Wondering how many skeins to buy before you cast on? Pick your project and yarn weight below for an estimated yardage range, then convert that to skeins using your yarn’s label.
Knitting Yarn Yardage Calculator
Pick your project and yarn weight to get an estimated yardage range, then enter your yarn's yards-per-skein (on the label) to see how many skeins to buy.
Why a range, not one exact number? Actual yardage depends on your specific pattern, gauge, and size, so this is an estimate range, not a substitute for a pattern's own yardage requirement. This is the base knitting yardage range for the project and yarn weight you selected. Buying at the high end of the range (and a little extra for swatching) avoids running short mid-project.
Yarn requirements are always a range, not a single number, because your exact gauge, needle size, and pattern all affect how much yarn a project takes. This tool uses commonly published yardage ranges by project type and yarn weight category (the same lace-to-super-bulky system used on most yarn labels) to give you a realistic estimate before you shop.
When in doubt, buy toward the high end of the range, and check that all your skeins share the same dye lot if the project needs to look uniform – running out mid-project and not being able to match the dye lot is one of the most common beginner frustrations.