How many balls of yarn for a graphghan? A simple yardage guide

The single biggest reason graphghan projects stall is running out of yarn halfway through and discovering the dye lot has changed. This guide gives you a way to estimate how many balls you actually need before you start.

The short answer

For DK in single crochet, Bobble counts 0.05 m of yarn per stitch, about a metre for every 20 stitches. For C2C in DK it counts 0.35 m per block. To each colour it adds 10% for tension and frogging and 0.5 m for the tails, and it counts a 100 g ball of DK as 285 m, a middle figure for DK yarns (Stylecraft Special DK is 295 m). So:

• Bobble’s Baby blanket, 75 × 100 cm (30 × 39 in), in DK single crochet is 135 stitches by 200 rows, 27,000 stitches: about 1,486 m, or 6 balls in one colour. In five colours, with the background half the chart and four colours sharing the rest, it is 7 balls: 3 of the background (743 m) and 1 of each of the others (186 m each).
• Bobble’s Throw, 120 × 150 cm (47 × 59 in), in DK single crochet is 216 by 300, 64,800 stitches: about 3,565 m, or 13 balls in one colour. Split the same way it is 15 balls: 7 of the background and 2 of each of the others.
• The Baby blanket in DK C2C is 30 by 40 blocks, 1,200 blocks: about 463 m, or 2 balls in one colour.

The split across colours is what makes graphghan planning trickier than a plain blanket. You can’t buy two balls of beige and call it done: every colour needs at least one ball of its own, so a chart in many colours takes more balls than its total metres suggest.

Step-by-step estimate

1. Build the chart in Bobble. Bobble counts the stitches or blocks of each colour for you. Yarn you will need, with the written instructions, lists every colour with its metres and how much of a ball that is.
2. By hand, start from each colour’s stitch count. Multiply it by the metres per stitch for your yarn weight, from the table below.
3. Add the allowance. Multiply by 1.1 for the 10% Bobble adds for tension and frogging, then add 0.5 m for the tails.
4. Round up to whole balls. Divide by the length of one ball and always round up. A blanket that needs 1.2 balls of red and you only buy 1 will end you.
5. Add one spare ball of your main colour. Dye lots change. The cost of one extra ball is much less than the cost of having to rip out and replace a section.

Per-stitch yarn use by yarn weight

Multiply the figure by your stitch or block count, then add the allowance. The chunky figures rest on the fewest measured swatches, and Bobble’s own yarn list counts in DK.

Worked example: a 60×80 SC DK pet portrait

Chart dimensions: 60×80 = 4,800 stitches, about 33 × 40 cm (13 × 16 in) at DK tension. Take five colours: a background covering 40% of the chart (1,920 stitches) and four colours of 720 stitches each. Bobble’s figures are 106 m of the background and 40 m of each of the others, 266 m in all.

No colour needs a whole ball, but each needs one, so you buy 5 balls, plus a spare of the background: 6.

Worked example: a king-size C2C DK blanket

The blanket size guide gives 200 × 225 cm (79 × 89 in) for a king bed with a 25 cm drop: 80×90 = 7,200 blocks at DK tension. In one colour that is about 2,773 m, or 10 balls.

With a background of 40% of the blocks and four colours of 15% each, Bobble’s figures are 1,109 m of the background (4 balls) and 416 m of each of the others (2 balls each): 12 balls in all.

Don’t forget the seams and weaving

If your blanket is built in panels (some C2C designs are), joining them takes yarn that Bobble’s figures leave out, so buy for the seams on top. In a single piece, the 0.5 m Bobble adds to each colour covers the ends you weave in.

A chart with many separate patches of one colour has more ends than that: every patch starts and finishes with a tail. If yours is like that, the spare ball of your main colour is your margin, and an extra ball of any colour that breaks into many patches is worth having.

FAQ

How do I work out yarn quantity if my colour percentages are uneven?

Work it out per colour, not from the total. Bobble does this for you: Yarn you will need gives each colour’s metres and balls. By hand, multiply each colour’s own stitch count by the figure in the table above, add the allowance and round each colour up to whole balls.

Should I always buy a spare ball?

For your main colour, yes, as Bobble’s yarn list says: dye lots vary, and a ball from a later lot can show as a stripe across the background. For a colour that covers only a little of the chart it matters less.

Can I substitute different yarn weights mid-project?

No. Different weights produce different stitch sizes, which means your blanket will pucker at the colour change. Stick to one yarn weight throughout.