Last year I knitted a hat every month from stash yarn that I donated to charity - donated 15 hats in total! There’s a lot of great free patterns that help use up scraps and stash.
The LOSY hat is a great way to use up scraps of sock yarn held double. I’ve made quite a few for donation. I have made a scrappy Musselburgh & wear it all the time!
I'm a teacher and my school has a knitting/crochet club. I usually take my scraps there so the kids can experiment ☺️ I also swap stuff with friends. Usually I don't even throw out the tiniest scraps. I love to use them as stuffing for amigurumis or something like that.
How about HEADBANDS / EARWARMERS? I love all your inspiring non-blanket ideas. I also loved the Magic Ball tip--very helpful. Usually I just practice cables, new techniques, or lace patterns with my scraps. It helps me save yarn when I want to try out a new design. ❤ Love your podcasts
I keep some of the yarn that’s left over and label it what I made out of it.. if it was a gift and to whom. Here’s a good example I made a blanket for my nieces son he loved the blanket. She called to tell me he tangled his toy truck around the blanket and there’s a hole & if I could repair it? Why yes! I have the yarn! And it was good as new. I have a friend when they make a baby blanket they wrap some of the yarn around an index card and label it and the care instructions and attach it to the gift… just like the stores will add buttons etc to a new garment. Thanks for your videos Natale I always look forward to them and learn something new.
I have been a knitter and crocheter for over 60 years (yes, I'm an old lady LOL!) I have kept a magic knot scrap ball of some kind for decades. From a few inches to feet and yards of yarn nothing gets thrown away. My favorite use for this mish-mash is a snowman hat. These hats have to have a huge diameter to fit properly on Mr. Frosty's head and that takes a lot of yarn. An alternative is to get the kids involved and teach them needlecraft as they make a simple snowman scarf.
My favorite coasters were gifted to me by my sister. She took gauge swatches she had made for projects with wool yarn and felted them! Love the fiber and think of my sister every time i see them. ❤
I love using scraps for Xmas ornaments (stars, trees, gnomes, etc.) - not the right season right now, but they use usually under 10g and there are a ton on Ravelry. If you're ambitious, you can string a bunch into a garland.
One fun fair isle idea with the magic yarn ball would be to make the yarn ball a mix of a few shades of the same color (especially if you have a lot of one or two colors, like I have a ton of blues and greens haha). Then with the ombre color ball, use that as the background color and use a strong contrast for the design. I love the way the background will fade up and down the project. I feel like Marie Wallin does a similar thing on some of her sweater patterns, and it always looks so cool! :) thanks for this video Nat, I love hearing your genius ideas!!
Natalie I found glass jars about 12-14” tall with lids and about 12” around at a craft store to display my folded socks. My husband loves my sock knitting adventures and likes the different way the yarn looks in a hank vs when it’s a completed sock. He calls them “my works of art”. He told me one day that I needed to find a way to display them in our living room so we can enjoy them all the time. So now I have 3 jars completely full and need at least 2 more. Just thought I’d share how I do it. 🧶🧦🧶🧦🧶🧦🧶🧦
I knit for downtown mission for homeless.I love making hats ,especially with felixal knitting , some time I use up to 9 colors,and every hat is different . Also you can hold 2 strands of yarn together and make bulky hat ( with 2 different colors looks great too), slippers are great too I knit them for my kids.
I use scraps for heels, toes and cuffs. I also use them for the colorwork part of hats or mittens. Two you didn't mention are-the Litmus Cowl by Stranded Dyeworks. Also, there are many cat lovers in my life, and scraps of rustic worsted weight wool make great double knit pouches. I then fill them with dried catnip, and add them to gifts for those friends and family. They love getting gifts for their cats.
Using the magic knot ball is actually really good for color work if you pair it with a neutral. It makes a really fun pattern without being too “scrappy” because the neutral and color work design bring some order to the project
I'm using small amounts of yarn for amigurumi making. Also I've just made my first cozy and I'm using it all the time. With the cats around, I prefer balls to not roll around, and because I don't have ball winder yet, I learned very easy method of creating cakes by hand, just wind around pencil. We used to grow lots of fresh herbs in old dog food cans, and I'm decorating them with something similar to the can cozy, but it wasn't made in rounds, just sewed rectangles.
Since I'm still in school, I just use my scrap yarn to make scrunchies, because everytime someone needs a hair tie in pe, I can get rid of my scraps and make someone smile :)
I've knit Marled Family Hats (pattern by Julie of Twin Stitches Designs) using either two magic knot balls or a magic knot ball and a solid. They work up quickly and are so fun and colorful.
Also, the pattern calls for 50g of each color, but in my experience, it takes significantly less. I do the Adult Small and the shorter brim modification and only use about 25g of each color.
The magic knot ball is something I made recently, didn't even know it was a concept that had a name 😅 I have a bunch of little scraps of wool (they'd all been cut to use for a specific type of weaving, and it seemed like a shame to throw it away) so I just started tying them some colors together, and now I'm making another one from different colors that will contrast the first one quite nicely 🙂
I've been making the yarn cosy, but am interested in making a blanket as well as stubbie holders (bottle cosy), and the coasters as well. They would make really good gifts. I have a local second hand haberdashery near me, with a focus on sustainable crafting, so I like the idea of the 10-20g hand wound option to donate
Pom Poms!!! You could make a garland of tiny pom poms to hang in your craft room to remember all the projects you have done with those yarns. I also think small scraps of yarn can add a lot of fun and interest to the weft threads in weaving. SAORI weaving is a really great freeform weaving style that allows you to blend different types and weights of fibres to make really nice decorative pieces. The looms are obviously quite expensive, but if you can find a local studio that does workshops, you could take a bag of your small scraps (even ones of only a few inches) to incorporate in your weaving.
