i want to knit an afghan without a pattern and have no idea how to determine how much yarn to buy. i looked at one yarn that was 108 yds. i would like the afghan to be 48" x 60"…please help =)
Look at patterns approximately the same size, with a similar weight yarn on the needles you want to use and check the yardage given.
You could try this: buy one ball of the yarn you want to use for your afghan and start knitting. When the ball runs out, measure the size of the knitted piece and calculate from there. For example, say you get a piece 6" x 8". Then your finished afghan will need a total of 60 pieces - you’d have (in this example) 6 pieces across for the short side and 10 pieces up for the longer side. You’d need 60 balls of yarn.
If your pattern is not knitted in pieces, or has many colors, etc, you can still get a rough estimate by knitting a piece in your pattern stitch until you’ve used up the ball. I hope this helps.