Guesstimating skein usage

[RIPdotty]

I decided to put aside the afghan I was working on, and start on a more in depth version of it.  I've made soooooo many trips to jo-ann fabrics trying to get all the right colors and hues, so now that I've got them all I was really itching to get this going. 

 

I'm going to be pulling from 64 different skeins of yarn.  Most of the skeins are 333 yards, but there's several that are 150-200 yard skeins.  It's going to be a queen size with some drape, it's currently 94" long and likely will be about 90" wide. 

 

I know there's no way possible I'm going to be using the whole skein of each yarn, but was trying to get a guesstimate of how much might actually be left.  The pattern is just a repeat of 6 sc + 1 dbl/trbl, so each row doesn't really use that much, and each skein is only going to be used 4-6 times over the course of the whole afghan. 

 

 

64 skeins x 333 yards = 31,312 yards

Range for queen afghan is 4,000 - 7,000 yards

Which leads me to believe I could probably make 4-5 afghans with all the yarn (assuming 333 yards each skein)

 

I only ask because I'd like to make another one after with a few minor changes once I get a few new colors of yarn.  I'm learning a color can look one way when it's rolled up into a ball, but when you put it in between 2 other colors it may look differently. 

[Granny Square]

Wow, you have a hole yarn store inventory there!

 

I'd make a 6" swatch in the stitch pattern and hook you'll be using), rip it out, and measure the yardage.  There are 4 six inch squares per square foot, so multiply the ripped yarn by 4 to find what you need per square foot, then multiply that result by the square feet in your blanket.  (90" x 94" is 7.5' x 7.84', so 15.34 square feet, rounding up a tiny bit)

[RIPdotty]

Yeah I buy it when it's on sale and they have coupons.  Got most of my Caron simply soft for $1.67/skein and RHSS for $1.80/skein.  I haven't even touched the caron ss yet, except to make color swatches.  I've got every color of Herrschners worsted 8 too that I haven't touched, and all the lily sugar and cream cottons.  The plus side is it helps keep the house warmer by providing a LOT of extra insulation in the attic   I'm hoping to get some ideas of what to make eventually by looking around on here. 

 

Would keeping track of the yardage for the first 6" of the afghan work the same way?  I could multiply that by how many 6" sections in the row to give an estimate on how much yardage per row.  This is definitely the part of crocheting I don't like.  I might have to look into one of those contraptions that keep track of how much yardage you've used.

[Granny Square]

I just googled, those thingeys aren't cheap, and the ones I saw just measure yarn from a skein/hank, not what was used. Lot's of 'free' ways to do the same thing (like measuring the circumference around a kitchen chair back and counting the yarn wraps around the chair).  You could try measuring out xx yards, marking that spot on the yarn ahead of you, do a row, then re-measure the amount that was left (to figure what was used) I suppose.  I'd round up a bit; I'm not sure how accurate this would be.

[magiccrochetfan]

when i want to know how much yarn I've used, i do it by weight.  I got a kitchen scale that weighs in either grams or ounces for this.  You know how much a full skein weighs because it is printed on the label.  Some skeins are a little over or under, so to be really accurate you could weigh the skein before you use any yarn, however i think the printed amount is reliable enough.  

 

if you want to know how much of each yarn is used for one row, just make a row and weigh it.  record that figure, then make another row, weigh again, subtract the first weight, and that is the weight of 2d row.  

 

there will probably be significant weight differences between the yarns.  I am pretty sure a row of Simply Soft will weigh less than a row of cotton.  

[redrosesdz]

Measuring and weighing are both great ways to figure out how much yarn you've used.  Personally, I don't worry about it anymore.  I usually use patterns, which tell me how many yards of each color.  I then round up and pick up enough yarn.  If the yarn is close to the number, I get an extra skein.  If I don't touch the extra, I'll return it, unless it's a color that I use bits of (black, white, red) for making toys.  I have found that what I use is rarely the same as the pattern.  I do long tails and cut out manufacturer's knots and flaws.  My tension is different than the designer's.  So, for me, getting more is usually best.  If I'm doing something without a pattern, I go by the number of skeins I used when making something similar.

 

It looks like you've got enough yarn to make several colorful afghans.  By the way, RHSS and Caron Pounders vary thickness for different colors.  Other than that, they work well together, because they're made very similar.  I'm not sure about Herrschner's, but if it's a looser ply, like Lion Brand, then it doesn't work well mixing it with RHSS and Caron Pounders.  It will look different.  The real odd ball in your lot is Caron Simply Soft.  It's a very dense yarn.  It's on the thin side of worsted.  It's also really heavy.  When I've made afghans out of Caron SS, they weigh quite a bit more than ones made out of any other acrylic yarn, without using any more yarn.  The rows with SS, will stick out.  It doesn't mix with the others at all.

[RIPdotty]

Yeah i looked up the yard counters and the cheapest is ~$15 for a cheap little plastic one and quite a bit more for the next model up.  I thought about just weighing it, but to get a good measurement it would have to tell me to the nearest tenth of an ounce, but I don't have a scale that accurate. 

