It's a long shot, but I thought I would ask...

[Pyroteca]

I recently got the book Cool Girl's Guide to Crochet at Half Price Books. I want to make the afghan called the flower blanket, and I have a couple of question about the yarn amounts called for:

 

First, has anyone made this pattern, and if you did, did you really need all that yarn? (This is the long shot part)

 

Second, when you are doing a single crochet seam, does that take more yarn than doing a whip stitch seam?

 

I would really like to make this project, and I wanted to use a fairly nice yarn, but I am balking at having to buy 25 balls of a nice yarn to do so. I don't want to end up with extra that then just sits there waiting for me to find something to do with it. I am thinking that if I really have to buy that much, I am going to go with a less expensive yarn. The squares, all 60 of them, are supposed to be 6.5" x 6.5" with the overall size being 39" x 65", made with worsted weight yarn and a J hook. The yarn they used in the book was 100 yards at 50g.

 

Thanks for any and all help.

[losingmymind2]

When you buy the yarn, see if any unused skeins can be returned for credit or exchange. Many yarn stores allow you to purchase more than you think will be sufficient yarn for a project and return any unopened skeins. That is the only way to be sure of having enough skeins of all one dyelot if it is a consideration in a project.

[Pyroteca]

I agree that is a possibility except that I usually have to drive at least an hour to get to my LYS (where I was thinking of getting the yarn from). My other option is to order it online, and I am not sure what the return policy is. I think some websites have a shorter period of time that they will take back yarn.

 

Thank you for the suggestion, though, and I will look into the online return policy.

[happy stitcher]

You're correct that a lot of online places have shorter return periods, so just be careful to pay attention to that when you order.

 

Yes, a sc join does take more yarn than a whipstitch. I couldn't tell you how much more, though. If you think about the stitch itself, you'll see that in order for the yarn to wrap around itself and go through the thing you're joining, you'd need more than if you were just going through the thing you're joining.....I'm not sure I explained that well, but I'm just trying to say that since the yarn does more in the sc join, it will take more yarn.

[texasredhead]

I would suggest using a worsted weight yarn like Caron Pounders. They are usually on sale at Joanns and they are really large. You can always get more, but buy what you think you will need. Local Yarn shops charge way too much for yarn that you would use for such a large project. You can acheive the look you want with less expensive yarn. Have fun!

[TexasSugar]

I'd personally look at other yarns like it and see if you can find a better deal. I just started an afghan for a friend and priced the different brands of Medium Worsted Weight yarn at Michaels. Based off the skein sizes and prices there were some that would have ended up costing me twice as much to use for the big project I was taking on.

[Granny Square]

If you want to use Caron Pounders as someone suggested, they are 812 yards for solid colors, so you would only need 4 balls (and have some left over).

 

This is a VERY stiff yarn though, it may not drape as the original would.

[TexasSugar]

Or about 7 (if I did my math right) of the 7 oz of Caron Simply Soft.

 

The 7oz Caron Simply Soft has 366 yards per skein.

[Pyroteca]

I had thought about using a less expensive option that had greater yardage. Because there are 7 colors for the pattern, I would still need a fair number of balls of wool, but it would still be less. Plus, if I bought a brand I already have some of, then if there were left-overs, I could use them with other left-overs that I already have for a planned scrap afghan.

 

Thank you all so much for all of the ideas!