The crochet stitches that use the least amount of yarn can be the most cost effective, but they can also make the most substantial project from your leftover yarn stash. In a world where prices keep rising, we are all looking to save money wherever we can. Yarn is no exception! It is a sad day when you can buy a sweater for less than the cost of the yarn it would take to make it. So, whether you are frugal like me, or just trying to stay competitive when selling your crafts, today I’ll share the crochet stitches that use the least amount of yarn.
Contents
- Which crochet stitch uses the least amount of yarn?
- Warm stitches that use less yarn
- Double vs treble stitch yarn amounts
- Least yarn for light and lacy stitches
- Solomon’s Knot vs Angel Stitch yarn quantities
- Do you use less yarn when it’s a heavier weight?
Which Crochet Stitch Uses The Least Amount Of Yarn?
To work out which stitch is most yarn efficient I worked up several 5×5 swatches. Depending on what your end project is, you’ll either need a warm or a light and breezy yarn.
If you want a thick crochet item like a scarf, you will want to avoid the lacier stitches that will indeed use the least amount of yarn. Unfortunately, less yarn means more air and if that air is cold, you will feel it. I have found that there are options to use a bit less, while still giving your project that cozy feel.
Warm Crochet Stitches That Use Just A little Yarn
The good news is, you get to keep it simple. All the swatches I did with a basket weave, shell stitch, star stitch, and granny stripe stitch used surprisingly more yarn than the single, double, and treble stitches. Enough so that I admit I stopped before going into feather, camel, or jasmine stitches as it seemed too obvious that none of these were the way to go.
Do Double or Treble Crochet Stitches Use The Least Yarn?
The single, double, and treble crochet stitches all used less yarn than any of the stitches I listed above. It was quite easy to determine that the single was taking more yarn than the double or treble. The difference between the double and treble, however, took some serious investigation.
My Tests Had Interesting Results
I worked up 6 swatches to help me determine the difference. The results were admittedly frustrating but stay with me. Using the 2 weight yarn and a 3.5mm hook, the difference in amount of yarn used was about 5 inches, with the double crochet winning out over the treble. Keep in mind, this is a very small difference when you are looking at 612” vs. 607” of yarn. This difference felt so small that the slightest tightening or loosening of my stitch could have affected these results.
Using the 4 weight yarn and a 5.5mm hook, I found no difference. That’s right, none. I measure three time because I could not believe it. Both were 302” on the dot. Crazy! Using the 6 weight super bulky with a 10mm hook was interesting. The treble beat the double crochet here by one inch. The treble came in at 143” and the double at 144”.
On the average, I would say that the double crochet will be the simplest and most cost-effective stitch to use when creating a project meant to keep someone warm.
Which Crochet Stitch Uses The Least Yarn For A Light or Lacy Look
You will be using much less yarn with the airier and mesh-like stitches. For this investigation, I tried out 4 different stitches with 4 weight yarn. I looked for Openwork patterns that would leave spaces as well as a couple fun lace patterns.
I did a double mesh and a treble mesh first. The double mesh won in much the same way it did earlier. There was a difference of less than one inch, which I considered negligible. However, looking at the total inches used, 211”, it is nearly 100” less than using a standard double or treble crochet stitch.
Does Solomon’s Knot or Angel Stitch Use Least Yarn?
I then tried out a Solomon’s Knot and an Angel’s Stitch since there were the two laciest that I could think of. The Solomon’s Knot won out overall, coming in with a total of 196”. The Angel’s Stitch was a close second with 199”.
These are both so much fun and can work up so quickly, I decided to try them out on the super bulky yarn I had, which is a bit more difficult as the bulkier you get, the less spun the yarn tends to be. The Solomon’s Knot won again, but what was interesting to me was that it used only 56” of yarn. In fact, not of the four lace stitches used more than 70” of yarn.
The Heavier The Yarn The Less You’ll Use
What I didn’t think about was that the weight of the yarn has way more to do with the amount used than the stitch ever could, and it works up faster. If you are selling your crafts, your time is worth something too, don’t forget that!
This may seem like another common-sense factor and seem so obvious. Of course, bulkier yarn takes less in length! I just didn’t realize how much less. Hundreds of inches in a 6”x6” square, wow! In conclusion, I could try out all the stitches in the known universe and none of them would save me as much yarn as changing up the weight a bit. I will be looking into a heavier weighted yarn for some of my patterns rather than thinking too hard about the stitch itself.
Which Crochet Stitch Uses The Least Amount Of Yarn?
These experiments were invaluable for me in the end and not because I learned the perfect stitch to save lots of yarn and lots of money. What I did see was what common sense probably could have told me already. More open stitches equal less yarn. Simpler stitches equal less yarn.
More Crochet Wisdom
- Does macramé cord work for crochet?
- Does acrylic yarn work for dishcloths?
- Do knitting patterns work on a hook?
- What I’ve learned from my mistakes