 

I ended up measuring out 2 yard intervals of yarn, then measure how far of a row it made.

 

2 Yards = 7" Row

4 Yards = 15" Row

6 Yards = 23 1/2" Row

It takes 19 Rows to get 6" Tall. 

 

So total length of 94" / 23.5" = 4.   4 x 6 Yards = 24 Yards per Row. 

 

I want a width of ~90" / 6" = 15.  15 x 19 Rows = 285 Total Rows to get to ~90".

 

Approximate total rows of 285 x 24 Yards per row = 6,840 Yards total for the afghan. 

 

Is that correct?  That seems like an awful lot for such a basic pattern, unless it's just due to the sheer size of the afghan. 

[redrosesdz]

It's due to the size.  ~ 7,000 yds. seems like a good number for an afghan that size.

 

Being exact is not as important as having enough.

[RIPdotty]

I was thinking the pattern would play a bigger role in yard usage, and figured since there isn't much to this pattern I would use less.  I just wanted to get an idea if I would have enough left over to at least make one more, but preferably two.  This originally started off with just brown, primary and secondary colors, which was only about 24 skeins.  Then happened upon tertiary colors and then some, so the total skeins kept increasing.  I was originally planning on needing at least 300 yards of each, but now with 64 skeins it's more like 125-150 yards of each skein.  But that also depends on how I step the colors throughout the blanket, as I really didn't plan on using the browns after the beginning. 

[redrosesdz]

If I were you, I'd get 1 done, then see how much is left.  That's easier than worrying about the next couple of afghans.  The brands you are using are very good about color matching, so if you do need more, you can get more.

[Avon Lady]

I agree with redrosesdz--the Simply Soft will not work as well with the others--we make prayer shawls and lap afghans all the time, and when we use the Simply Soft yarn, it "pulls in" on the rows (because it isn't as thick as the others), and makes smaller rows (I can't think how to say that!).  For instance, if we make 5 rows with RHSS, then 5 rows of Simply Soft, then 5 rows of Herrschners Worsted, the Simply Soft rows will pull the work in.  Also, it isn't good to mix cotton in with acrylic--cotton isn't as stretchy.

All that being said--your colors are fabulous!  Have fun!

[magiccrochetfan]

With your pattern, how many rows of a color will you have right next to each other? In your other thread, in the photos, it looks like just one row at a time of each individual color. If that's right, I wouldn't worry too much about mixing brands or even fibers, because over the whole thing it will even out. I guess I am assuming that the colors are spread out pretty well over the brands, so when you switch colors you will also often switch brands. If you have a number of rows of one brand or fiber, even if colors within that area are different, then you might have some noticeable differences in the fabric and dimensions.

 

As far as yardage used, you have a very solid fabric, and sc tends to use somewhat more yarn to cover the same area compared to taller stitches. Also in the color stripes I think some stitches reach back into previous rows so you have double thick fabric there....if I understand correctly the stitch pattern you're using.

[RIPdotty]

While I like how this new one looks already, I'd really like to try to get the brown to blend and fade better.  I just ordered some more yarn in the colors they don't seem to sell in the stores, so hopefully they'll fit better.  I figure I'll do the 64 rows so I get to see how each hue changes in saturation and how it goes with the color next to it.  The lighter hues look a bit different next to other colors versus being by itself. 

 

The majority of it is Red heart super saver.  There's a couple red heart with love, several caron (not the SS),several lions brand vanna choice, and a couple big twist.  I stuck with the yarn that had the same visual thickness as RHSS, since thats the majority of the skeins I already had. 

 

I do have the herrschners worsted 8 yarns, but when I compared the swatches I made they seemed to be more similar in size to the caron simply soft than rhss.  It is a year old, so they may have changed it.  I actually had to go through every skein from herrschners and match up the barcode to the catalog and manually write down the name of each color because it wasn't on the wrapper.  I think the caron ss is thin enough to be a 3 weight, rather than a 4.

 

I'm definitely having to improvise quite a bit with this one.  If i followed the actual pattern the dbl/trbl stitch would be lost halfway through the pattern since it starts 1 stitch later each row.  I think it might look interesting to skip one of the dbl/trbls so there would be a larger gap in between the next set, and it would make a diagonal across the afghan similar to how the back of it looks.  And despite this being one sided, I would likely turn it upside down because the back side is just as mesmerizing to look at.    I'm also curious if using a different pattern with the same color changes might look even better. 

[Avon Lady]

 

I'm definitely having to improvise quite a bit with this one.  If i followed the actual pattern the dbl/trbl stitch would be lost halfway through the pattern since it starts 1 stitch later each row.  I think it might look interesting to skip one of the dbl/trbls so there would be a larger gap in between the next set, and it would make a diagonal across the afghan similar to how the back of it looks.  And despite this being one sided, I would likely turn it upside down because the back side is just as mesmerizing to look at.    I'm also curious if using a different pattern with the same color changes might look even better. 

With all the yarn you have, you can definitely experiment with the pattern and the yarn placement!  That will be fun!!