Yarn Chicken: The High-Stakes Game We All Play (And How to Win)

You've heard about Yarn Chicken in Crochet (or knitting) before right? Picture this: You're five rows from finishing your project. The yarn ball that was once new and reassuring now fits easily in the palm of your hand. You do the mental math—you’ve got enough, right? You keep going. The ball is getting lighter. Two rows left and you're pulling yarn like it’s a lifeline. Just one more row…

We've all been there. Hoping and praying that you'll finish the project before your yarn runs out. Welcome to yarn chicken, friends! And if you've never played, just wait. Your time will come.

It’s a universal crochet experience, so let’s chat about why we do it, how to avoid it, and what to do when you're already mid-project and your yarn is going faster than your morning coffee.

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What IS Yarn Chicken?

Yarn chicken is the high-stakes game where you're racing to finish your project before your yarn runs out. The name comes from the classic game of chicken—you know, where two cars race toward each other and whoever swerves first loses? Except in this version, you're racing toward the end of your project and your yarn is racing toward empty. Who will give up first—you or your yarn?

The twist? Unlike regular chicken, there's no real way to “swerve.” Once you're in it, you're committed. You either finish this project or you make an emergency yarn run. There is no in-between.

Why Do We Do This To Ourselves?

Let's be honest about why yarn chicken happens in the first place. Sure, sometimes it's genuinely accidental—you truly thought you had enough yarn and miscalculated. But we often do it to ourselves. Here's why:

“I can eyeball this.” You stand in the store, holding one skein, mentally calculating if it's enough for our project. We have definitely been wrong about this before. We usually cannot, in fact, eyeball this, let's get real.

The “just a little bit more” syndrome. You've already bought three skeins. The project needs 3.2 skeins according to the pattern. Do you really need to buy a whole fourth skein for point-two worth of yarn? That feels wasteful! You'll make it work. (Insert Morgan Freeman in his awesome narrator voice: She would not make it work.) Gaaaaah!

The thrill of the gamble. You KNOW you enjoy the adrenaline rush though you don’t want to admit it. It's like extreme sports, but with yarn. Your friends might skydive, but YOU play yarn chicken. You live on the edge.

Optimism is our superpower and our weakness. Crocheters are optimists. I’m pretty sure that an excuse like “I work loose, so I'll probably use less yarn than the pattern says!” or “I can just skip that last round if I need to!” Optimism serves us well in many areas of life. Yarn estimation is not one of them.

Signs You're About To Lose The Game

You might already be in the middle of a yarn chicken game and not even realize it. Here are a few signs to look for:

• The ball fits in your palm. When you can comfortably hold your entire remaining ball of yarn in one hand, you’re entering the danger zone.
  
• You're weighing it on your kitchen scale. Do I smell desperation? You've Googled “how many grams per row” and you're doing all the maths you never wanted to do again after high school.
  
• You've stopped mid-row to measure what's left. You're literally holding up or handling the yarn to see how much is left before you do another row. This is the same as checking your gas tank every five minutes on a road trip.
  
• You're looking for photos of the finished project online. Maybe you can find a picture where someone may have not added that last row, or didn’t do the border? It will look fine right? You basically turn to the internet for emotional support.
  
• You've Googled “how much yarn for X rows.” Not only does the internet provide emotional support, but it has now become your lifeline. You're in forums. You're reading Reddit threads from 2011. You're watching YouTube videos of people measuring yarn to pick up possible tips or some yarn hack you may be missing.
  
• You're making deals with the yarn gods. Religious much? “If I finish this project, I promise I'll weave in my ends immediately on the next one.” (I won’t happen of course, but the yarn gods don't need to know that.)
  

How To Avoid Yarn Chicken In The First Place

Okay, prevention time because the best way to win yarn chicken is to never play at all. Here's how to actually estimate yarn needs like a responsible adult:

The Weighing Method

This is the best way for yarn estimation. Here's how it works:

Weigh your yarn at the beginning of your project (or right now, if you're already partway through). Let's say you start with 100 grams. Work a significant portion of your project—maybe 10-20% of it. Weigh again. If you've used 20 grams to complete 20% of the project, you can do the math: you'll need about 100 grams total. You end up using math that actually makes sense!

Check in periodically as you work. Weigh after every quarter of the project is complete. This gives you early warning if you're going to come up short, and you can adjust before you're in full panic mode.

