If you are a novice needleworker, you might have wondered how many skeins of yarn for a throw blanket you’ll need.
The answer is about 3 skeins or balls of yarn. To have a more accurate answer, you can manually calculate it or use a yarn or yard calculator.
The number of yarn skeins you may have to use can also vary depending on several factors.
The method of making, the size, thickness of the yarn, the needle or hook size, and the stitches you will be using.
Ways To Know How Many Skeins Of Yarn For A Throw Blanket You’ll Need
A throw blanket is an excellent project for any novice crocheter or knitter. It’s not as intimidating as a big blanket nor as underwhelming as a beanie or scarf.
To start, though, you might need to know how many balls of yarn you will need.
Method #1. Manual calculation
- Step #1. To do basic manual calculations, you can make a swatch of the blanket design.
A swatch or a gauge swatch is a small sample of the project you are making, using the same hook, yarn, and stitches.
They are typically about 4″x4″ in size, but you can make them 10″ x10″ for better ease.
- Step #2. Weigh the swatch in grams. For example, you have 25g.
- Step #3. In each yarn skein’s label, you can find how many grams and yards there are in each ball. Using these, you can know how many yards go into each gram.
Say the yarn ball has 590 yards and 275 g of yarn. Divide those numbers, and you’ll know that there are 2.15 yards in each gram of yarn.
- Step #4. Multiply the weight of the swatch and the number of yards in each gram of the yarn. That would be 25*2.15, which equals 53.75 yards.
- Step #5. Now, it’s time to figure out the blanket’s size and how many 10″ x10″ swatches it will need.
The standard length of a throw is 50″x60″. Multiply those numbers, and you’ll get 3000 and 100.
- Step #6. Divide the size of the throw by the size of the swatch. That gives you 30.
- Step #7. Since a swatch requires 53.75 yards and you need 30 swatches in total to complete the throw, you get entire yardage of 53.75*30= 1612.5
- Step #8. Based on the example given, there are 590 yards in a ball of yarn. That means you will need 1612.5/590= 2.73 skeins of yarn or about 3 balls.
Please take note that it is always better to have extra skein.
Method #2. Yarn calculator
If you are having a hard time manually calculating, there are multiple yarn calculators on the internet you use to estimate.
You will need to input specific details about your project into the calculator.
Make sure to fill in the information it needs. It would be best if you choose between metric (cm, mm, meters) or imperial (feet, yards, inches) for measurement type.
Input other details relating to your projects, such as the project type, the size, and the skein info.
The results vary depending on the website you used, but most show the length (meter or yard), number of skeins, and weight (grams or oz).
What Factors Affect How Much Yarn You’ll Need?
Several factors can influence how much yarn you will need.
The method you are using (crocheting or knitting)
The way of needlework you will be using is essential to consider.
There had been a long-standing debate whether crocheting uses more yarn than knitting. While in some instances crochet needs more, there are times when knitting prevails.
Size of blanket
The size of the blanket affects how much yarn you will need. The smaller the size of the throw, the lesser the yarn it will need.
Thickness and weight of yarn
Some yarns are thick as the thumb, and some are thin as a thread. It would take different amounts and lengths of yarn to complete a throw.
Typically, the thicker the yarn, the lesser skein or yard you will need.
Needle or hook size
The hook or needle size can affect how dense or loose the fabric will be.
For instance, smaller hook sizes can give a thicker result, while larger sizes can offer bigger spaces between the stitches.
Stitches
Every stitch varies in the amount of yarn they use.
Simple stitches with shorter heights require less yarn, while more complicated stitches need more texture, and therefore need more yarn.
How Many Yards Are Typically In A Skein Of Yarn?
The answer may depend on some factors, such as what type of yarn and how thick it is.
Usually, yarns are sold by weight. This is why the number of yards in a ball or skein differs.
This is why knowing the total number of yards in a skein is difficult. Typically, a worsted weight yarn skein has roughly 364 yards.
Conclusion
It is ideal to be prepared when starting a project.
If you decided to start your throw project, you would need to determine what pattern to use, what size you want it to be, and how many skeins of yarn for a throw blanket.
Although, keep in mind that extra is better.