Question

[jstaff]

Hi! 

 I have a question about a pattern and how much yarn it needs. https://www.yarnspirations.com/caron-hexagon-beehive-crochet-wrap/CAC0126-030336M.html

I have 1 caron cotton cake which is 530 yards. It's calling for 3 balls of a similar yarn at 491 yards a piece.

Is there a way to see how long my 1 ball would get in the pattern before I start and run out of yarn? 

Any help would be much appreciated! 

[bgs]

Pattern requires 3 balls with 491 yards so 3×491 would be total of 1473 yards.  You have 530 yards so 530÷1473 would be 0.359.  Afghan is 80 inches long so 0.359× 80=28.7 inches if the yarn is an exact swap and if you exactly match the designers gauge.

[jstaff]

Thank you so much for your help! I think I will find some new yarn for the pattern and make a gauge swatch and see if that works better. 

[jstaff]

2 hours ago, bgs said:

Pattern requires 3 balls with 491 yards so 3×491 would be total of 1473 yards.  You have 530 yards so 530÷1473 would be 0.359.  Afghan is 80 inches long so 0.359× 80=28.7 inches if the yarn is an exact swap and if you exactly match the designers gauge.

So I sat down and did a gauge swatch. I got 4.5 inches width and 2.5 inches in height. The patten just list 4 inches for gauge so does that mean it should end up a 4 by 4 square? And if I use the yarn and hook currently it would end up a tiny bit longer than the pattern calls for and a smaller height wise which I don't think would look bad. Should I try a smaller or larger hook? 

[bgs]

Gauge isnt all that critical on an afghan but would factor into figuring the amount of yarn needed if you are shooting for a specific size.  

Here are a couple of good articles on gauge.

https://www.craftsy.com/post/crochet-gauge/

https://itsallinanutshell.com/2020/06/29/crochet-gauge-tension-and-the-golden-loop/

Experiment and see what changing hook size does.  Once I was making a baby blanket and it felt stiff and rough.  I tried a larger hook (3 sizes larger), same pattern, same yarn,  and it felt soft and cuddly because it changed the drape of the blanket.

[Granny Square]

The end item is 24" wide by 80" long (as you are wearing it, 'wide' is neck to tummy and long is around your body).  

The pattern gauge says "18 hdc [wide] and 12 rows [high]= 4" --the brackets and bolding are mine.  The swatch is indeed supposed to be 4" square (this is fairly standard), so your stitches are about only half as high as they are supposed to be (distance around your body), but a bit wider than they are supposed to be (neck to tummy).  This is a rectangular shawl, so not a good result; you want a shawl dimension that wraps around your body to be wider than your measurement fingertip to fingertip to keep it from falling off, unless you want to use a shawl pin to keep it in place.

The yarn the pattern was written for is DK weight, US #3--what weight is the yarn you are swatching with?  Based on your result, you will need almost twice the yardage pattern is calling for, to complete that pattern.  The only thing I can think of to get a shawl out of the yardage you have, is to find a really lacy, open pattern, where you will get more mileage with your yarn, but which also will be more for show than warmth.

I see Bgs just replied again as I was typing the last paragraph; I'm not sure if a hook size will help as the stitch proportion is SO out of whack, but it couldn't hurt to try another swatch.  MAYBE, trying a taller stitch than an HDC would work, since the too-short stitch will not only hurt the 'yarn mileage' it would affect the pattern appearance, and a taller stitch, maybe even a treble, might work and keep the pattern close to what it is supposed to look like.

 

[jstaff]

26 minutes ago, bgs said:

Gauge isnt all that critical on an afghan but would factor into figuring the amount of yarn needed if you are shooting for a specific size.  

Here are a couple of good articles on gauge.

https://www.craftsy.com/post/crochet-gauge/

https://itsallinanutshell.com/2020/06/29/crochet-gauge-tension-and-the-golden-loop/

Experiment and see what changing hook size does.  Once I was making a baby blanket and it felt stiff and rough.  I tried a larger hook (3 sizes larger), same pattern, same yarn,  and it felt soft and cuddly because it changed the drape of the blanket.

Ok I will look at these articles and see what I can gather. 

Thank you for your help. 

[jstaff]

5 minutes ago, Granny Square said:

The end item is 24" wide by 80" long (as you are wearing it, 'wide' is neck to tummy and long is around your body).  

The pattern gauge says "18 hdc [wide] and 12 rows [high]= 4" --the brackets and bolding are mine.  The swatch is indeed supposed to be 4" square (this is fairly standard), so your stitches are about only half as high as they are supposed to be (distance around your body), but a bit wider than they are supposed to be (neck to tummy).  This is a rectangular shawl, so not a good result; you want a shawl dimension that wraps around your body to be wider than your measurement fingertip to fingertip to keep it from falling off, unless you want to use a shawl pin to keep it in place.

The yarn the pattern was written for is DK weight, US #3--what weight is the yarn you are swatching with?  Based on your result, you will need almost twice the yardage pattern is calling for, to complete that pattern.  The only thing I can think of to get a shawl out of the yardage you have, is to find a really lacy, open pattern, where you will get more mileage with your yarn, but which also will be more for show than warmth.

I see Bgs just replied again as I was typing the last paragraph; I'm not sure if a hook size will help as the stitch proportion is SO out of whack, but it couldn't hurt to try another swatch.  MAYBE, trying a taller stitch than an HDC would work, since the too-short stitch will not only hurt the 'yarn mileage' it would affect the pattern appearance, and a taller stitch, maybe even a treble, might work and keep the pattern close to what it is supposed to look like.

 

I used a 3 weight yarn for the swatch- lion brand cupcake yarn. So, try another swatch using a treble see if that gets closer to the gauge. If that works substitute the half double crochets for treble? 

[Granny Square]

Ah, you are using UK terms, OK.  Yes, use a taller stitch to hit gauge

Hang on, I just remembered an experiment I did several years ago that may answer the question about yarn usage-- the experiment was primarily to compare yarn usage between knit and crochet but I also compared a couple of different crochet stitches. 

I did different stitches with the same length of yarn, trying to make swatches the same width and the same size tool in different stitches in knit and crochet.  Comparing US SC and DC (the top 2 photos), the taller TC went a tiny bit farther.  Hopefully this is good news for your not running out of yarn using the taller stitch with the same amount of yarn the pattern called for.

Edited September 29, 2022 by Granny Square

[jstaff]

On 9/29/2022 at 3:52 PM, Granny Square said:

Ah, you are using UK terms, OK.  Yes, use a taller stitch to hit gauge

Hang on, I just remembered an experiment I did several years ago that may answer the question about yarn usage-- the experiment was primarily to compare yarn usage between knit and crochet but I also compared a couple of different crochet stitches. 

I did different stitches with the same length of yarn, trying to make swatches the same width and the same size tool in different stitches in knit and crochet.  Comparing US SC and DC (the top 2 photos), the taller TC went a tiny bit farther.  Hopefully this is good news for your not running out of yarn using the taller stitch with the same amount of yarn the pattern called for.

Thank you so much for all of your help! I appreciate it!