What to do with scrap yarn

[Barbara G.]

Hello,

Thanks for all the great ideas from each of you on using up extra yarn! Great thoughts!

[Caledonia1972]

Could you maybe use the little bit and pieces that aren't long enough to crochet with as toy stuffing? I know that for kids' toys you should use the proper polyester filling, but for ornaments or that sort of thing yarn might work quite well.

[writer_crafter]

Caledonia,

I've done exactly that. I was trying to unravel a knitted sweater to repurpose the yarn, but cut the wrong thread and it all came out in little bits like ramen noodles. So I made some amigurumi and used the yarn bits as stuffing. It worked out pretty well, I thought. The ami was made into a Christmas ornament as a gift. The recipient loved it!

[Theresa L]

Actually, the ugly blanket isn't as hideous as I thought it would be! I picked out beige, orange, mustard yellow, brown, green and a variegated skein that has several of those colors in it. It's turning out, as my 13 year old says, kind of "thanksgiving-y"! I admit, I left the pinks, blues and purples out of this one on purpose but I hadn't really paid attention to the fact that the colors were really all autumn colors. Don't worry, I will still have plenty left to make that ugly blanket with!

[Sweet Magnolia]

My mother passed away in 1996, and I inherited all her things. Among her things was a train case that was filled with granny squares she had made. My youngest daughter and I talked about them for a while, discussing what to do with them. She decided to use her Grandma's squares and made more squares using leftover yarn and put it all together with the main colors of the yarn Mom has used. We gave it to my mother-in-law because she and Mom were close when they were young. It turned out beautifully and huge - big enough for a queen bed.

[skynclls]

My kids steal all of my leftover yarn from me...their stuffed animals all have "leashes" tied around them, my son made a "spider web" in the corner of his bunk bed...they have yarn everywhere.

[Theresa L]

Actually, the ugly blanket isn't as hideous as I thought it would be! I picked out beige, orange, mustard yellow, brown, green and a variegated skein that has several of those colors in it. It's turning out, as my 13 year old says, kind of "thanksgiving-y"! I admit, I left the pinks, blues and purples out of this one on purpose but I hadn't really paid attention to the fact that the colors were really all autumn colors. Don't worry, I will still have plenty left to make that ugly blanket with!

[kaisensei]

Hi all! I was able to create some granny squares which I joined together and created a messenger bag. For the strap, I again made yoyo's from the scraps and joined them together using the flat braid method, just the same way I joined my granny squares. I haven't thought of how to make the closure though and that's what's delaying me from finishing this project. Or maybe I'm just really back to my bad habit of procrastinating again Anyway, I will post the pics once I get it done, hopefully within the month.

If its a messenger type of bag, have you considered making a flap? Then perhaps put a big button and make a chain type of string to wind around the button? Usually when I'm stumped on something like that, I use buttons or ribbons as a way of closing things. But the messenger bag using granny squares is a really cool idea. Now I know what to do with the number of scraps of yarns that I keep but don't know what to do with it.

[giftedchild]

@Kaisensei Hi! I think that's a great suggestion! I'll have to check out what type of flap I'll make though since I can no longer alter the size -- I've already joined the granny squares for the body. Perhaps a granny rectangle will be great for this too.
You know, your suggestion to make a "chain type of string to wind around the button" is something that I've done before... wow! fascinating! same wavelength huh? Overall, I'm happy you like what I've done with my scrap yarns. I'm also planning to use the very small scraps as stuffing for the amigurumi projects that I'm planning to make as Christmas gifts.

[Theresa L]

Actually, the ugly blanket isn't as hideous as I thought it would be! I picked out beige, orange, mustard yellow, brown, green and a variegated skein that has several of those colors in it. It's turning out, as my 13 year old says, kind of "thanksgiving-y"! I admit, I left the pinks, blues and purples out of this one on purpose but I hadn't really paid attention to the fact that the colors were really all autumn colors. Don't worry, I will still have plenty left to make that ugly blanket with!