I’m doing lots of pennants/banners with all my DK scraps and fingering held double. Then I’ll put them on twine depending on the holiday: reds and pinks for Valentine’s Day, orange and black for Halloween, etc. Plus there’s my northeasterly blanket which is a long term project.
From Deb in Charlotte, North Carolina…what a wonderful episode! You guys are experts in editing, music choices and titles for segments. This takes my enjoyment of your vlogs over the top. Your projects are so beautiful and your organizational skills put me to shame. How do you come up with these super cute scrappy ideas? Now, add the wonderful editing to your skills and you’re at the top of the knitters vlogging mountain. Just my opinion. Can’t wait for the next one!
For this year I'm trying to use up my stash, especially partially used skeins, but making hexi-puffs (I'm following a free crochet pattern from ravelry). One for everyday of the year (hopefully) and will make a big blanket or something at the end
I love the Rainbow Connection from Crazy Socks Lady! I even made a project bag using my scraps with the Russian knot technique and the Rainbow Connection patter!
The Sock Yarn Sweater is a great way to use up self-striping yarn or various yarn scraps you pull together. It's a bottom-up sweater, very straightforward and easy. The arms are striped with the scraps. You can make both arms match or not. I've done it both ways. First I used my Felici self-striping leftover in the Time Traveller colorway. I matched the arms row for row. Then I made one with a sort of fade that I put together from other various leftovers and didn't worry about matching. Both look great and I've had compliments on both. For a sweater, it knits up pretty fast!
My mother used to sew and knit little clothes for my dolls (Barbie and other ones). I still have a collection of beautiful little clothes and think the wardrobe might need some sweaters….a doll blanket…and so forth. It might teach me a thing or two about construction, too, as I play with different fashions and colors.
Mini Stockings for an Advent Calendar garland. Katrinkles has a free mini stocking pattern on their website and they also sell their Advent Calendar numbers buttons you can sew on the wee stockings. Knit a long I-Cord and use mini clothes pins to clip the stockings on for the garland which you can hang up on the wall with removable 3M hangers clips. Each mini stocking uses under 10 grams in fingering weight yarn. I purchased the mini clothes pins at Hobby Lobby which were metallic red and green, and separately a set of plain wood mini clothes pins.
I have many skeins of fun fur and novelty yarns that were included in thrift store purchases. I am making fidget sleeves for dementia patients and kids with adhd and autism. I use my worsted and Aran scraps for the base sleeve.
Scraps cab be used for crocheting small and flat Christmas decorations - individual items or joined into a garland. I made a bunch of rabbits for this New year)) there can also be flowers, snowflakes, little houses - the list goes on))
This year I'm making a shawl to catalogue and display the socks I'm making over the course of the year. Once I'm done making the socks, the rest of the yarn is going in the shawl in the order that I finished the socks, and I just keep knitting until the yarn runs out (usually changing color in the middle of a row). In addition to using up all the leftovers (and I pretty much always have socks going as an on-the-go project), it's also a record of my changing moods for what colors I wanted to knit with at a given time. I've also done a couple different helical socks before, and I love how both came out!! The first pair I made included a variegated and a tonal, with the pop color in the variegated exactly matching the color in the tonal (two different brands, but they must have used the same dye). So that gave the final sock a really interested flashing effect that allowed the two colorways to blend even more. The second helical sock I did, I used two speckled yarns that had very different feels when held next to each other, but ended up blending a surprising amount! And for those socks I used color A for the toes, heels, and cuffs of one sock, and color B for the same on the other just to have a bit of a reference for what the two colorways looked like on their own in that pair.
I was surprised you did not mention hats. I have a ton of scrappy hat patterns in my Ravelry library, many of which are free. My Random Beanie, Textured Stripe Scrappy Hat, Scrappy Hat, Scrappy Help Hat, Mash It Up, Stashbusting Helix Hat and LOSY Hat are just some of the patterns out there. Right now I am making a pair of Mini Marvel Socks. The pattern is incredibly similar to the Color Palette Socks pattern you shared, but the neutral stripes are a textured pattern that looks pretty cool. I subscribed to a mini skein club for nearly a year and ended up with so many I didn’t know what to do with them. My daughter, who will be the recipient of these socks, put them together into a rainbow pattern and I’m about to finish the first one.
I have a lot of worsted/ Aran weight yarns, so I like to use a slipper pattern where I hold the yarns double, then just switch out my scraps as I use them up. It makes a super squishy and warm pair of slippers. I also love the destashification slouch hat and the LOSY hat for using up scraps.
Felted coasters are also very pretty in either crochet or knitting. I really like them because there are no holes for liquid to get through. There are numerous patterns on Raveley.
I like crochet washcloths / potholders depending on the type of yarn - I use a lot of cotton, obviously wool might not be as good. Also there was an adorable leaf pattern coaster I made a while back for a swap, I did several fall leaf colors and it came out super cute.
