Is the Alpine Stitch a Yarn Eater? I Compared it to Simple Stitches to see!

Have you ever wondered if the alpine stitch is a yarn eater? I searched this question awhile back and couldn’t find a post that addressed it, so I decided to make a comparison of different stitches myself! Let’s dive into the topic and find out if the alpine stitch will eat away yarn in your projects.

I’m sure you’ve been here before: you want to make a specific project. You think you have the perfect yarn…but then, you realize you might not have enough.

Yarn chicken – every crocheter’s nemesis, am I right? 😆

Sometimes textured crochet stitches can take a LOT of yarn. And the Alpine Stitch is definitely textured. So does is it a yarn eater? Let’s find out!

Now, before I tell you how MY experiment went, I want to make sure you know a few things.

It Depends on Your Tension/Yarn

First of all, I don’t want you to take my experiment as 100% truth, because the results may vary depending on your tension, or the yarn you use. That is why I would encourage you to actually do this experiment yourself…

Find out for yourself if the Alpine Stitch is a yarn eater

If you only have a certain amount of yarn left and you’re wondering if the alpine stitch will eat up too much of it, here’s what you can do.

1. First, decide on the different stitches that you could potentially use for your project. Do you want to compare the alpine stitch to simple stitches? Or other textured stitches? (As you will see, I compared it to simple stitches).
2. Make a sample swatch in each of the stitches you want to compare. Make sure each swatch has the same amount of stitches across. Your goal is that each swatch is the same size. If the stitches have different heights, you won’t be able to do the same amount of rows—but that doesn’t matter so long as the swatch measure the same.
3. Once you’re done, take a scale and weigh your swatches. Which weighs the most? That will be the stitch that uses the most yarn.
4. Take notes for later! If you continue to make stitches and compare them, you can make a big list and always know which ones will take the most yarn.

The Alpine Stitch Vs. Simple Stitches – which uses more yarn?

In my experiment, I made 3 little swatches that were just a few inches across. One was single crochet, one double crochet, and of course the Alpine Stitch.

Just like I mentioned above, I made sure each swatch was as close to the same size as possible. Then I weighed each one. Here were the results:

Double crochet swatch: 3 grams

Single crochet swatch: 4 grams

Alpine Stitch swatch: 4 grams

As you can see, the alpine stitch actually weighed the exact same as the single crochet swatch!

This actually makes sense to me. If you’ve read up on stitch weights at all, you probably know that single crochet can be a real yarn eater. Taller stitches tend to take less yarn as they are less compact.

Because the Alpine Stitch actually uses single crochet every-other row, along with fpdc, I was not surprised that is used about the same amount of yarn as the single crochet swatch.

So then, does this mean the Alpine Stitch IS a yarn eater?

The Alpine Stitch will likely use more yarn than a taller simple stitch like double crochet. However, considering the alpine stitch is a beautiful textured stitch, I think it is well worth a little more yarn.

In my opinion, I would MUCH rather spend extra yarn on a stitch like the Alpine stitch (versus the not-so-pretty single crochet).

Anyway, I enjoyed this little experiment and hopefully it is helpful to you. I would love to hear if you do your own based on the instructions above! Did you get the same results as me? Do you think the alpine stitch is worth the extra yarn? Tell me in the comments!