How to Plan the Perfect Yarn Project (Without Running Out of Yarn!)

Planning your next knitting or crochet project can be exciting — until you hit that one dreaded question: "Do I have enough yarn for this?"

We get stuck wondering things like, “How many skeins do I actually need?” or “What if I run out halfway through?”

When you’re unsure what to do, it’s hard to move forward.

The good news is, you can easily bring order to the chaos by learning how to plan your yarn needs ahead of time.

In this post, I’ll define yarn project planning and provide 3 key steps to make sure you never get stuck mid-project. I hope this gives you a roadmap so you can get started with confidence and focus on what you love most — stitching something beautiful.

What is the perfect way to plan your yarn usage for knitting or crochet?

Desert Rose by Greenstone Yarn

Yarn Project Planning

Yarn project planning is the process of calculating how much yarn you’ll need, choosing the right yarn for your pattern, and organizing your supplies before you cast on. In other words:

It’s about setting yourself up for success so you can enjoy your project without stress or last-minute scrambles to find a matching skein.

The added benefit is that you'll avoid dye lot issues, reduce waste, and even save money in the long run.

Understand Your Pattern’s Requirements

Reading and understanding your pattern’s yarn requirements is step one. Most patterns will give you a recommended yarn type, weight, and total yardage.

This is a crucial component because it gives you the foundation for choosing your yarn and calculating how much you’ll need.

Many people who are new to knitting or crochet start out on the right track but then get stuck because they don’t realize that changing yarn weight or using hand-dyed yarn can affect the total yardage required.

And then they wind up running out of yarn, using mismatched skeins, or having to frog their project.

The key to project confidence is to start by understanding what your pattern is asking for.

To get started here, look for the yardage listed in the pattern, compare it with your yarn’s yardage per skein, and round up by 10–15% for safety.

 Choose the Right Yarn for the Job

Choosing the right yarn isn’t just about color — it’s about weight, fiber content, and dye type (especially for hand-dyed yarns).

If you’ve spent hours browsing beautiful skeins online but still feel unsure about what to use, this is likely the piece that’s missing.

Without this, you can carefully follow a pattern and still end up with a fabric that feels too stiff, too stretchy, or doesn’t drape the way it should.

What can you do?

A really useful (and occasionally dreaded) technique for choosing the right yarn is making a swatch.

Swatching lets you see how the yarn behaves with your stitch pattern. You’ll also get a more accurate idea of how much yarn you’ll use — especially important if you’re substituting yarns or using indie-dyed skeins.

Take notes on your gauge, how the fabric feels, and how the color plays out in the stitch pattern.

Plan Your Color Quantities and Backup Options

This is the stage where you bring it all together — thinking not just about yardage, but how much of each color you need, especially for striped or multicolor projects.

Here’s where you’ll really start to take control of your project planning.

Of course, this takes a little extra effort and mental math. Consider using a yarn calculator (like this one on Ravelry) or a yarn planner to organize your notes.

The 3-step approach you can use to plan effectively is:

• Step 1: Break down your pattern into sections (body, sleeves, border, etc.)

• Step 2: Estimate how much yarn each section might need, using your swatch or pattern guidance

• Step 3: Add 10-15% extra of each color to your total, and make a note of where you bought it in case you need more

  
  

Once you’re done, you’ll be well on your way to a smooth, joyful yarn project — with no scary yarn shortages in sight.

Putting it All Together for Your Perfect Yarn Project

There you have it! The 3 components of your perfect yarn project plan.

It may sound like a lot, but like most things, practice makes perfect. Just focus on one project at a time, and get into the habit of checking your pattern, swatching your yarn, and planning your colors.

This will help you avoid mid-project panic and give you the confidence to work with specialty yarns like hand-dyed skeins from Greenstone Yarn — knowing exactly how much to get and how to use it.

Want help planning your next project? I'm happy to help! Check out the Greenstone Yarn shop for inspiring colorways to start your next masterpiece.

Greenstone by Greenstone Yarn