What a great episode. I greatly appreciate the suggestions. The Sea Glass Tee or the Sea Glass Hat are good options to use up scraps. If I make these again, I will definitely make a Magic Knot Ball. I will be attending VKL this year for the first time. I hope I get a chance to meet you.
Since I'm primarily a doll/amigurumi crocheter I usually don't have a lot of big scraps. However with the scraps I do have I usually either use scraps to incorporate in a design of another doll/amigurumi or I use it as stuffing in other projects. I just recently invested in a drop spindle so may use scraps to create new yarn to use
Great video with so many ideas for using up scraps of yarn!!! THANKS so much. I have a friend that makes doll clothes to donate to other countries with the dolls she has collected from various sources! She is a great designer and has crocheted many many great outfits for these girls! I love your videos and always find them inspiring! The possibilities are endless .
I think i will try the magic ball for some sock yarn. My DK Cotton yarn gets mostly used for potholders, once in a while i will make a scrappy-potholder. I see it like one of those "10th coffee free" stamp-cards.
Leftover bits are really great for colorwork... either in socks, hats, sweaters... it doesn't really matter. It's just great way to save a lot of $$ instead of buying a full skein of yarn for like, 10g of color work. Scrunchies are great too! You can use up the tiniest bit of leftovers making super fun and colorful scrunchies. Even if you don't really wear them, most people with long hair will have a need for one when washing their face or while cleaning the house. For lengths less than 2ft, I save them for trade in. There are a handful of companies that collect your snippings for making tweedy yarn.
Using the C2C crochet pattern and fingering weight yarn, I made a 20"x 60" shawl/wrap for my granddaughter and a jacket for myself. I made 5 rectangles in C2C then used a sewing pattern to cut the rectangles. My only expense was the binding.
From remnants I can make leg warmers, tote bags, wristers, headbands, children's and adult's hats with stripes. Coffee cup cozies, Baby blankets. I've never tried knitting socks.
I've made several of Summer Lee's Thicksgiving/Thickmas socks, holding fingering yarn double. It makes such a fun and warm sock and both patterns have multiple designs. I believe there's some good scrappy hat patterns I've seen. One by hedgehog fibres and also the Seaglass hat. I think both are free. I also held 4 bits of yarn together for Jessie Mae's Puffy Pouf hat.
I always keep tiny scraps for christmas ornaments, stuffing small amigurumi or adding the stitching for eyes/mouth on them, doing invisible seaming on blocks for different things, and I've even used tiny ones to add little "embroidered" hearts or initials onto mittens.
Loved this podcast on what to do with all the scrappy yarn we have. Last yr I knitted the Skrabucket by Theresia Lew. It used up a lot of my scraps and now I have a cute bag to hold my reading glasses! LOL.
I've been saving all of my trimmed ends and truly unusable pieces of yarn to send to Hedgehog Fibres' yarn recycling program. Depending on how much you send them you'll get a discount on their site. They are based in Ireland, though, so I'm planning to take my scraps with me on a future trip there or somewhere else in Europe so that the shipping costs aren't so astronomical. Recently I've made quite a few projects with superwash fingering yarn that isn't suitable for socks, so I'm saving all of that up to make Stephen West's Garter Marler cardigan. Some of it I'm definitely planning to use up by pairing it with a mohair and making an improvised version of the Sophie Scarf by Petiteknit.
I love scrappy projects and have a granny stripe blanket going right now. I use all of the yarn, then change to a new ball or skein of yarn. I like to use washable yarn for the convenience of washing and drying because I give them as gifts. I also like to use my scraps for gnomes I love knitting and crocheting gnomes.
I made yarn cozies for my knitting friends for Christmas and used up quite a bit of sock yarn leftovers. I bet you could make cozies with a magic yarn ball, too. I have also used a pattern called Christmas Gnomies by Susanne Vetterkind to use up scraps. They don't all look like they are Christmassy, but my friends loved them.
I haven’t made any yet, but I’ve seen both knitted and crocheted Christmas tree ornaments, which seem like they could be made with scraps. I hope to make some in time for next Christmas…lol😂
I don’t have very many scraps because I’m just starting. I have a sock yarn subscription and get 1 full skein and a contrasting mini each month. Since I only make shorties my scraps should grow quickly. An advent is a little out of my budget, so I’m placing my scraps in little bags to open at Christmas. With The leftover minis I plan to make a magic yarn ball for a stripe a day sock. I didn’t think to weight one stripe but I will from now on. I have just split the leftover evenly. Thank you for all the great ideas!!!
Hi, Natalie! I love the way marling and magic knot balls make such beautiful projects! I'm not a sock knitter, so I'm always begging for fingering scraps! When you frown over your cozy memories project ( I get it, I frogged my small start from the Bliss Yarns swap) I think about how I would frog it and put them into my crochet C2C scrappy afghan! Keep me in mind when you have a bag full that needs a new home! Hope to see you next time you are in the Nashville area.
I hold 2 strands of fingering together and make what I call "bed socks". Basically they are thick (dk weight) socks / slipperish. Love all these ideas!
