How much yarn is left over?

[eyenowhour]

How do you know how much yarn you have left? I usually have some yarn left over from my projects and want to make something else with it, but I have no idea how much yarn is still left in the skein. All I know is that it's less than what I started with. I also have little balls of yarn too. I have no idea how to tell how much yarn is left there. Some projects call for 1 oz of yarn. I *think* there is one ounce of the yarn left, but I don't want to run out of yarn before I finish the project. Any ideas?

[Mara295]

Well, you could weigh what you have left if you have access to some sort of scale--I imagine a kitchen scale would work. Or, you could get out a tape measure or yard stick and measure it while you're rolling it into a ball. I don't know how helpful this was, but that's the best I could think of

[Roli]

I had an idea to screw two doorstops (the kind that screw into the wall) onto the edge of a picnic table or the top of a board. Make them a foot apart. Then wind your yarn around the doorstops and count a foot each time you pass one of the doorstops. This is easier than using a yardstick and you can unwind the yarn back into a ball without having any tangles.

[kathome]

Oh Roli - you are pure genius!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lady_of_Roses]

That's a great idea Roly!

 

/e ponders where she can get away with screwing in some doorstops for measuring yarn.

[Roli]

Thanks! I was actually frogging a WIP I received from a knitter who can no longer knit because of arthritis. It was very fine mohair and I was encountering a load of tangle problems along with the mystery of "how much yarn?"

[Catana]

Actually, all you need for measuring yarn is your arm. Bend your left arm, grab the end of the yarn and start wrapping it around, from between your thumb and first finger down and around your arm just past the elbow. When you have all the yarn in a loose skein, lay it down, keeping it in a loose open circle, and count the rounds. Stretch it out to its full length, measure it and double that. Whatever you get, divide by 36 inches and voila! you have the number of yards.

[salos]

I have a small scale I use. It's in metric, but I can convert, 28grams = 1 ounce.

[eyenowhour]

Thanks for all the great ideas everyone!

[salos]

You're welcome.

[crochet smartcat]

Another option is to build a yarn balance. I am sure you can find instructions by doing an internet search, if not, let me know and I will see if I can dig up the instructions. But basically, you build a balance, then you weigh one end with a known weight (like .5 or 1 oz), then you hang known measurements (lengths) of yarn on the other side, until it is in balance, and this will tell you how many yards per oz you have. The instructions I have, has you use pieces of paper clips, so you can get a fairly accurate measurement. This prevents you from having to unwind the whole skein to know how much you have.

 

Another tip I have heard is if you know the original weight and yardage, you can reweigh what remains and do the math to get an approximate yardage that way also. For example your original is 8 oz, and you have 5.5 oz left, you divide 5.5 by 8. It was originally 230 yds, so you multiple the answer you got from dividing 5.5 by 8 times 230 equals approximately 158 yards. (left over weight divide by original weight times original yardage equals remaining yardage) This is only approximate, but better than having no clue to begin with.

 

You will still need a scale that will measure small weights (a postage scale works well too).