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Lately, one of the most frequently-asked question at Knittique is:
“How much yarn does it take to make a scarf?”
Well, like many of our FAQs, the answer starts with, “That depends”, so we'll give you several different answers for this one.
The absolute shortest answer:
One ball or skein.
The slightly more detailed answer:
One ball, but the size of the scarf will vary, depending on the size of the ball, thickness of the yarn, number of stitches, needle or hook size, and the stitch.
The unbelievably long but most complete answer:
Yarn is sold by weight (as opposed to the physical size of the ball, or by total yards of yarn), so the thicker the yarn is, the fewer total yards will be in a ball of a given weight. For example, I'm looking at two balls of yarn right now, both weighing 50 grams (1.75 ozs.). One is a very fine mohair, the other is a bulky wool. The ball of mohair has 222 yards, where the wool has only 55 yards.
This brings us to the needle size:
For the example wool, I would probably recommend a U.S. size 17 needle, and, for a scarf, probably no more than 8 stitches across (I personally think that, the thicker the yarn, the narrower the scarf should be, to keep it from being too bulky around the neck). In garter stitch (knit stitch on every row), this will result in a scarf about 4-5" wide, and about 4 feet long (hmm, maybe I should make this even narrower). On the other hand, to get the same width with the mohair, worked on a U.S. size 11 needle, you'd want to cast on about 18-20 stitches, and your scarf would end up probably at least 6 feet long.
There are other factors too, such as the stitch; some stitches, such as rib stitches, use up slightly more yarn than garter stitch, while others, like drop-stitch patterns, use less yarn.
Let's try to bottom-line this:
If you have a limited number of total yards of yarn, your best strategy might be to (a) use a large needle, (b) make a narrow scarf (cast on fewer stitches), and (c) use a stitch that makes your yarn go as far as possible; lace stitches, such as the simple one used in our Gossamer Sleevelets pattern, almost always use less yarn.
As always, feel free to e-mail or call us if you'd like advice about your scarf project, okay? And suggestions for other FAQs are always welcome too.
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