Figuring out how much yarn is in a ball

Karoy

Once again - another stupid and possibly an unanswerable question. Is there a way to figure out how much yarn there is in a ball/skein of yarn that does not have a label on it? (Such as someone has used part of the skein and given the rest away.) I been given some yarn and don't know if I have enough to make certain items and don't want to unwind and rewind just to measure. I'm sure there are some of you in the same boat. Any response would be great. Thanks, Karol~~

La Bergere

Do you know what the yarn is? If you have the brand and yarn name, you could find out how many yards per weight, then weigh the remaining yarn and calculate the length...

yourmother306

Yup, I have many small balls of yarn, and half skeins.
And best of all, ravelry.com lets you choose patterns by yardage!! So, I bought this at JoAnn's

I admit, it takes a little time to measure an almost full skein (I wrap it into a ball as I measure), but it is less stressful than frogging an almost finished item

jinx (a regular here)

Weigh it. I use a postal scale to weight all my yarn. I weight new skeins. People have been known to buy a skein and use just a tiny bit to finish their project and then return the skein. No one in Paradise would do that, but some people do.
Jinx

Karoy

OOOO - I have to get me one of those! Thanks, Karol~~

yourmother306 wrote:

Yup, I have many small balls of yarn, and half skeins.
And best of all, ravelry.com lets you choose patterns by yardage!! So, I bought this at JoAnn's

I admit, it takes a little time to measure an almost full skein (I wrap it into a ball as I measure), but it is less stressful than frogging an almost finished item

yourmother306

jinx wrote:

Weigh it. I use a postal scale to weight all my yarn. I weight new skeins. People have been known to buy a skein and use just a tiny bit to finish their project and then return the skein. No one in Paradise would do that, but some people do.
Jinx

I bought a scale at a hardware store because it was cheaper than a postal scale at the office supply store

LittleKid

I weigh mine on a diet scale. I would imagine that if you had a baby scale you could use it too. Works for me.

dawnprentiss

okay but weight and yardage are different right? i know i have balls i just bought from big lots and see no yardage but have 50 gm weight. i'd love to know the yards

MGT

Weigh an oz or a few grams and measure the yardage. Then weigh the whole thing.

jonibee (a regular here)

Do you have any labels, or ask the person whom you got it from for the name of the company and the kind of yarn and google it...otherwise I am not wise to figuring out how much yarn is in the ball unless there is a standard...

Ronie

I am sure there is a chart on the internet somewhere or maybe in some of our magazines or books that tells us how much our yarns weigh.. you will need to know the ply's but I'm sure theres a way...
I just got this link in a thread I just read I am sure it will help at some point. :) http://www.knitting.stuff.freeuk.com/ConversionTables2.html

HandyFamily (a regular here)

Karoy wrote:

Once again - another stupid and possibly an unanswerable question. Is there a way to figure out how much yarn there is in a ball/skein of yarn that does not have a label on it? (Such as someone has used part of the skein and given the rest away.) I been given some yarn and don't know if I have enough to make certain items and don't want to unwind and rewind just to measure. I'm sure there are some of you in the same boat. Any response would be great. Thanks, Karol~~

Scale /measure the weight of it...

CharleenR

I use a skein winder and a swift, suppose the yardage counter would work with that combo if placed it in yarn's path of travel (swift to winder)? Will have to see if my local Joann's has one. Or did you buy it online? If I wrapped my yarn into balls, they would be too tempting for the cats to bat everywhere!

yourmother306 wrote:

Yup, I have many small balls of yarn, and half skeins.
And best of all, ravelry.com lets you choose patterns by yardage!! So, I bought this at JoAnn's

I admit, it takes a little time to measure an almost full skein (I wrap it into a ball as I measure), but it is less stressful than frogging an almost finished item

pocono.carol

The ladies at my LYS use all three, a swift to put the hanks on, the yardage counter, then the ball winder. When they give you the winded yarn they write on the label the yardage.

CharleenR wrote:

I use a skein winder and a swift, suppose the yard... (show quote)

Jillpr

I bought some gala yarn from Big Lots too. The label on them states 50 grams/1.76 oz. the large one says 150 grams/5.29 oz. Hope this helps. Jill