How Much Yarn do I Need to Buy to Knit?

As with many of these questions, the amount of yarn you will need depends on many things.  How much yarn you need to buy, depends on what you are making, the weight of the yarn and how tightly you knit.

So how do I decide?  It isn’t easy and I always advise people to buy more than they think they will need to guarantee they will have enough of the same batch to make what they plan to make.  Even yarns dyed with artificial oil-based dyes whether pure wool or pure plastic will have some variation in colour.

When thinking about the amount of yarn, I always suggest you look at the pattern and then base what you need on that plus about 5-10%.

What if I don’t have a pattern?

Fear not!  These are the approximate amounts of yarn I would suggest:

For socks : between 75 and 100 g of sock weight or 4 ply wool yarn, depending on the size of the foot and length of leg (longer legs or feet need more yarn)!  If you use double knit, because it is heavier, I would allow about 150g.

For hats: a woolly hat will need between 150g and 250g of aran weight yarn – depending on size and pattern.  A large hat with a cable pattern, may need more.  You will need less if you use a finer yarn, but it may not be warm enough.

For wrist warmers / fingerless gloves : it is about 50g per glove, again depending on size.  My thin wrists need about 75g for a pair of wrist warmers.  This is also aran weight yarn.

For a cowl : again it depends on what type of cowl you want.  I like light weight small ones that just fit over my head, so 50g of sock weight is just enough.  If you want a bigger, longer one that wraps around the neck and drapes you will need substantially more.  You may even need 200g of aran weight for a big chunky one.

For scarves : I don’t even want to go there as width and length are both factors.  I have some really large chunky scarves that are 500g in weight and others what are smaller and finer which are about 100g…. so play with this one!

Jumpers – please find a pattern first.

These are guidelines and I know that some people plan, so their stash doesn’t get too big.  I also know that many people are impulse buyers, that’s fine, but please think of the planet and stash size 😊.

Happy Knitting!