How Much Yarn for a Blanket

How Much Yarn for a Blanket

How much yarn for a blanket is a relatively confusing issue for many of us. With the fast pace of life and modern society, people often prefer to buy ready-made blankets, but few people are willing to put in their efforts to knit a blanket by themselves. But if you want to decorate your home with wonderful handmade knits or give your loved ones meaningful gifts, counting how many yarns are in a blanket is essential.

There’s nothing worse in the process of knitting or crocheting than when you’re only halfway through a project and you find out you don’t have enough yarn left to do. This not only interrupts the process of completing the finished product, but it is even worse if the next batch you buy is not the right color and the same material as the original. Now you know what to do?

With us, you don’t have to worry about that because we have made it easy for you to calculate in detail how much yarn it takes to knit a blanket – regardless of your blanket size. It’s not difficult at all, you just need a little computer and your meticulousness to be able to solve this problem.

1. How is Yarn Measured?

Before figuring out exactly how much yarn is needed to knit a blanket, we first need to understand the basic terms used to describe them. This is like a stepping stone to supplement the background knowledge so that we can measure the most accurately.

Most knitting or crochet patterns on the market will tell you exactly what yarn you need to buy. So you need to be careful, and meticulous when choosing because choosing the wrong type will affect the look and final size of the blanket.

Yarn Weight

Manufacturing companies often use specialized terms to describe them: “fiber weight”. Yarn weight does not refer to the weight of the yarn as we might think, but it refers to the overall thickness of the yarn.

There are generally eight different types of yarn and to distinguish them from each other manufacturers often label their packages with numbers from 0-7. The larger the number, the more proportional to the weight of the yarn. So when choosing yarn to knit or crochet a blanket, we need to note that the yarn is labeled with the larger numbers, the higher the thickness.

Here are eight yarns listed in thicknesses from low to high: Lace, Superfine, Strong, Light, Moderate, Bulky, Super Bulky, and Giant.

2.  Instructions on How to Calculate Yarn Requirements for Each Type of Blanket

Perhaps this is the part that you need to read carefully and meticulously to solve the question of how much yarn it takes to knit or crochet a blanket. In this section, I will give you a specific answer.

Normally, to knit or crochet a baby blanket we will have to use 1500 yards of yarn and an adult blanket must use up to 3500 yards. This is just a general number that we have compiled and is not completely accurate for all cases, but you can use it as a reference.

Blankets are a relatively laborious and complex project, so I recommend that you do some careful calculations to figure out the relative amount of yarn to knit or crochet. Don’t throw money out the window by going to any yarn shop and asking them how much yarn it takes to knit a blanket.

Because sometimes they are not professionals, it is impossible to understand. Here are two options that you can refer to.

1. Knitting a Swatch

Knitting a Swatch

Knitting or crocheting a blanket is like knitting a scarf. Basically, you can knit a nice stitch that feels the best and then continue knitting the next pattern like that. After knitting a pattern we can have a basic understanding of the thickness, softness, or stretch of the yarn we are using.

After observing we can decide quickly whether to continue using one type or not or switch to another. This saves a lot of time and effort. So what you need to do right now is go to a local yarn store and buy some nice yarn to make a knitting swatch.

Then with the small sample of the fabric that you just knitted (it can be a size of 6×6 inches or 9×9 inches) according to the stitch of your choice, proceed to wash it once. You ask why?

Because most fibers have more or less changed after washing. If you’re knitting a baby blanket or sofa blanket, regular washing is essential. We all don’t want it to be twice as wide and mushy after one wash, right?

Then you can measure the swatch and do some simple math. Here is an example:

  • Assume the swatch is 8 inches wide, 8 inches tall, and weighs 1 oz. That means you need 1 ounce per 64 square inches (width times height).
  • Find the total area of the blanket: Assuming the blanket is 50 inches wide and 60 inches high, the total area will be 60×50=3000 square inches.
  • Divide the total blanket area you just calculated by the swatch area: So in this example, the result would be 3000/64 = 46,875.
  • That’s why you need to calculate an ounce for each swatch, the coefficient will tell you the exact number to buy. Round the numbers freely and go buy the amount you need.

2. Buying a Pattern

Buying a Pattern

If the above calculation sounds quite complicated to you, you still have another way, which is to buy a ready-made knitting pattern.

There are thousands of knitting patterns with unique colors and patterns out there for you to choose from. And most of those knitting patterns tell you exactly how much yarn you need to knit a blanket. You can use this solution instead for easier problem-solving!

3. Other Ideas With Yarns

DIY items make the house much more cozy and beautiful. It is an item to decorate your living space as well as make your home more colorful. Above we have shown you how to calculate how much yarn it takes to knit or crochet a blanket.

But why don’t we multiply the number of ideas in our heads? Not only knitting or crochet a blanket, but you can also use that calculation to calculate the exact number of yarns needed to knit or crochet a pillow, towel, or carpet, .. Isn’t it wonderful?

These handmade items will make your home always a cozy and peaceful place to return to when tired. In addition, knitting or crocheting helps you relieve stress and refresh your life every day. So why not give it a try?

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Working out exactly how much yarn is needed is an essential foundation for planning your own project of knitting or crocheting a blanket to achieve the desired result. 9Blanket sure that after reading this article, you already know in detail what steps need to be done.

Please apply our sharing to create the best blanket! After completing your beloved blanket, don’t forget to share your results with us. More than anything, we can’t wait to see the results you’ll get from these tutorials.

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