How much yarn do you actually need?

How this estimate works

Every project above starts from a yardage figure at one reference yarn weight. Four of them are pattern figures, taken straight from the patterns on our own shelf: the sweater table from First Sweater, No Tears, the dishcloth figure from the Dishcloth Course, the toy figures from the Amigurumi Starter Trio and the per square figure from Granny Square, 9 Ways. The rest are planning estimates for the finished size named, the kind of figure an experienced maker writes on the pattern envelope before shopping. The calculator labels which kind you are looking at, every time, under the result.

Change the yarn weight and the yardage moves, because covering the same finished size in thinner yarn takes more yards, and in thicker yarn fewer. The calculator adjusts with a set of planning ratios, then adds the buffer and divides by the yards on your ball, rounding up, because shops do not sell fractions of a ball and dye lots do not wait for you.

the buffer is not waste. it is the swatch, the mistake and the longer body you decide on at row 90

The planning table, in full

No JavaScript, no problem: the base figures the calculator starts from, at each project's reference weight. Adjust for a different weight with the ratios below the table, and remember that a pattern's own yardage line always beats a general table, including this one.

Yardage is not weight, and grams will trick you

Two balls can both weigh 100 g and hold wildly different lengths, because length depends on how thick the strand is. A 100 g ball of fingering might carry about 400 yd; a 100 g ball of bulky might carry about 100 yd. Patterns ask for yardage for exactly this reason. When you substitute yarn, match the yardage first and the grams second, and check the weight class on the band against the Craft Yarn Council scale, 0 Lace through 7 Jumbo. Vernacular names travel badly: DK is a standard term in the UK and means little in the US, worsted is the reverse, and CYC 4 is worsted in the US and aran in the UK. The number on the band is the part that cannot mislead you.

Gauge moves yardage too. A tighter gauge packs more stitches into the same size and eats more yarn; amigurumi makers work deliberately tight so stuffing stays hidden, which is one reason toy figures here are ranges, not promises. If your swatch is far off the pattern gauge, fix that first with the gauge guide, then trust the yardage again. And if your pattern was written in another sizing system, the needle and hook size converter gets the tool right before the yarn maths starts.

Then plan the counting

Yardage decides what you buy. Rows decide whether you finish. Once the yarn is home, the project lives or dies on keeping your place through bodies, sleeves and spiral rounds, which is the entire job of the counter demo below. Buy the yarn with this page, then go and tap the first rows in.