One of the topics we discussed in our previous blog on New Year’s Resolutions for Crafters dealt with using up yarn scraps. If you’ve been working with yarn for a long time, chances are very good you have a huge stash of scraps at your disposal. And since there’s a big overlap between Those Who Craft and Those Who Abhor Waste, yarn scrap stashes are usually pretty sizable. So, what should you do with your yarn scraps?

Today we’re sharing some scrap projects that should help whittle down your yarn scrap stash. We’ve included all kinds of projects, from small items that use very little yarn to large projects that could potentially devour all the scraps you have left. To make it even easier, we’re listing projects in order from small to large, so you can find exactly what you need. So, let’s get scrap busting!

Less than 50 Yards

Tie-On Newborn Booties

We know these free Tie-On Newborn Baby Booties are great for using up leftover DK yarn because we just made them! There’s a new baby in the Brown Sheep family, so we dug into our scraps and pulled out some Prairie Spun DK to make a pair of booties for him.

The Prairie Spun DK is leftover from last year’s Mystery KAL. We weighed our leftovers and did the math, and found we had approximately 88 yards of yarn leftover. After we made the booties, there were 43 yards of yarn leftover, which means it might be possible to squeeze out another pair!

Knitwords Lanyard

The smallest size of the Knitwords Lanyard, the Wristlet, takes only 32 yards to complete. But even the medium and large lanyards use no more than 85 and 115 yards respectively. This is a great project for Nature Spun Sport scraps; in fact, the largest lanyard is made with Nature Spun Sport in Spiced Plum and Magenta.

Less than 100 Yards

Easy Pot Holders

Grab your Lamb’s Pride Bulky scraps to whip up these free and Easy Pot Holders. They feature mitered corners and an i-cord edging to reinforce the shape and structure, can be left knit or felted in the washing machine, and are a colorful opportunity to use up whatever Lamb’s Pride Bulky hues you have left in your stash.

Little Felted Heart Bowl

Using a scant 90 yards, the Felted Heart Bowl is a quick knit in Lamb’s Pride Worsted. The designer suggests filling it with wrapped chocolates and giving to a loved one as a gift, which makes us wish we had whipped one up in time for Valentine’s Day. Although, any day is a good day for chocolate!

 

100-300 Yards

3 Color Ear Warmer

Practice your fair isle techniques and bust a few colorful scraps with the 3 Color Ear Warmer. Knit in Lamb’s Pride, these ear warmers take between 100 and 120 yards total and feature a technique called Faire Isle Slip Stitch (FISS).

Melting Rainbows Hat

According to the project notes, you should only need approximately 25 grams of yarn for each color in the Melting Rainbows Hat if you’re making it for an adult. If you make it for a child, you’ll need even less. The largest size takes less than 200 yards of Lamb’s Pride Worsted to complete.

 

300-400 Yards

Snippet Scarf

The Snippet Scarf is made for busting through a lot of bulky scraps, so it’s perfect for Lamb’s Pride Bulky, Lanaloft, and Shepherd’s Shades. According to the designer, you only need approximately 6 yards of yarn for each row. The total yardage requirement is 300-400 yards. Gauge isn’t important, either, so you could technically gather all your scraps and make them work. Our favorite part? Those long fringe pieces mean there are NO ENDS to weave in.

Chevron Love Slouch

The Chevron Love Slouch Hat calls for a total of 368 yards of Nature Spun Sport, in as many colors as you have on hand. Like the Snippet Scarf, this hat is about playing with colors and letting them run wild. You’d be surprised at how well colors you wouldn’t normally pair go together. The trick is to find the colors that act as bridges. If two colors seem like they might clash, find the one color that pairs well with both of them, and insert it in the middle.

Hitini

The Hitini Socks call for all your fingering weight scraps, so get your Wildfoote odds and ends ready. If you’re aiming for socks that match, remember to weigh your scrap balls to ensure you have enough  to duplicate the exact colors. A good tip is to divide the individual colors into two equal balls. That way, you know from knitting the first sock how much you will have for the second.

400+ Yards

Sea Glass Sweater

The Sea Glass Sweater makes the smart move of dictating the yarn requirements in grams, rather than yardage. For the smallest size (33″ bust), you’ll need 420 grams of DK-weight yarn; for the largest size (68″ bust), you’ll need 955 grams. Don’t forget—you can also hold a lighter weight yarn doubled if the gauge works. If you have enough Nature Spun and Stratosphere scraps in your stash, this is a lovely sweater for using them up. The stranded, 1×1 color work does a lot of heavy lifting; it marries all the colors together, and also creates an ultra-warm fabric.

Stash Eater Bag

The aptly-named Stash Eater Bag would like to devour all your Lamb’s Pride Worsted. The pattern says it is more a formula than a straightforward pattern. Knitters can make larger or smaller bags, work with different yarns, or even make a rug instead of a bag. The version seen above was actually made with Nature Spun, and we love the way the colors worked together—it almost looks like a single colorway of a hand painted yarn!

Are you busting through your Brown Sheep scraps? What are your favorite scrap-busting patterns? Let us know in the comments below. And don’t forget to tag us in your project photos on social media so we can see what you’re making!

 

 

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