Okay guys, I wanted to talk a little about “craft waste”, specifically yarn waste for my fellow crocheters & knitters! If you crochet or knit quite a bit, I’m sure you find yourself either throwing away bits and pieces of yarn or maybe even larger bits of yarn that you don’t feel is “enough” to complete a full project. If this is you please STOP! There are so many great uses for these scraps of yarn and I wanted to cover a few of them here in this post! Before you get to work using these scraps let’s talk about storing them. I like to store them based on length; smaller pieces that really won’t be enough to use in a crochet product but are at least 10 to 12 inches long, in Mason jars based on their color family. The longer lengths of yarn I store in gallon ziplock bags, also grouped by color family. This makes it pretty easy to find what I’m looking for when I need scraps for projects. Now, onto the meat of the post… how to USE those colorful scraps!!
#1: Make “Scrappy” Items
Hats, headbands, fingerless gloves, ornaments, coasters, baskets, scrunchies, washcloths and other smaller items can be created using your leftover scrap yarn! These items can end up looking really unique & fun and can make perfect gifts for the “artsy” people in your family. This year I loved creating the hat shown above for my cousin who teaches middle school art in Sweden!! It turned out even better than I thought it was and fits her personality perfectly!
#2: Make Pom Poms
Make pom poms for hats, pom pom garlands, pom pom keychains, pom pom Christmas ornaments and anything else you can think of that would be made better with pom poms!!
#3 See if you can Donate them
Is there a local daycare, preschool, art class that might like your scraps for at projects?? If so you can collect your scraps in a bag or Mason jar until you have enough to drop them off! Your scraps could turn into a famous piece of art (or at least one that ends up on someone’s fridge!!! 😂)
#4: Use Teeny Scraps as a Poly-fil Alternative
“But what about the smallest scraps??” I’d the scraps are only a few inches long, consider saving them to use as an alternative for poly-fil in items like crocheted/knit amigurumi, animals, toys, christmas ornaments, pumpkins, etc!! Check out these beautiful mini pumpkins by Alexus Knits, aren’t they adorable??
#5: Tag & Package your Products
I save smaller lengths of yarn and use them to wrap my products before shipping them out! You can wrap your item in craft paper or wrapping paper and use the scraps like ribbon to wrap around the items! Then you can top those packages with… any guess?? You’ve got it! A POM POM!!!! I love this image by Drift Knitwear, using scrap to keep a blanket neat and folded and ready to wrap, gift or ship!! Oh, and don’t forget you can also use them for things around the house that you might otherwise use string for!
What do YOU do with your scraps?? If you have more ideas for using up scrap yarn, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!!! 🤗
Until next time, Happy Making!!!
