 152 cm |
| adult afghan | 60 by 71 in | 152 by 180 cm |
| twin bedspread | 68 by 90 in | 173 by 229 cm |
| full bedspread | 82 by 90 in | 208 by 229 cm |
| queen bedspread | 89 by 94 in | 226 by 239 cm |
| king bedspread | 105 by 94 in | 267 by 239 cm |
| California king bedspread | 102 by 98 in | 259 by 249 cm |
- Each size is the middle of that row of our blanket size chart, where the charts we read differ. They are common sizes, not a standard: type your own width and length if you have them.
- The size is the finished piece, border included.
How it works
- Every amount on this page is an estimate. Make a swatch in the same yarn, hook and stitch pattern as the piece, find out how much yarn is in it, and the piece takes as many times that as it is times the swatch's area.
- To find the yarn in a swatch, weigh it on a kitchen scale, or pull it out and measure the yarn. This page works from the weight.
- Say whether your scale reads grams or ounces, for the swatch and for the ball. Half an ounce is about 14 grams, so a figure in the wrong unit is out by 28 times. Our suggestion
- A scale that reads whole grams cannot tell 2.5 grams from 3.5. When your swatch weighs fewer than ten steps of your scale, this page gives a range, from half a step under to half a step over what the scale read, tells you to buy for the upper end, and asks for a larger swatch: make it big enough to weigh 10 grams or more. Our suggestion
- Type the finished size, border included. The allowance of 10 percent is for tails and seams only, and it is our own figure: change it to suit your piece. Our suggestion
- Balls are always rounded up. This page says ball for one unit of yarn as it is sold, whether its label calls it a ball, a skein or a hank. Our suggestion
- The page opens on an example of our own, so that you can see an answer: a 6 inch (15 cm) swatch that weighs 11 grams, in balls of 100 grams. It is no yarn in particular. Replace it with your own swatch. Our suggestion
- This page has no figure of its own for how much yarn a stitch takes, so without your swatch it gives no amount. Our suggestion
Worked examples
- My 6 inch (15 cm) swatch weighs 11 grams. How much yarn for a throw 56 by 60 inches (142 by 152 cm)?
- The throw is 93.3 times the swatch's area: about 1,027 g of fabric, and with the allowance about 1,129 g. In balls of 100 g that is 12 balls. An estimate.
- My 6 inch (15 cm) swatch weighs 11 grams. How much yarn for a blanket 36 by 48 inches (91 by 122 cm)?
- The blanket is 48 times the swatch's area: about 528 g of fabric, and with the allowance about 581 g. In balls of 100 g that is 6 balls. An estimate.
- My scale reads ounces: a 6 inch swatch weighs 0.5 oz. How much for a throw 50 by 60 inches?
- About 41.7 oz of fabric, and with the allowance about 45.8 oz. On a scale that reads tenths of an ounce, 0.5 oz may be 0.45 or 0.55, so in balls of 7 oz that is 6 to 8 balls: buy 8, or weigh a larger swatch. An estimate. Our suggestion
- My 4 inch swatch weighs 3 grams. How much for a bedspread 104 by 92 inches?
- A scale that reads whole grams shows 3 g for anything from 2.5 g to 3.5 g, and the bedspread is 598 times the swatch, so the answer runs from 17 to 24 balls of 100 g. Buy 24, or better, weigh a larger swatch first. An estimate. Our suggestion
- Does the allowance cover my border?
- No. A 2 inch border round a body 32 by 44 inches makes the piece 23 percent larger, more than twice the allowance. Type the size with the border, 36 by 48 inches, and the estimate counts it. Our suggestion
Questions
- How much yarn do I need for a baby blanket?
- That depends on the yarn, the stitch and the size, which is why this page asks for a swatch. As an example of the arithmetic only: a 6 inch swatch that weighs 11 grams, for a blanket 36 inches square, is 36 times the area, so about 396 g before the allowance. An estimate for that swatch, and for no other. Our suggestion
- Why does this calculator not just give a number for a size?
- Because the amount depends on your yarn, your stitch and how tightly you crochet, and a list of sizes knows none of them. Your swatch has all three in it. Our suggestion