What can I do with leftover yarn?

Question

I usually make hats with yarn but I have some skeins were I still have a lot left, just not enough to make a hat. Any craft ideas I can do that will also sell?

Answer 1

Wow.
You can make shawls to go with the hats.
You can also use them to crochet colorful bed-covers.
Knit colorful sweaters.
Knit bed-slippers.
Just make stuff with mixed colors.
It also depends a little on how much yarn you have left.
My mom would sometimes make 2 smaller balls of yarn out of 1 big one and then use 1 for the front of a sweater and 1 for the back changing the knitting pattern as she changed colors.
You can also knit little squares and sow them to a bed-cover or sweater.
There's so much you can do just think a little out of the box.

Answer 2

A striped tote bag or handbag is an easy project to use up leftover scraps from several projects beautifully and usefully. If the leftovers are wool, so much the better - you can make a sturdy felted bag to carry your next project. A knitted or crocheted market bag can save the use of hundreds of non-biodegradable plastic bags.

Too little yarn for those ideas? Make a cell phone or iPod or glasses case, a water bottle sling, cat toys, wrist warmers or fingerless mitts, a tea cozy, or a headband to warm ears in the winter, for starters. Someone else mentioned knitted or crocheted flowers, and those can be felted or unfelted, embellished with beads, or not.

If you have a lot of yarn from making hats, the scraps can be modularly knitted or crocheted into a vest or sweater and then overdyed, if necessary, to blend the colors. Or you can just make another hat, using the over-dying technique to unify the color scheme. Over-dying can be as simple as throwing a couple of tea bags or packet of Kool-aid in a pot of hot water with the garment to uniformly "glaze" the item.

Most or all of these patterns and techniques can be found on the internet - just Google what you'd like to make. And have fun!

Answer 3

Yarn dolls used to be quite popular. If you're interested, email me and I can share instructions for that.

If you can crochet a chain stitch and if you have 'fun' yarn -- something fuzzy or eyelash yarn or something besides plain old worsted -- you can make Barbie doll boas. Take a piece of 'fun' yarn about 2' long or a little more. Tie your slip knot close to one end. Do a plain chain stitch all the way up the yarn. Pull the last little bit through the last loop to knot off, and you have one doll-sized fake-feather boa. Sell these in sets of 2 or 3 for a couple bucks.

You can also make hats with more than one color. If you make stripes, no one will ever have to know it's really because you only had half enough blue yarn and half enough white yarn for a hat.

Answer 4

I don't know how you feel about possibly learning a new craft. But I do plastic canvas and small amounts of yarn work perfectly for a lot of patterns. Plus, you can use the yarn to make a multi-colored blanket.

Answer 5

What about knitted flowers? They don't take up too much yarn and you can add them to almost anything....glue on a pin to make a broach, or a bobby pin to make a nice hair accessory. Here is a page full of patterns:
http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/directory/flowers.php

Alternatively, you can make little dolls for kids - really quick and super easy to make, and for a good cause!

http://www.aids.net.au/aids-global-malawi-20061112.htm
(Just scroll down until you come across the doll pattern)

Answer 6

i make hook latch rugs. The pieces needed arer only about 4 inches long. And you can create your own design because the hook latch grid can be purchased by the yard. Or you could work on plastic canvas, there are some very nice designs you can find on the internet for coasters and boxes and even handbags, what is even better is that plasic canvas weaving goes super fast and you can do it anywhere just like kniting!

Answer 7

scrap hats, rag rugs/knotted rugs, potholders, tree ornaments, baby booties, easter eggs, children's hats - 2-6 year olds (they tend to like the vibrant variety in colors for hats), or use the scraps for trim around some new hats. Make a purse from scraps - I'm making one right now, I'll let you know how it turns out.
Well, that's all I got for now, But I'm sure I'll come up with more later.

Answer 8

I'd make a multi-color scarf. Just crochet a long chain the length of the scarf (60+ inches) one color and do the second row a different color and continue different colored rows until the scarf is about 5" or so wide. Would make a nice gift too.

Answer 9

Try making preemie hats or baby hats for your local hospital. Or granny squares for Warm Up America, or to sew into blankets and donate to hospitals or nursing homes.

Answer 10

I often use yarn pieces as short as 5 inches. I put multi-colored french knots on needlepoint picture frames, or book covers.