Crochet stitch and row calculator

Designing a rectangle from scratch, such as a blanket, scarf or cushion panel? This calculator turns a finished size and your gauge into stitches per row, rows, the starting chain and the total number of stitches. If you will add a border later, it takes that off first so the finished piece still comes out the size you want.

How to use the calculator

1. Enter the finished width and length.
2. If you will add a border later, enter its width on each side; it is taken off all four sides.
3. Enter your stitch and row gauge over 4 in (10 cm), from a blocked swatch in the main stitch.
4. Choose the main stitch, so the chain count includes the right turning chain.

How the calculator works

A border runs around all four sides, so the body is two border widths narrower and two shorter:

Body width = width − 2 × border

Body length = length − 2 × border

The body size is then multiplied by your gauge, per inch or centimetre, and rounded to whole stitches and rows:

Stitches per row = body width × stitch gauge

Rows = body length × row gauge

The starting chain adds the turning chain for your stitch: 1 extra chain for single crochet, 2 for half double crochet, 2 for double crochet (its 3 skipped chains count as the first stitch) and 3 for treble. The total is stitches per row × rows.

Reading your results

• Stitches per row: the count to keep on every row of the body.
• Rows: how many rows to work before the border.
• Chains to start: the foundation chain, using the usual turning chain for your stitch.
• Stitches in total: the body only, not the turning chains or the border. Use it in the crochet time calculator to see how long the project will take.

Worked example

A throw 50 × 60 in in double crochet (UK treble), with a 2 in border added at the end. The blocked swatch has 12 stitches and 8 rows per 4 in, which is 3 stitches and 2 rows per inch.

• Body: 50 − 4 = 46 in wide and 60 − 4 = 56 in long.
• Stitches per row: 46 × 3 = 138 dc.
• Rows: 56 × 2 = 112.
• Starting chain: 138 + 2 = 140; work the first dc in the 4th chain from the hook.
• Total: 138 × 112 = 15,456 stitches.

Without taking the border off first you would work a 50 × 60 in body, and the border would make the blanket 54 × 64 in.

Accuracy and limits

• The arithmetic is exact and covered by our automated tests, for a plain rectangle with no increases or decreases.
• Stitches and rows are rounded to the nearest whole number. If the stitch pattern has a repeat, use the foundation chain calculator to fit the count to it.
• The border is not counted. The border stitch calculator works out its stitches and the border yarn calculator its yarn.

Common mistakes

1. Forgetting the border. A 3 in border adds 6 in to both the width and the length.
2. Measuring gauge in a different stitch. A double crochet swatch does not give the gauge for a textured or lace stitch.
3. Counting a hdc turning chain as a stitch. In most patterns it is not one; the calculator follows that rule.

Tips for more accurate results

• To estimate yarn from the stitch total, unravel 10 stitches of your swatch, measure the yarn and use the per-stitch method in the yarn yardage calculator.
• Count your stitches every few rows. A missed stitch at the end of a row is the usual reason a blanket slowly narrows.

Frequently asked questions