Lovely podcast today Natalie with lots of ideas! I use scraps for hats and socks to donate to charity and pet blankets for the rescue centre. Another pattern you might check out is the Battenburg Blanket ( yes sorry it’s a blanket Natalie) but I’ve used odd squares to make lovely coasters (made with 4 squares) or plant pot rugs ( made with 9 squares) It’s a pattern by Sandra Paul of the Cherry Heart podcast. Glad your scraps are getting sorted xx
Hi Natalie, I'm revisiting this video and I had an idea... I was thinking a scrappy version of your favorite hat pattern would be a really cute project. 💜✌️🧶
Hi Natalie, I love all your ideas. My hands are always freezing so, I'm really into knitting fingerless mitts and wrist warmers. I've been saving and sorting my sock yarn scraps by brand into small zip bags but, a new favorite container lately has been plastic peanut butter jars. I keep smaller balls of worsted weight scraps in them too (sorted by brand and color family). I can see my contents clearly and if I happen to drop or one falls off the shelf (I live in CA earthquake country, lol!) it won't shatter. I really love your cuffs, heels and toes idea and was thinking about trying a cuffs n thumb experiment with my mitts. 😃 💜✌️🧶
I love all your creative ideas! I am working on headbands with a cable going down in the center. I make them different length for smaller or bigger heads. 19" length is a good average measurement. With fine yarn I cast on 18 stitches, and with thick yarn 14 stitches. It's a nice little gift to hand out in colder months. Good luck with your wonderful, creative endeavor:)
I knit socks on a circular sock knitting machine, and I’m always looking for projects for my scraps. I’ve made cup cozies, but never made coasters. I’m thinking a short tube, kitchenered at both ends, would make a nice coaster with a double thickness of fingering weight yarn.
I used my scrap sock yarn to make fingerless mittens pattern by the Knitting Squirrel found on Ravelry. Now I am finishing my first pair of shortie socks using scraps from previous socks. I plan to make more shortie socks using my sock scraps. I have become a fan of yours over the past several months. Keep up the good work.😊
Those rainbow sweetheart socks are cute enough to make me put down all my wips oh my goodness!! GREAT IDEAS Nat really enjoyed this one. I love that you've been including knit and crochet items as well as different skill levels. Seriously helpful vid!
Toys! I make a lot of toys, so I keep many different colors of fingering scraps handy. If you're new to toy making, two good designers to start with are Imagined Landscapes (knitted gnomes) and MochiMochi Land (knitted everything). Amigurumis are an easy option for the crocheter.
One idea for the yarn cozies: if you make a smaller hole at the bottom of the cozy, you could feed the yarn through that to keep it from pulling the yarn ball out of the cozy.
I swapped 25 mini skeins with a fellow RUclips channel and we created our own Advent Calendar. It was MUCH cheaper than buying an Advent Calendar and you got to try out different yarns. I knitted a huge triangular shawl with it that I use daily.
There is a new pattern out by Winter's Weather Knits called Bohemian Scrapsody....amazing for scraps! Definitely added it to my queue for my scraps! I really love your yarn ball holders too!
Sitting here watching your video and holding 4 fingering weight yarns at a time…pattern Snap by Tin Can Knits. This is my second since the beginning of the year and all are going to charity. Love this pattern.
For at least a few years, granny square tote bags have been popular on the mass market, especially for the "cozy" or "cottagecore" aesthetics. These are plain tote bags or sometimes slouchy easy bags, which can sometimes be found in thrift stores. The key is to have a FABRIC bag, not leather or vinyl/pleather/"vegan leather." You want to sew the granny squares onto the outer surface of the bag. The sewn bag gives strength and structure, preventing straight crochet from warping and damaging.
Last year I knitted a hat every month from stash yarn that I donated to charity - donated 15 hats in total! There’s a lot of great free patterns that help use up scraps and stash.
This is such a wonderful gesture! You're a very kind person
That's a great idea!!!
Scrappy beanies that you can donate to people in need is something I really wanna do to my scraps
I was just thinking of doing scrappy Musselburghs after watching the WSNP
The LOSY hat is a great way to use up scraps of sock yarn held double. I’ve made quite a few for donation. I have made a scrappy Musselburgh & wear it all the time!
I'm a teacher and my school has a knitting/crochet club. I usually take my scraps there so the kids can experiment ☺️
I also swap stuff with friends.
Usually I don't even throw out the tiniest scraps. I love to use them as stuffing for amigurumis or something like that.
How about HEADBANDS / EARWARMERS? I love all your inspiring non-blanket ideas. I also loved the Magic Ball tip--very helpful. Usually I just practice cables, new techniques, or lace patterns with my scraps. It helps me save yarn when I want to try out a new design. ❤ Love your podcasts
I keep some of the yarn that’s left over and label it what I made out of it.. if it was a gift and to whom. Here’s a good example I made a blanket for my nieces son he loved the blanket. She called to tell me he tangled his toy truck around the blanket and there’s a hole & if I could repair it? Why yes! I have the yarn! And it was good as new. I have a friend when they make a baby blanket they wrap some of the yarn around an index card and label it and the care instructions and attach it to the gift… just like the stores will add buttons etc to a new garment. Thanks for your videos Natale I always look forward to them and learn something new.
I have been a knitter and crocheter for over 60 years (yes, I'm an old lady LOL!) I have kept a magic knot scrap ball of some kind for decades. From a few inches to feet and yards of yarn nothing gets thrown away. My favorite use for this mish-mash is a snowman hat. These hats have to have a huge diameter to fit properly on Mr. Frosty's head and that takes a lot of yarn. An alternative is to get the kids involved and teach them needlecraft as they make a simple snowman scarf.
