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How to Calculate Yarn Yardage

August 22, 2019 / 38 Comments

I am going to show you a super simple way to calculate yarn yardage.

I have been crocheting for years now and have ignored the whole calculating yarn yardage thing because I just didn’t think it was important. I didn’t want to waste time figuring it up, but knowing yarn yardage that’s needed for a project or what’s left of a skein of yarn will save you time in the long run. It doesn’t take long at all to figure up.

Knowing how to calculate yarn yardage is useful especially when you finish a project and have yarn left over. You need to know how many yards you have so if you tackle another project with it you will know if you have enough yarn. There is nothing worse than being in the middle of a crochet project and running out of yarn.  It is also important for a pattern designer to know how much yarn was used for a project so they can add that information to their pattern for other crocheters. I’m going to admit I haven’t done this for the majority of my patterns, but I will be calculating yarn yardage for my patterns from now on.

To calculate yarn yardage the easy way, would be to use a digital kitchen scale. I found mine on Amazon and it was under $20.

You will also need some information off of your yarn label – the weight and the length.

Each section on your yarn label has two figures: weight (ounces or grams) and the length (yards or meters).

I will be using ounces and yards, but you can use the same concept that I’m going to show you to figure up grams and meters. 

I am also using my BrenLeigh Beanie and BrenLeigh Scarf for examples.  Both of these are made in 8 to 10 year old sizes.

The BrenLeigh Scarf that I made weighs 6.2 ounces.  The skein of yarn I used weighs 5 ounces and is 252 yards in length.  So, how many yards is in 6.2 ounces?

First, divide the number of yards in the skein with the number of ounces.  For example,  
252 divide by 5 = 50.4  This confirms that 50 yards will weigh 1 ounce of this particular yarn.

Next, you want to know how much of this yarn you will need to make the BrenLeigh Scarf.  We already know that the scarf weighs 6.2 ounces and we know how much yarn is needed for 1 ounce.  By multiplying these numbers, we can then know how much yarn we will need to crochet the scarf.  For example,

50.4 x 6.2 = 312.48.  

This tells me that I will need 313 yards of this particular yarn to make the scarf. 

Are you still with me? Did I make your eyes go crossed? I am one of those nerds that love math!! But even if you don’t love math, give this a try because it is very simple once you calculate it a few times.

Try figuring up how many yards of yarn I used for the BrenLeigh Beanie. It weighed 2.9 ounces and I used the same yarn that I used for the scarf, the label is shown above.

Here are the calculations:

252 divide by 5 = 50.4
50.4 x 2.9 = 146.16

To make the Brenleigh Beanie using this particular yarn, I will need 147 yards.

Now I know that to make a BrenLeigh Beanie and scarf for an 8 to 10 year old, I will need about 460 yards of yarn / 9.1 ounces.  (313+147=460 yards / 6.2+2.9=9.1 ounces)

So, when I go yarn shopping I know to grab 2 skeins of yarn (252 yds x2 = 504 yds) and I will have a little bit left over.

What if you have no longer your yarn label AND have no clue what brand the yarn is?  No problem!

I suggest measuring a yard of yarn from your skein and weighing that single yard. This will give you the weight per yard of yarn.

Now, you will want to weigh the remaining ball of yarn and divide by the single yard of yarn weight to get your total yards.

No more guessing the amount of yarn needed or running out of yarn mid project!!

I hope this was helpful for you. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below.

Happy Crocheting!!

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