Sweater Calculator (Cast-On from Chest & Ease, Body Rows, Yardage & Skeins)

How it works

body stitches = (chest + ease) × sts per cm, rounded to a multiple of 4 · rows = length × rows per cm · sleeve increases = (upper-arm sts − cuff sts) ÷ 2, spaced over the sleeve rounds · yarn ≈ fabric area ÷ (stitch width × row height) × 3.4 × stitch width × 1.12

A plain sweater is arithmetic once you have a blocked swatch: the chest plus the ease you want, times stitches per centimetre, is the body; length times rows per centimetre is the row count; and the sleeve is a taper from the cuff to the upper arm with the increases spread evenly. Yarn is estimated from the fabric area — each stockinette stitch uses about three times its width in yarn — so the estimate scales correctly with your gauge instead of relying on a generic table. The table at the bottom shows how yardage shifts with size and yarn weight for the same design.

Worked example

A 96 cm chest with 8 cm of ease at 20 sts and 28 rows per 10 cm: 208 stitches around a 104 cm body, 106 rows to the underarm plus 62 rows of yoke; sleeves from 36 stitches at the cuff to 72 at the upper arm, increasing every 6 rounds over 129. About 1,120 yards of worsted weight (≈ 560 g) — six 200-yard skeins at $9 is $54.

Frequently asked questions