My favorite coasters were gifted to me by my sister. She took gauge swatches she had made for projects with wool yarn and felted them! Love the fiber and think of my sister every time i see them. ❤
I love using scraps for Xmas ornaments (stars, trees, gnomes, etc.) - not the right season right now, but they use usually under 10g and there are a ton on Ravelry. If you're ambitious, you can string a bunch into a garland.
I was going to suggest ornaments as well. I sometimes make a gift for a friend and use the left over yarn to make a matching ornament of some sort.
One fun fair isle idea with the magic yarn ball would be to make the yarn ball a mix of a few shades of the same color (especially if you have a lot of one or two colors, like I have a ton of blues and greens haha). Then with the ombre color ball, use that as the background color and use a strong contrast for the design. I love the way the background will fade up and down the project. I feel like Marie Wallin does a similar thing on some of her sweater patterns, and it always looks so cool! :) thanks for this video Nat, I love hearing your genius ideas!!
Oooh a sea glass tea with the magic knot ball might be really cool.
So cool!
Natalie I found glass jars about 12-14” tall with lids and about 12” around at a craft store to display my folded socks. My husband loves my sock knitting adventures and likes the different way the yarn looks in a hank vs when it’s a completed sock. He calls them “my works of art”. He told me one day that I needed to find a way to display them in our living room so we can enjoy them all the time. So now I have 3 jars completely full and need at least 2 more. Just thought I’d share how I do it. 🧶🧦🧶🧦🧶🧦🧶🧦
I knit for downtown mission for homeless.I love making hats ,especially with felixal knitting , some time I use up to 9 colors,and every hat is different . Also you can hold 2 strands of yarn together and make bulky hat ( with 2 different colors looks great too), slippers are great too I knit them for my kids.
This is very creative and very kind of you!
I use scraps for heels, toes and cuffs. I also use them for the colorwork part of hats or mittens. Two you didn't mention are-the Litmus Cowl by Stranded Dyeworks. Also, there are many cat lovers in my life, and scraps of rustic worsted weight wool make great double knit pouches. I then fill them with dried catnip, and add them to gifts for those friends and family. They love getting gifts for their cats.
Love the Litmus cowl! Fun to knit-and no ends to weave in!
Using the magic knot ball is actually really good for color work if you pair it with a neutral. It makes a really fun pattern without being too “scrappy” because the neutral and color work design bring some order to the project
Oooh love this idea!
Gnomes! Imagined Landscapes has a ton of great gnome patterns for all different weights of yarn
I use my swatches for knitting in the round as “mug rugs”. Instant fringe. 😊
I'm using small amounts of yarn for amigurumi making. Also I've just made my first cozy and I'm using it all the time. With the cats around, I prefer balls to not roll around, and because I don't have ball winder yet, I learned very easy method of creating cakes by hand, just wind around pencil. We used to grow lots of fresh herbs in old dog food cans, and I'm decorating them with something similar to the can cozy, but it wasn't made in rounds, just sewed rectangles.
Since I'm still in school, I just use my scrap yarn to make scrunchies, because everytime someone needs a hair tie in pe, I can get rid of my scraps and make someone smile :)
I like to use my scrap yarn to make worry worms and hacky sacks and donate them to places that give them two kids so they can use them as fidget toys.
Love your Texas sock forms!
I do the magic knot ball, then hold 2 strands together and make marled hats.
I've knit Marled Family Hats (pattern by Julie of Twin Stitches Designs) using either two magic knot balls or a magic knot ball and a solid. They work up quickly and are so fun and colorful.
Also, the pattern calls for 50g of each color, but in my experience, it takes significantly less. I do the Adult Small and the shorter brim modification and only use about 25g of each color.
Cotton makes great coasters. Absorbent. Washable. A set of 4 or 5 or 8 makes a great gift, especially in a decorative tin.
I've made some with wool oversized then felted them. Once they're felted you can throw them in the machine
The magic knot ball is something I made recently, didn't even know it was a concept that had a name 😅
I have a bunch of little scraps of wool (they'd all been cut to use for a specific type of weaving, and it seemed like a shame to throw it away) so I just started tying them some colors together, and now I'm making another one from different colors that will contrast the first one quite nicely 🙂
I've been making the yarn cosy, but am interested in making a blanket as well as stubbie holders (bottle cosy), and the coasters as well. They would make really good gifts. I have a local second hand haberdashery near me, with a focus on sustainable crafting, so I like the idea of the 10-20g hand wound option to donate
Pom Poms!!! You could make a garland of tiny pom poms to hang in your craft room to remember all the projects you have done with those yarns. I also think small scraps of yarn can add a lot of fun and interest to the weft threads in weaving. SAORI weaving is a really great freeform weaving style that allows you to blend different types and weights of fibres to make really nice decorative pieces. The looms are obviously quite expensive, but if you can find a local studio that does workshops, you could take a bag of your small scraps (even ones of only a few inches) to incorporate in your weaving.
Love these ideas! Thank you!
I’m doing lots of pennants/banners with all my DK scraps and fingering held double. Then I’ll put them on twine depending on the holiday: reds and pinks for Valentine’s Day, orange and black for Halloween, etc. Plus there’s my northeasterly blanket which is a long term project.
