When planning out a punch needle project, a common question is: How much yarn will I need? Underestimate, and you may run out mid-project- an alarming and unpleasant experience at best. Overestimate, and you waste precious materials. There are a couple of methods for guesstimating yarn amounts and we’ll walk you through both of them, so you can gain confidence in ordering the quantities you’ll most likely need.
Why Yarn Estimation Matters
Running out of yarn is dreadful! No one enjoys playing ‘Yarn Chicken,’ trying to finish punching before the yarn runs out. If you do run out, finding a perfect match for the color you are using can be near impossible as dye lots can vary significantly, resulting in visible ‘seams’, odd color shifts, or awkward patching.
Estimating the amount of yarn you’ll need before starting your punch needle project may save you some of that stress. It is important to note though, that both methods that will be outlined below are just a way to get the approximate amount of yarn you’ll need- the only way to know for sure how much any given design will need is to punch it! With this in mind, always buy extra- unless you like the ‘fun’ of playing ‘yarn chicken’, that is!
Key Factors That Affect Yarn Usage
Before diving into formulas, here are the main variables:
1. Project Area (Surface Size)
The larger the area (in square inches or cm), the more yarn you’ll need - obviously!
2. Loop Height / Depth
Tall loops, like those punched with an Oxford #8 Regular Punch Needle, will require more yarn than the short loops created by an Oxford #14 Fine Punch Needle.
3. Yarn Thickness (Weight / Ply)
The quantity of yarn required can vary with the weight, thickness and loftiness of the yarn you are using.
4. Stitches Per Inch/ Row Spacing
How close together you punch your rows of stitches, and the SPI (stitches per inch) you punch with will affect the quantity of yarn required. You should always strive to punch with the recommended SPI for consistent coverage, quality and overall integrity of your project; however there will always be some variances project to project and person to person. This is a hand-craft after all!
5. Waste/Safety Buffer
Creating long tails as you punch wastes yarn, and stopping and starting frequently creates more tails, increasing the amount of yarn ‘wasted’ in a project. There are also times you may make mistakes, change your mind on details or color choices, or experience unplanned extensions which will alter the yarn needed.
For these reasons, always add an extra buffer of at least 10-15% more yarn!
Step-by-Step Yarn Estimation for Oxford Punch Needle Projects- Hand Method
The “Hand Method,” found in The Oxford Punch Needle Handbook, is an extremely simplified method to very roughly calculate the general amount of yarn required for punching a project. It isn’t technical at all, but it is ‘handy’ for quickly getting a general idea of the minimum amount of yarn you’ll need.
Lay your pattern open on a flat surface. Spread out your fingers to create an open hand and imagine a circle about 7” in size around it. Place your open hand in the corner of your design. Next, you're going to use your hand/imaginary circle to ‘measure’ the rest of the punching area in your pattern by moving your hand over the pattern, counting how many ‘hands’ you need to cover the surface.
Each “hand” equals the approximate area one skein of new Violet Jane yarn will cover when punched with a #9 Regular Oxford Punch Needle. If you counted 9 hands in your design- you’ll need approximately 9 full skeins for your entire rug.
Step-by-Step Yarn Estimation for Oxford Punch Needle Projects- Mathematical Method
1. Measure Your Pattern Area
Measure the width and height of your design area in inches (or cm). Multiply to get total area.
Example: 12" × 18" = 216 square inches (30.38 cm x 45.72 cm = 1388.97 cm2)
2. Estimate Yarn Usage per Area
We know that 3g (0.106 ounces) will usually cover about 1” Square, approximately. (As strange as it sounds, we often combine metric weight measurement with imperial area measurement for ease and improved accuracy.)
For a completely metric version; 0.47 grams will usually cover 1 cm2.
You’ll want to add an additional amount for a ‘safety margin’; in this scenario let’s go with 15%.
That gives us this formula to calculate the approximate amount of yarn you’ll need:
3 grams of yarn x (number of square inches in your pattern) x 1.15 safety margin= Total grams of yarn you’ll likely need.
For ounces use this formula:
0.106 ounces of yarn x (number of square inches in your pattern) x 1.15 safety margin = Total ounces of yarn you’ll likely need (approximately!)
If using cm2 use this formula:
0.47grams x (number of cm2 in your pattern) x 1.15 safety margin= Total grams of yarn you’ll likely need (approximately!)
Let’s plug in the numbers from our example using the first formula:
3grams x 216 sq inches x 1.15 =745.20 grams of yarn needed- approximately!
3. Convert to Skeins or Balls
Check how much your yarn skein or ball weighs, then divide your required weight by that number to get how many skeins or balls you need. Round up. (Grams of yarn needed ÷ grams in each skein of yarn= total skeins approximately needed)
Going back to our first example, Violet Jane Skeins are 113 grams.
Since we need about 745.20 grams of yarn for our 12” x 18” rug, we’ll want to get at least 6.59 skeins of yarn. (745.2grams ÷ 113grams= 6.59 skeins). We can round that up to 7 skeins.
So, we should end up using between 6 and 7 skeins for this project.
Let’s run another full example:
- Project size: 10" × 14" = 140 sq in
- Imperial Formula: 0.106 ounces of yarn x number of square inches in your pattern x 1.15 safety margin = minimum ounces of yarn required
- Weight of the yarn skeins you want to use: 4 ounces
Calculation:
0.106 ounces × 140 sq inches x 1.15 safety margin = approx. 17 ounces of yarn
÷ 4 ounces yarn skein= 4.25 skeins of yarn → round up; buy at least 5 skeins of yarn
4. Adjust for Yarn Weight, Coverage, Punch Needle Height and Personal Punching Gauge.
Various yarns will cover a little differently when punched, requiring a little more or less by weight depending on their texture, how tightly plied they are or their loftiness.
The height of the loop your Oxford Punch Needle makes will alter the yarn required. Remember a tall loop punched with the #9 Oxford Punch Needle will use more yarn than a really short loop punched with the #14 Oxford Punch Needle.
Stitch gauge and row spacing will also affect yarn usage. While you should strive to punch with the recommended stitch gauge and row spacing for the weight of yarn you are using, slight differences between individuals will affect the amount of yarn required.
Even the amount of detail in a design can affect yarn usage!
All of these factors should be kept in mind when deciding on the amount of yarn to get for any given project, so adjust accordingly.
5. For Best Results Create Your Own Samples!
The above are all methods for calculating the approximate amount of yarn you’ll use when punching with your Oxford Punch Needles and Violet Jane Rug Yarn.
For more accurate estimations, create your own yarn samples! This will take into account the variables- yarn weight, texture and ply, row and stitch spacing, needle height, etc. - and give you a much clearer idea of the amount of yarn you’ll need.
Weigh your skein of yarn, then punch a sample to see how far it goes. Be sure to check your gauge (SPI/ RPI) with a stitch gauge frequently as you punch and try to stay consistent. Using the sample, work out the grams per cm2 or the ounces per inch the yarn covered to create your formula. As always remember to add an additional 10–15% of extra yarn for safety!
Estimating yarn for a punch needle project doesn’t have to be a headache. With the right reference points, and the precision of Oxford Punch Needles, you can arrive at confident estimates that let your creativity flow without worry or interruption!
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