How many yards/meters of yarn does it take to knit a shawl?
It depends on a lot of factors, but my preference is at least 450-500 yards (411-457 meters) of yarn.
You can read about some knitting yardage rules of thumb in “Shawls to Play With.“
Can you knit a shawl with less yardage? Yes.
I have.
“Wafian” is knit with 420 yards (384 meters) of Tosh Merino Light – a fingering weight yarn – on a US 7 (4.5mm) needle.
However those shawls tend to end up on the smaller side. More scarf-like than shawl-like. But I like my shawls on the giant side of huge.
That being said, the sky is the limit with shawl yardage.
“Tumbling Deco” takes 980 yards (896 meters) of a lace weight yarn.
“Eirwen” takes about 1600 yards (1463 meters) of lace weight.
“Ingrid’s Baby Bridal Knot” (one of the first lace shawls I ever tried knitting – it didn’t go so well…) calls for 3825 yards (3498 meters) of lace weight yarn.
And “The Queen Susan Shawl” calls for 6562-7108 yards (6000-6500 meters) of yarn. I’ve never tried knitting this shawl, but it’s the largest I could find with a quick search in the Ravelry database.
“Modern Heirloom” is a close second with 5000-6000 yards (4572-5486 meters) of yarn.
So the sky really is the limit. You can knit a shawl as large as you want, with as much yardage as you can stand. What’s the largest shawl you’ve ever knit?
the basic plan is balance
Last time, I started the self-made wardrobe project with a laughable number of garments. (4 skirts. 2 sweaters.)
So there was usually a bunch of scrambling* to find something to wear every morning.
*and by scrambling I mean sewing.
This time I’m beginning with.
2 dresses. 4 shirts. 8 skirts. 3 sweaters. 1 sweater-dress/tunic. 1 kimono.
And a plan. (Or at least the beginnings of a plan.)
Everything I really wear fits into one of these categories:
: over-shirts/sweaters/jackets (all of them)
: tank tops & camisoles (I basically live in “tank top + jeans/skirt + something”)
: jeans (eep.)
: maxi skirts (as a jeans substitute)
: skirts (for looking cute)
: dresses (2 might be enough?)
: winter coat (double eep!)
So, if I (more or less) evenly distribute the garments I make into one of these categories, I should be ok.*
*and by “ok” I mean “always having something to wear…”
Of course I’ll be making more tank tops than over-shirts/sweaters/jackets, and I haven’t figured out how many pairs of jeans I’ll try to make yet…
But if I basically try to balance these categories, I should end up with a mostly balanced wardrobe.
We’ll see how it goes.
The plan = Balance (more or less)
(I mean really, what could possibly go wrong?)
a sweater, a shawl, and a tangle of jewelry
The sweater I was swatching for last week is flying along. I’m a little worried about running out of yarn, which always makes me knit faster, like if I knit fast enough I’ll be able to out knit my yardage (as silly as that sounds). More pictures and information on the pattern, yarn, etc. in this post.
I started a new shawl in a skein of Julie Asselin’s “Merletto” it’s in one of her new fall colorways. I don’t want to spill the beans too early (hence the black & white photo), but it’s absolutely beautiful! I love collaborating with yarnies and I’m so glad Julie provided yarn support for this shawl!
And I managed to untangled a pile of jewelry. The apartment is basically back together (after the painting and the bedbugs) but there are still little bags of things here and there, (like my jewelry.)
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go back to pouring all my free time into my sweater.