From Deb in Charlotte, North Carolina…what a wonderful episode! You guys are experts in editing, music choices and titles for segments. This takes my enjoyment of your vlogs over the top. Your projects are so beautiful and your organizational skills put me to shame. How do you come up with these super cute scrappy ideas? Now, add the wonderful editing to your skills and you’re at the top of the knitters vlogging mountain. Just my opinion. Can’t wait for the next one!
For this year I'm trying to use up my stash, especially partially used skeins, but making hexi-puffs (I'm following a free crochet pattern from ravelry). One for everyday of the year (hopefully) and will make a big blanket or something at the end
I love the Rainbow Connection from Crazy Socks Lady! I even made a project bag using my scraps with the Russian knot technique and the Rainbow Connection patter!
❤❤❤look so hard the make of them ,,,yours are beautiful 😻
The Sock Yarn Sweater is a great way to use up self-striping yarn or various yarn scraps you pull together. It's a bottom-up sweater, very straightforward and easy. The arms are striped with the scraps. You can make both arms match or not. I've done it both ways. First I used my Felici self-striping leftover in the Time Traveller colorway. I matched the arms row for row. Then I made one with a sort of fade that I put together from other various leftovers and didn't worry about matching. Both look great and I've had compliments on both. For a sweater, it knits up pretty fast!
Do you have more info?
Great ideas. Great AV. Great program host. This one is a keeper...
My mother used to sew and knit little clothes for my dolls (Barbie and other ones). I still have a collection of beautiful little clothes and think the wardrobe might need some sweaters….a doll blanket…and so forth. It might teach me a thing or two about construction, too, as I play with different fashions and colors.
Im currently knitting the penguono cardigan by stephen west with my scraps. I love learning new techniques and making mistakes with them.
oh I am looking forward to knitting Garter Marler by Stephen West out of my fingering weight scraps!
I LOVE mug rugs!
Great video! I like to use scraps for mittens; fingering held double makes a nice, cushy mitten or fingerless mitt.
Mini Stockings for an Advent Calendar garland. Katrinkles has a free mini stocking pattern on their website and they also sell their Advent Calendar numbers buttons you can sew on the wee stockings. Knit a long I-Cord and use mini clothes pins to clip the stockings on for the garland which you can hang up on the wall with removable 3M hangers clips. Each mini stocking uses under 10 grams in fingering weight yarn. I purchased the mini clothes pins at Hobby Lobby which were metallic red and green, and separately a set of plain wood mini clothes pins.
I have many skeins of fun fur and novelty yarns that were included in thrift store purchases. I am making fidget sleeves for dementia patients and kids with adhd and autism. I use my worsted and Aran scraps for the base sleeve.
Scraps cab be used for crocheting small and flat Christmas decorations - individual items or joined into a garland. I made a bunch of rabbits for this New year)) there can also be flowers, snowflakes, little houses - the list goes on))
Hacky sacks are great for tiny leftovers
The Battenburg blanket by Sandra Paul is a great scrappy project.
This year I'm making a shawl to catalogue and display the socks I'm making over the course of the year. Once I'm done making the socks, the rest of the yarn is going in the shawl in the order that I finished the socks, and I just keep knitting until the yarn runs out (usually changing color in the middle of a row). In addition to using up all the leftovers (and I pretty much always have socks going as an on-the-go project), it's also a record of my changing moods for what colors I wanted to knit with at a given time.
I've also done a couple different helical socks before, and I love how both came out!! The first pair I made included a variegated and a tonal, with the pop color in the variegated exactly matching the color in the tonal (two different brands, but they must have used the same dye). So that gave the final sock a really interested flashing effect that allowed the two colorways to blend even more.
The second helical sock I did, I used two speckled yarns that had very different feels when held next to each other, but ended up blending a surprising amount! And for those socks I used color A for the toes, heels, and cuffs of one sock, and color B for the same on the other just to have a bit of a reference for what the two colorways looked like on their own in that pair.
I was surprised you did not mention hats. I have a ton of scrappy hat patterns in my Ravelry library, many of which are free. My Random Beanie, Textured Stripe Scrappy Hat, Scrappy Hat, Scrappy Help Hat, Mash It Up, Stashbusting Helix Hat and LOSY Hat are just some of the patterns out there.
Right now I am making a pair of Mini Marvel Socks. The pattern is incredibly similar to the Color Palette Socks pattern you shared, but the neutral stripes are a textured pattern that looks pretty cool. I subscribed to a mini skein club for nearly a year and ended up with so many I didn’t know what to do with them. My daughter, who will be the recipient of these socks, put them together into a rainbow pattern and I’m about to finish the first one.
I have a lot of worsted/ Aran weight yarns, so I like to use a slipper pattern where I hold the yarns double, then just switch out my scraps as I use them up. It makes a super squishy and warm pair of slippers. I also love the destashification slouch hat and the LOSY hat for using up scraps.
Felted coasters are also very pretty in either crochet or knitting. I really like them because there are no holes for liquid to get through. There are numerous patterns on Raveley.
Great idea!
I do literally anything and everything granny square with my scraps 🌝✨🧡
I like crochet washcloths / potholders depending on the type of yarn - I use a lot of cotton, obviously wool might not be as good. Also there was an adorable leaf pattern coaster I made a while back for a swap, I did several fall leaf colors and it came out super cute.
What a great episode. I greatly appreciate the suggestions. The Sea Glass Tee or the Sea Glass Hat are good options to use up scraps. If I make these again, I will definitely make a Magic Knot Ball. I will be attending VKL this year for the first time. I hope I get a chance to meet you.
