I want to knit a big blanket… 6' x 3'. It will be made of eighteen squares that are 1' x 1' each. There will be three colors, and each color will have six squares.
I am going to knit it on US 10 needles, on bulky (5) yarn. And I think I'm going to buy those big 1lb skeins, depending on what's available.
What I want to know is how far one of those skeins is going to go. If I buy a skein each of brown, white, and tan thread, will I be set? Or should I buy two skeins of each color?
I've never made a project this big before, so I don't know how much I'm going to need. I don't want to buy too much yarn — I don't have much money or a lot of storage space — but I also don't want to buy too little. Since I'll be moving a very long way away this summer, I will not be able to find more yarn if I need it.
The only way you're going to know how far a skein goes is by working a swatch and doing the math. There are just way too many variables to hazard a guess.
Bulky No. 5 yarn and U.S. 10 needles for a three-color blanket sounds like a good start, and since you're designing your blanket for an "odd" size, you must have a particular use for it (4' x 6' would be a more usual size).
Okay, some thoughts after considering the situation:
Most yarns are available in many different places or by mail order. If you are working with a "no dye lot" yarn for squares that don't touch other squares of the same color, you could order yarn later if you found you needed it.
You should also consider the "loft" of the yarn. A bulky yarn may have anywhere from 60 yards to 140 yards in 100 g (3-1/2 ounces), depending on the fiber and the way it's spun and plied. That's a huge variation!
But, off the top of my head, if I were going to buy a readily available yarn from the local yarn shop or craft store, one that I'd worked with before and found to have the yardage vs square footage that I need, I'd feel comfortable buying 3 pounds of that yarn for a 6' long blanket.
Good luck with your decision.
5 users commented in " I want to knit a blanket. How much yarn will I need? "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackIt is very hard for anyone to tell you how much to get. We all work differently, and all yarn is going to react differently.
That is why we always say, and it's so very true, that you need to do a swatch. I would knit ONE square, carefully measuring how much yarn you are using. Measure off about 20 yds, for example, and knit. Add more (writing down how much more yarn you are using) and when you are done the square, you will know how much you need for ONE — multiple that for how much you will need for the whole thing (18). You can also weigh the finished square, and know the approximate weight needed for the whole thing (18 times the one square).
If I used a different size needle, by measurements would be not the same, if I used a cable pattern, my measurements would not be the same, if I am a tight knitter, my measurements would not be the same. So what may work for me is all wrong for you.
You need to make your first square.. then you will know.
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The simple blanket, all in one piece, of a red heart worsted weight type yarn called for 8 8-oz skeins. That was knitted on #10 needles. There were only 6 of the color I wanted, so that is what I bought thinking I could use some other color for the border? Anyway, my granddaughter wanted the yarn for some other project she had in mind and I didn't do it.
Most of the blankets I do require about 6 pounds of yarn to do a blanket the size you are talking about, but I use worsted weight rather than the bulky.
Go with Hairbender's suggestions.
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I made a full size afgan for my bed in crochet shell stitch and I used 40 ounces of "4" weight yarn.(10 skeins) Knitting would take more. Bulky yarn is very different. The yardage per skein varies. One skein barely makes a scarf. Maybe 1 skein per square, that would be 18 skeins.
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I think that it would be a good idea to buy to buy 2 pounds of each color, that way you are guarantee to have more than enough yarn to finish the blanket.
its far better to have more yarn than not having enough yarn to finish a blanket.
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The only way you're going to know how far a skein goes is by working a swatch and doing the math. There are just way too many variables to hazard a guess.
Bulky No. 5 yarn and U.S. 10 needles for a three-color blanket sounds like a good start, and since you're designing your blanket for an "odd" size, you must have a particular use for it (4' x 6' would be a more usual size).
Okay, some thoughts after considering the situation:
Most yarns are available in many different places or by mail order. If you are working with a "no dye lot" yarn for squares that don't touch other squares of the same color, you could order yarn later if you found you needed it.
You should also consider the "loft" of the yarn. A bulky yarn may have anywhere from 60 yards to 140 yards in 100 g (3-1/2 ounces), depending on the fiber and the way it's spun and plied. That's a huge variation!
But, off the top of my head, if I were going to buy a readily available yarn from the local yarn shop or craft store, one that I'd worked with before and found to have the yardage vs square footage that I need, I'd feel comfortable buying 3 pounds of that yarn for a 6' long blanket.
Good luck with your decision.
References :