Crochet yarn calculator: exactly how much yarn to buy.
Tell us your yarn weight, your stitch, and your finished dimensions. We'll return the total yardage you need with a 15% safety buffer built in — plus the equivalent in meters and the number of skeins to grab off the shelf.
Yarn calculator
Tell us your yarn, your stitch, and your finished size. We'll tell you how many yards to buy — with a 15% safety buffer built in.
For amigurumi, enter the total surface area of the pattern pieces laid flat before stuffing (roughly 2× the finished silhouette).
How to use it
- Pick your yarn weight. Check the label — the Craft Yarn Council symbol (0 through 7) is printed on every commercial skein. If you only see «DK» or «worsted», match the label to our dropdown.
- Pick your stitch. Whatever you'll use for most of the project. If the pattern mixes SC and DC, pick the majority stitch. Amigurumi has its own entry because tight-tension SC eats much more yarn per surface area.
- Enter the finished dimensions in centimeters. For a blanket: the final width × height. For a garment: the total surface area of all pieces laid flat. For amigurumi: the total surface area of the pattern pieces before stuffing (roughly 2× the finished silhouette).
- Optional — enter your skein yardage. If your specific skein isn't typical, type its yardage from the label. Otherwise we'll use the average for that weight.
Worked example: a baby blanket
You want to make a 90 × 120 cm baby blanket in worsted yarn, mostly double crochet. Enter: Worsted · DC · 90 · 120.
The result: ~400 yards (~370 m), buffer included. At a typical 200 yd/skein for worsted, that's 2 skeins. Following our own recommendation, you'd buy 3 — one extra for tension and dye-lot safety. Total realistic budget: 6 skeins if you plan a matching border in a second color.
The same blanket in bulky yarn worked in SC would need closer to ~600 yards spread across 5–6 bulky skeins, because bulky skeins hold much less than worsted ones despite the yarn being thicker.
Where the numbers come from
The calculator uses average yards-per-square-inch values published by the Craft Yarn Council and refined against yardage counts of finished projects. Each stitch × yarn-weight combination has its own coefficient: single crochet in worsted uses roughly 0.40 yards per square inch of fabric, double crochet in the same yarn uses 0.24 (double crochet is a taller stitch, so it covers more area per stitch, using less yarn).
Total yardage is area × coefficient × 1.15. The 15% buffer accounts for personal tension variation, the extra yarn taken by joining new skeins, weaving in ends, and unraveling mistakes.
Related tools
Yarn calculator FAQ
How accurate is a crochet yarn calculator?
Yardage estimates are typically accurate within ±10–15% for standard solid-fabric projects. This calculator adds a 15% buffer on top. Complex stitches (bobbles, cables, colorwork) can use 20–40% more — bump your estimate up in those cases.
Why does amigurumi use so much more yarn per surface area?
Amigurumi is worked in tight single crochet at a smaller hook than the yarn recommends, so stuffing can't show through. That tight tension packs 40–60% more stitches into the same area, and each stitch consumes the same length of yarn — total yardage per square inch nearly doubles.
Should I always buy an extra skein beyond the estimate?
Yes. Tension varies, dye lots differ between production runs, and running out mid-project means either hunting for a matching skein (often impossible for older colorways) or restarting. One extra skein costs $4–8. A matching hunt costs the whole project.
Do I need to add extra yarn for a border or edging?
Yes. A simple single-crochet border adds roughly 3–5% to the total. A shell or scallop border adds 8–15%. If the pattern includes a border, add it to your dimensions or bump the buffer to 20%.