Size guide + starting chain + yardage estimator
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Estimate how much yarn you need for your project
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Every standard blanket size, in inches and centimetres, with the yarn each one takes in worsted weight. Bed sizes are deliberately wider than the mattress — a blanket that measures the mattress does not hang over the sides.
| Size | Inches | cm | What it is for | Yards (sc) | Yards (dc) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lovey | 12 × 12 | 30 × 30 | Baby comfort toy | 132 | 109 |
| Preemie | 18 × 24 | 46 × 61 | NICU and isolette | 396 | 326 |
| Baby | 30 × 36 | 76 × 91 | Cribs, strollers, car seats | 989 | 815 |
| Receiving | 36 × 36 | 91 × 91 | Swaddling | 1,187 | 978 |
| Crib | 36 × 52 | 91 × 132 | Fits a standard crib mattress | 1,714 | 1,413 |
| Toddler | 42 × 52 | 107 × 132 | Toddler beds | 1,999 | 1,649 |
| Throw | 50 × 60 | 127 × 152 | Sofa, lap, the safe gift | 2,746 | 2,264 |
| Twin | 66 × 90 | 168 × 229 | Twin bed, hangs over the sides | 5,437 | 4,483 |
| Full | 80 × 90 | 203 × 229 | Full / double bed | 6,590 | 5,434 |
| Queen | 90 × 108 | 229 × 274 | Queen bed | 8,896 | 7,335 |
| King | 108 × 108 | 274 × 274 | King bed | 10,675 | 8,802 |
Yardage is this tool's own formula: finished area × yards per square inch for the stitch (0.832 sc, 0.686 dc in worsted) × 1.10 for tails and the border.
Three small pieces of arithmetic, all of which you can check by hand.
Starting chain. Finished width × your stitches per inch, rounded, plus the turning chain for your stitch — 1 for single crochet, 2 for half double, 3 for double, 4 for treble. Gauge is per 4 inches on the form because measuring over a single inch turns a half-stitch misread into a two-inch error across a blanket.
Rows. Finished length × your rows per inch, rounded. Row gauge is the one people skip, and it is the reason a blanket comes out the right width and the wrong length.
Yarn. Area × yards per square inch × 1.10. In granny-square mode the yardage is billed on the rounded-up blanket, not the one you asked for: nine 6-inch squares across is 54 inches, not 50, and you have to buy yarn for the 54.
A 50 × 60 throw takes about 2,750 yards of worsted in single crochet, or about 2,265 in double crochet — taller stitches cover more area per yard of yarn. A baby blanket at 30 × 36 is about 990 yards in single crochet. Divide by the yards printed on your label and round up: at 220 yards a skein, that throw is 13 skeins.
Two things matter more than the number itself. Buy the whole lot at once and check the dye lot, because the same shade in a different lot is visibly different across a blanket. And if you are working anything other than a blanket, the yarn calculator handles scarves, hats, bags and amigurumi with the same model.
A throw for the sofa: 50 × 60 inches, double crochet, worsted, gauge measured at 14 stitches and 8 rows per 4 inches, from 220-yard skeins.
The same throw from 6-inch granny squares instead: 50 ÷ 6 = 8.33 → 9 across, 60 ÷ 6 = 10 down, so 90 squares, and the finished blanket is 54 × 60 inches. Ninety squares is also ninety sets of ends to weave in, which is worth knowing before you start rather than after.
It depends who is getting it. A lovey is 12 x 12 inches, a preemie blanket 18 x 24, a baby blanket 30 x 36, a crib blanket 36 x 52, and a throw for the sofa 50 x 60. Bed sizes go twin 66 x 90, full 80 x 90, queen 90 x 108 and king 108 x 108 — those are made to hang over the sides, so they are wider than the mattress. When in doubt for a gift, make a throw: it fits every sofa and every lap.
Multiply the finished width by your stitch gauge per inch, then add the turning chain — 1 for single crochet, 2 for half double, 3 for double, 4 for treble. A 50 inch throw at 14 stitches per 4 inches is 50 x 3.5 = 175 stitches, so 178 chains in double crochet. Always swatch first: the same 178 chains at a looser gauge gives a 55 inch blanket, and you will not find out until row 40.
Yarn follows area. A 50 x 60 throw is 3,000 square inches, which is about 2,750 yards of worsted in single crochet, 2,415 in half double and 2,265 in double crochet, buffer included. A baby blanket at 30 x 36 is about 990 yards in single crochet. Divide by the yards on your label to get skeins and round up, then buy them all in one dye lot.
Divide each finished dimension by your square size and round up. A 50 x 60 throw from 6 inch squares is 9 across by 10 down, so 90 squares — and because you round up, the real blanket comes out 54 x 60 inches. Switch to 8 inch squares and it is 7 x 8 = 56 squares at 56 x 64 inches. Bigger squares mean far less joining, which is most of the work.
Whichever your ruler is in — the chart on this page gives both. The one thing not to do is mix them: measure your gauge swatch in the same unit you set the finished size in, or the blanket comes out wrong by exactly the conversion factor.
Waving means you added stitches, usually at the turn — check that you are not working into the turning chain when the pattern does not count it. Pulling in means you lost stitches, usually the last stitch of the row hiding in the turning chain. Count the stitches on every fifth row for the first while; on a 175 stitch blanket, one stitch a row is 30 stitches of drift before you notice.