Totally forgot about the newer Sea Glass Hat - great suggestion! Yes, if you see me at Vogue, come say "hi"!
I crocheted everyone a bunch of coasters for christmas one year amd they still use them today which is sucha confidence booster
Since I'm primarily a doll/amigurumi crocheter I usually don't have a lot of big scraps. However with the scraps I do have I usually either use scraps to incorporate in a design of another doll/amigurumi or I use it as stuffing in other projects. I just recently invested in a drop spindle so may use scraps to create new yarn to use
i love doing scrappy arm warmers! its a little tedious changing colors often, but can be a really cute accent for outfits!
A garland is fun too
Great video with so many ideas for using up scraps of yarn!!! THANKS so much. I have a friend that makes doll clothes to donate to other countries with the dolls she has collected from various sources! She is a great designer and has crocheted many many great outfits for these girls!
I love your videos and always find them inspiring! The possibilities are endless .
I think i will try the magic ball for some sock yarn. My DK Cotton yarn gets mostly used for potholders, once in a while i will make a scrappy-potholder. I see it like one of those "10th coffee free" stamp-cards.
I love working up solid granny squares to later be joined into a patchwork cardigan with my scraps
Leftover bits are really great for colorwork... either in socks, hats, sweaters... it doesn't really matter. It's just great way to save a lot of $$ instead of buying a full skein of yarn for like, 10g of color work. Scrunchies are great too! You can use up the tiniest bit of leftovers making super fun and colorful scrunchies. Even if you don't really wear them, most people with long hair will have a need for one when washing their face or while cleaning the house. For lengths less than 2ft, I save them for trade in. There are a handful of companies that collect your snippings for making tweedy yarn.
I love my yarn cozies, I need to make more!
I love all the different socks!
Using the C2C crochet pattern and fingering weight yarn, I made a 20"x 60" shawl/wrap for my granddaughter and a jacket for myself. I made 5 rectangles in C2C then used a sewing pattern to cut the rectangles. My only expense was the binding.
Oh that sounds beautiful!
From remnants I can make leg warmers, tote bags, wristers, headbands, children's and adult's hats with stripes. Coffee cup cozies, Baby blankets. I've never tried knitting socks.
I've made several of Summer Lee's Thicksgiving/Thickmas socks, holding fingering yarn double. It makes such a fun and warm sock and both patterns have multiple designs.
I believe there's some good scrappy hat patterns I've seen. One by hedgehog fibres and also the Seaglass hat. I think both are free. I also held 4 bits of yarn together for Jessie Mae's Puffy Pouf hat.
Lisa at "Knit All the Yarn" podcast has knit several scrappy Musselburgh hats. Very successful for this who enjoy the look of scrappy items *)
I always keep tiny scraps for christmas ornaments, stuffing small amigurumi or adding the stitching for eyes/mouth on them, doing invisible seaming on blocks for different things, and I've even used tiny ones to add little "embroidered" hearts or initials onto mittens.
This is a great list! Some of my favorite things to make with scraps are toys and Christmas ornaments!
Loved this podcast on what to do with all the scrappy yarn we have. Last yr I knitted the
Skrabucket by Theresia Lew. It used up a lot of my scraps and now I have a cute bag to hold my reading glasses! LOL.
I've been saving all of my trimmed ends and truly unusable pieces of yarn to send to Hedgehog Fibres' yarn recycling program. Depending on how much you send them you'll get a discount on their site. They are based in Ireland, though, so I'm planning to take my scraps with me on a future trip there or somewhere else in Europe so that the shipping costs aren't so astronomical. Recently I've made quite a few projects with superwash fingering yarn that isn't suitable for socks, so I'm saving all of that up to make Stephen West's Garter Marler cardigan. Some of it I'm definitely planning to use up by pairing it with a mohair and making an improvised version of the Sophie Scarf by Petiteknit.
I love scrappy projects and have a granny stripe blanket going right now. I use all of the yarn, then change to a new ball or skein of yarn. I like to use washable yarn for the convenience of washing and drying because I give them as gifts. I also like to use my scraps for gnomes I love knitting and crocheting gnomes.
The Remembral hat is an amazing pattern for using scraps! You only need a couple of yards for each color.
One idea is making premature baby hats for local hospitals - I noticed heaps of free patterns available that use very little yarn
Great idea!!
I made yarn cozies for my knitting friends for Christmas and used up quite a bit of sock yarn leftovers. I bet you could make cozies with a magic yarn ball, too. I have also used a pattern called Christmas Gnomies by Susanne Vetterkind to use up scraps. They don't all look like they are Christmassy, but my friends loved them.
I haven’t made any yet, but I’ve seen both knitted and crocheted Christmas tree ornaments, which seem like they could be made with scraps. I hope to make some in time for next Christmas…lol😂
Arne and Carlos have a load
I don’t have very many scraps because I’m just starting. I have a sock yarn subscription and get 1 full skein and a contrasting mini each month. Since I only make shorties my scraps should grow quickly. An advent is a little out of my budget, so I’m placing my scraps in little bags to open at Christmas. With The leftover minis I plan to make a magic yarn ball for a stripe a day sock. I didn’t think to weight one stripe but I will from now on. I have just split the leftover evenly. Thank you for all the great ideas!!!