Simple Math, No Headaches

Patterns that tell you yardage are doing it for a reason. If the pattern says 400 yards and your ball has 380 yards, you probably won't have enough. Don’t try and stitch tighter etc. Just buy more yarn. Your gauge can change throughout a project as you get tired or even get more relaxed compared to when you started. Play it safe.

A good rule of thumb: buy 10% more yarn than the pattern calls for. Yes, you might have leftovers. But leftovers are better than almost-finished projects in an already overflowing WIP bag!

When Patterns Lie About Yardage

Unfortunately this happens. Especially free patterns or older patterns. If something doesn’t seem right, check:

• Reviews or project notes from other makers 
• Whether the pattern includes the yarn for the gauge or not
• If the pattern is for your exact preferred size or if you're adjusting the pattern

Play it safe by always rounding up on yardage estimates.

RELATED: Creative Ways To Use Yarn Scraps

Keep Notes

Start a crochet journal, a note on your phone, or make notes on a printed pattern. Make sure you have the following information:

• Project name
• Actual yarn used
• Adjustments you made
• If the pattern yardage was accurate

You will be happy you made these notes the next time you decide to make the project again.

The “Buy An Extra Skein” vs Cost Argument

Here's the truth: keeping receipts and returning unused yarn is much easier than searching for discontinued colors online in a panic. The time you spent trying to find something in the same dye lot or a discontinued yarn is more than just buying extra to be safe. Buy one more skein than you think you need. If you don't use it, you can return it. If you can't return it, add it to your stash and use it for another project. You'll use it eventually for something else, and you'll be glad you have it.

Emergency Strategies

So you already started a project. You know for sure that you’re  going to run out. What now? Don't panic—you still have options!

Add a Contrasting Border

The “make it look intentional” strategy can be a life saver. Running out of cream yarn? Add a pretty sage green border! No one will know it wasn't originally part of the plan.

Pick a color that compliments your main color. Avoid going too matchy-matchy. Instead, choose something that creates a nice contrast. Look at your main yarn and pick out a color you see in the variegation, or go for a classic neutral that pairs well.

RELATED: Color Theory For Crocheters

Strategic Stripe Placement

Add stripes in the last section of your project. “I always planned to do an ombré fade at the bottom!” Sure you did. Uh huh. Honestly though, it looks great.

Slightly Shorten The Project

Was the scarf meant to be 70 inches? Cool, it's 65 inches now. That's still a perfectly functional scarf. Your blanket was going to be 50×60? It's 50×55 now. Still works as intended.

Obviously this doesn't work for fitted items or items with specific size requirements. But for blankets, scarves, shawls, and similar projects? Your secret is safe with me.

The Sneaky Join Method

If you can get more yarn (same dye lot is ideal, but even close is usually fine), you can join it mid-project. Learn different joining techniques that could work for your project that create nearly invisible joins.

Ugh, Just Frog It And Redesign

Sometimes the universe is telling you that you just need to start over. If you're 75% done and realize you're going to run out, it might be worth frogging and working the project at a smaller size or with fewer rows. It hurts, I know. But finishing a slightly smaller project is better than having a 75% finished project haunting you in your WIP pile until the end of time.

When To Admit Defeat

Sometimes you just need more yarn, and that's completely okay. There's no shame in admitting a miscalculation. Order more yarn. Yes, even if it takes a week to arrive. I’m pretty sure you have a WIP you can work on while you wait.

Summary

We're all going to play yarn chicken again at some point. It's part of the crochet experience, similar to tangled yarn and lost stitch counts. But now you can approach it with a little more confidence armed with strategies, prevention methods, and emergency solutions.

So the next time this happens, check your options. Do the math. And then make your choice—do you play, or do you order more yarn and wait?

Either way, you've got this. 

Have you played yarn chicken? Did you win or lose? If you've got emergency strategies that have saved your projects, share them! We're all in this together!

More Crochet Confessions Coming Soon!

This is Part 1 of my Crochet Confessions series – relatable crochet moments that we all experience. Coming up in this series:

• The Art of Frogging
• “Tangled“
• Lost Count Syndrome
• “Second Sock” Syndrome
• Oops, All Mistakes

Don't miss future installments! Subscribe to the newsletter or follow along on social media to catch each new post in the series. Trust me, if you've ever experienced any of these disasters (and you have), you'll want to read these.

See you next week!

Have a crochet confession you want me to cover? Let me know in the comments!

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