Crochet stripe calculator

Plan stripes before you start. This calculator builds the stripe order for your number of rows, previews it, counts the rows and yarn for each colour, and shows how many ends you will weave in if you cut at every change, or if you carry colours up the side.

How to use the calculator

1. Enter the rows in the project.
2. Choose a plan: repeat your sequence, mirror it, Fibonacci widths, or random with no two neighbouring stripes the same colour.
3. List your colours with the rows in each stripe, one per line, such as "Navy 4". For random stripes, the numbers set how much of each colour to use.
4. Enter the project's total yarn and your ball length.
5. For random stripes, change the layout number for a different order.

How the calculator works

The stripe order is built until the rows run out; the last stripe is shortened if it does not fit.

• Repeat: your list, over and over.
• Mirror: the list forwards then backwards (A B C B A …), so the stripes are symmetrical.
• Fibonacci: stripe widths of 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, then back down, cycling through your colours.
• Random: stripes of varying width around a typical width, never the same colour twice in a row, keeping each colour close to its share.

Each colour's share of the yarn is its share of the rows:

Yarn for a colour = total yarn × rows in that colour ÷ total rows

Colour changes = stripes − 1; cutting at every change leaves 2 ends per change plus 2 for the start and finish. A colour that comes back within 3 rows can be carried up the side instead of cut.

Reading your results

• Stripes, colour changes and ends: with the ends if you carry colours that return within 3 rows.
• Stripe order: every stripe in order, as rows and colour.
• Rows and yarn per colour: rows, share, yarn and balls for each colour.
• Preview: a picture of the stripes.

Worked example

A 120-row blanket repeating 4 rows of navy, 1 of cream and 1 of rust:

• 20 repeats: navy 80 rows (66.7%), cream and rust 20 rows each (16.7%).
• With 1,650 yd in all, navy needs 1,100 yd (5 balls of 220 yd), cream and rust 275 yd each (2 balls).
• 60 stripes means 59 colour changes: 120 ends if you cut at every change, or about 82 if you carry the colours that come back within 3 rows.

Accuracy and limits

• The arithmetic is exact and covered by our automated tests. Yarn is shared by rows, so it assumes the same stitch in every stripe; a bobble or puff stripe uses more.
• Colours with the same name are treated as one colour.
• Get the total yarn from the yarn yardage calculator.

Common mistakes

1. Buying by stripe count instead of rows. A colour in many thin stripes may use less yarn than one in a few wide ones.
2. Carrying colours too far. Strands carried over more than a few rows show at the edge and can pull it in.
3. Forgetting the ends. Plan time to weave them in, or crochet over them as you go.

Tips for more accurate results

• Add 10% to each colour for joins and ends.
• Carry colours up the side when they return within a few rows, to save ends.
• For a pattern stripe, see the modern granny stripe blanket.

Frequently asked questions