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Estimating Yardage in Graphghans

In this article I’m going to show you how to estimate yardage for a graphghan no matter what stitch you use and how to determine how much yarn to wrap on your bobbins while working a graph.

I am stubbornly resistant to giving yardage estimates for my crochet alongs because it can vary so widely from hooker to hooker based on hook size, yarn, personal tension, and stitch choice. You could use the same hook, yarn, and stitch as me and still end up with a different amount of yarn based on your tension. It’s maddening. However, I can help you calculate you’re own estimate for how much yarn you will need for a graphghan.

How to estimate yardage for crocheting graphghans.

How to estimate yardage for a graphghan

To estimate how much yarn you will need, first do a small sample gauge of your stitch. This will work no matter your stitch choice. There are many different stitches that can be used when crocheting a graph. I’ve highlighted three of the most popular in this article. Work up a few stitches in your method of choice, whether it’s c2c, bobble, hdc, etc.

Now frog a single stitch or “tile” represented in the graph and measure how much yarn one tile of the graph uses. Once you know how much yarn you personally need per tile you can easily multiple that number by the number of blocks in a graph.

Note: I use the words “tile” and “block” interchangeable when talking about graphs.

Many of the panels in my nerdy graphghans are 25 x 25 tiles large which is a total of 625 blocks. Okay, now you can estimate how much yarn you’ll need for one full panel, but what about the individual colors represented in a graph?

Pictured below is a panel from my Elf Graphghan. There are 625 total tiles but only 38 of those tiles are green. Using the method above, you can calculate how much green yarn you’ll need for this panel.

Buddy the Elf crochet blanket. Jack in the box.

How much yarn do I need on my bobbin?

Easy peasy! Count the number of blocks of a certain color that you want to put on your bobbin. I said before that there are 38 green tiles on the graph above but they are split into two different areas. Those are two different bobbins or sections of yarn. When I count the tiles in the shirt section of the Jack in the Box there are 31 tiles. So you would measure out the amount of yarn you need to work 31 of your stitches and wrap that onto your bobbin. Make sure to leave room for weaving in ends!

It’s that simple!

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Confession time. No, I don’t physically measure my yarn with a tape measure when doing my graphghans. I’m an eyeballer. I visually know the general amount of yarn a tile takes me so I quickly count out how many tiles I need from a skein all will nilly and wrap my bobbin. What can I say, I like to live dangerously. I never end up with too little yarn but sometimes do find myself with a little too much yarn. No bigs, I just save it on the bobbin for the next time I need that color. 🤷‍♀️

I hope that helps and that you’re now able to confidently calculate how much yardage you need for a graphghan! If you have anymore questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Jessica Bowman