Rantings of a Rabid Knitter

Totally knitting episode. I talk about how to calculate how much yarn is needed to knit a sweater.
It involves some work in that you will have to knit a swatch but you were going to do that anyway.  Right?
You will need access to a scale that weights very small amounts.  I use a postal scale.
Formula 1 :  TA = C * L * 3 / 2
where:

TA: total area of sweater
C: circumference of the sweater
L: length of the sweater

In words, the approximation of the total area of sweater is the circumference of your sweater times the length of your sweater time 3/2.
You need to relate the area to a weight.  So weight the swatch and calculate the area of your swatch length* width
Formula 2: SA = k ozs, SA: swatch area.
Formula 3: Y  =  TA * k / SA
where:

Y: weight of yarn needed
TA: total area of sweater
k: weight of swatch
SA: area of swatch

Yarn needed in oz is total area times weight of swatch divided by area of swatch.
I hope you find this information helpful and not overly technical.
If you have comments or questions please contact me:
website: autumnbreezedesigns.com
email: carry.autumnbreeze@gmail.com

Thanks.  Carry

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