A friend who is new to knitting was asking about how to calculate yardage for a project. I was about to go through some long, drawn out, and probably wrong on my part, math calculations and then I found this “Knitting Calculator” at Jimmy Beans Wool. I like Jimmy Beans Wool for several reasons:
- A $75 order earns free shipping and if your order is less than $75, shipping is only $4.
- They’re very quick to ship.
- Any unused, non-sale yarn can be returned to them. There are some rules so you’d need to read those here.
- They have an amazing broken needle policy where they will replace a broken needle, even if you purchased it somewhere else so long as it’s a brand they sell. You can read that policy here.
So . . here’s the calculator where I was trying to help my friend figure out how much yarn she would need for a blanket.
Yarn Calculator
I’m sure it isn’t exact but I calculated how much I would need for a basic sweater and the figure it came up with is exactly my “go to” figure when I want to buy a sweater’s worth of yarn and am not sure what I’m going to be making.
Calculating yarn is so much different than calculating fabric because everyone’s gauge is a bit different. I always try to buy extra yarn just to be safe but on those rare times when I run short, I can always use a different color for the cuffs, neck and bottom ribbing, or add stripes through different portions of the project. With socks, I can make the heel, toes and/or cuffs different colored. We’re crafters . . we can improvise but the calculator at Jimy Bean’s site is helpful.