Hi, Natalie! I love the way marling and magic knot balls make such beautiful projects! I'm not a sock knitter, so I'm always begging for fingering scraps! When you frown over your cozy memories project ( I get it, I frogged my small start from the Bliss Yarns swap) I think about how I would frog it and put them into my crochet C2C scrappy afghan! Keep me in mind when you have a bag full that needs a new home! Hope to see you next time you are in the Nashville area.
I hung onto those Bliss Yarns swap scraps until last year! Such fun times when we all started though!
Hi natty, its really great to know the projects. I love all of them 😍😍😍
entrelac scarves/wraps look great with scraps!
I hold 2 strands of fingering together and make what I call "bed socks". Basically they are thick (dk weight) socks / slipperish. Love all these ideas!
Great idea!!
I’m discovering your channel through this video, and I loved it! Thanks for all these lovely ideas. I’ll make your helical socks for sure.
Lovely podcast today Natalie with lots of ideas! I use scraps for hats and socks to donate to charity and pet blankets for the rescue centre. Another pattern you might check out is the Battenburg Blanket ( yes sorry it’s a blanket Natalie) but I’ve used odd squares to make lovely coasters (made with 4 squares) or plant pot rugs ( made with 9 squares) It’s a pattern by Sandra Paul of the Cherry Heart podcast. Glad your scraps are getting sorted xx
That's a great idea! Haha blankets are okay in my book!
Hi Natalie,
I'm revisiting this video and I had an idea... I was thinking a scrappy version of your favorite hat pattern would be a really cute project.
💜✌️🧶
Hi Natalie,
I love all your ideas.
My hands are always freezing so, I'm really into knitting fingerless mitts and wrist warmers.
I've been saving and sorting my sock yarn scraps by brand into small zip bags but, a new favorite container lately has been plastic peanut butter jars. I keep smaller balls of worsted weight scraps in them too (sorted by brand and color family). I can see my contents clearly and if I happen to drop or one falls off the shelf (I live in CA earthquake country, lol!) it won't shatter.
I really love your cuffs, heels and toes idea and was thinking about trying a cuffs n thumb experiment with my mitts. 😃
💜✌️🧶
Also, scrappy tea cozies are fun.
I can picture it now! Sounds super cute!
I love all your creative ideas! I am working on headbands with a cable going down in the center. I make them different length for smaller or bigger heads. 19" length is a good average measurement. With fine yarn I cast on 18 stitches, and with thick yarn 14 stitches. It's a nice little gift to hand out in colder months. Good luck with your wonderful, creative endeavor:)
I knit socks on a circular sock knitting machine, and I’m always looking for projects for my scraps. I’ve made cup cozies, but never made coasters. I’m thinking a short tube, kitchenered at both ends, would make a nice coaster with a double thickness of fingering weight yarn.
I really need a video like this I brought one cake of yarn and started a scarf I
I used my scrap sock yarn to make fingerless mittens pattern by the Knitting Squirrel found on Ravelry. Now I am finishing my first pair of shortie socks using scraps from previous socks. I plan to make more shortie socks using my sock scraps. I have become a fan of yours over the past several months. Keep up the good work.😊
Those rainbow sweetheart socks are cute enough to make me put down all my wips oh my goodness!! GREAT IDEAS Nat really enjoyed this one. I love that you've been including knit and crochet items as well as different skill levels. Seriously helpful vid!
Toys! I make a lot of toys, so I keep many different colors of fingering scraps handy. If you're new to toy making, two good designers to start with are Imagined Landscapes (knitted gnomes) and MochiMochi Land (knitted everything). Amigurumis are an easy option for the crocheter.
I try to knit a baby hat with the wool leftover from my socks. Also scraps are useful making knitted toys.
Baby hats and comfort dolls
One idea for the yarn cozies: if you make a smaller hole at the bottom of the cozy, you could feed the yarn through that to keep it from pulling the yarn ball out of the cozy.
Or you could feed the thread through a locking stitch marker pinned on the cozy. Then you could take the ball out without cutting the yarn.
Great ideas! I also love pompous and tassels. I’m really enjoying your channel.🇨🇦❤️
So many great ideas. Thanks Natalie! Love the episode 💖
Thank you so much!
I swapped 25 mini skeins with a fellow RUclips channel and we created our own Advent Calendar. It was MUCH cheaper than buying an Advent Calendar and you got to try out different yarns. I knitted a huge triangular shawl with it that I use daily.
There is a new pattern out by Winter's Weather Knits called Bohemian Scrapsody....amazing for scraps! Definitely added it to my queue for my scraps! I really love your yarn ball holders too!
Yesss! I’m bummed I saw that after I’d recorded this. Look awesome though!
Thank you. I’m excited to start some projects
Sitting here watching your video and holding 4 fingering weight yarns at a time…pattern Snap by Tin Can Knits. This is my second since the beginning of the year and all are going to charity. Love this pattern.
I love the idea of mug rugs, what a great way to try a new technique!
For at least a few years, granny square tote bags have been popular on the mass market, especially for the "cozy" or "cottagecore" aesthetics. These are plain tote bags or sometimes slouchy easy bags, which can sometimes be found in thrift stores. The key is to have a FABRIC bag, not leather or vinyl/pleather/"vegan leather." You want to sew the granny squares onto the outer surface of the bag. The sewn bag gives strength and structure, preventing straight crochet from warping and damaging.
Just finished Meet me in the Margins! Love it!