Thanks to all who entered to win a copy of Leigh Radford's new book: “One Skein: 30 Quick Projects to Knit and Crochet”

The winner was Nancy Born from Washington. Congrats Nancy!!

The folks at Interweave Press have agreed to give away a copy of Leigh’s new book, to one lucky CraftSanity listener.
The book is packed with projects that can be created with just a single skein of yarn. To take the theme of Leigh’s book one step further, I asked listeners to tell me what they made with the little bits of yarn that are left over after the big knitting projects are done. (Listeners were not required to send a project idea to enter, so not everyone who entered is represented on the list below. Some listeners simply sent me their name and address.)

What I do with scrap yarn


I use my left-overs to make granny squares, small crochet and knitted flowers and small woven coasters.

I have tons of loom waste from my weaving that I use to stuff other fabric and hand knit projects. I stuffed the Knitted Babe below with short pieces of wool.
IMG_7685
I crocheted a scarf on the train to Chicago with yarn scraps I saved from the trash at a knitting class I was taking. A woman finished a sweater and didn't want the left-overs, so of course I couldn't pass them up. I tied the yarns together to form my own novelty yarn and crocheted away.

Here is what CraftSanity listeners had to say...

From Hanna in Sweden:


mormorsrutor_ihanna
Right now I'm crocheting Granny squares out of all the
leftovers from pink yarn that I have. I saw a picture
on the net of a granny square scarf and was very
attracted by it, so I'm trying to make one by myself.
I have lots of squers right now, they are easy and fun
to make, but I've have just started to sew them
together so we'll see what the end product will look
like... great I hope.

http://www.ihanna.nu/blog
 
 

From Jennifer in California


I tried something REALLY weird with my small remnants of worsted yarn I had lying around...some of them were literally one string left!
 
I attempted to make a knitted tarot card. Since I have a life that's full of upheaval, I decided to try to make the Tower. Complete with someone actually falling out of it and a chaos butterfly on the other side. I drew up a design on graph paper and attempted some Fair Isle.
 
It didn't go well. But... I might as well send in the attempt, eh? Photo's posted here along with more text:
http://fullmoon.typepad.com/crafts/2006/03/my_first_one_sk.html

 

From Nancy in Washington


Pasted Graphic 1
Something I like to do is make lei for birthdays.  Anything to bring back the feeling of the Islands!  I have a couple books on making crocheted lei and have completed several.  But recently I've just taken ribbon yarn and made chains with a crochet hook.  Loosely braid three together, attach a bow (if you want) and you have a beautiful lei!  You could also do a green "fun fur" chain and add that in as well.  The possibilities are endless depending the kind of yarn you have and how many chains you want to braid together. 
 
It makes for a nice remembrance of the day (birthday, anniversary, whatever) and (hopefully!) fun to wear for the recipient. 
 

From Cindy in New York


socktopus
I've only been knitting for a few months, but it doesn't take long to accumulate a formidable pile of odds and ends. Sometimes I use them for scrap yarn or wrapping gifts, but a few weeks ago I found a more interesting use for leftovers. Lately my fiance John has been into sewing sock monkeys. I suggested that he make an 8-legged "socktopus." The socktopus was almost done and looked pretty good, but seemed to be missing something. We decided he needed a hat. So as John sewed the finishing touches on the socktopus, I grabbed the remainder of a skein from an Irish hiking scarf I had made, and some dpns, and before long I had freestyled a tiny roll-brim pom-pom hat. I like to think it gives the socktopus a Jacques Cousteau kind of vibe.

So: socktopus hats! An excellent use for leftover yarn.


From Lara in South Dakota


(who has started the Math4Knitters podcast)

I use leftover yarn for hats, socks and baby booties (all striped, usually).



From Nancy of Washington (who won the book)



The main way I use leftover yarn is in small felted projects like drawstring pouches and clutches or stash bags.


From Alisa of Oregon



I am a member of the Yarn of the Month Club and every month they send me bits of 4 really nice yarns to "test drive", So, needless to say, I have all these tiny packets of yarn around.  Here is what I have been doing with them:
Lately I have been making teaching myself to knit  with beads and making cute beaded bracelets, I am also using some for small shawls and Icord  "dreadlocks" and multicolored braids for my edgier knitted babes.
 

From Urraca in Spain



I've been knitting for a year and a half. Because I am
well aware of my pack rat tendencies, I have been very
careful not to store leftovers. Actually it has turned into an obsession. I do not consider I have a FO until
I have used up all its leftovers in a smaller project.

In my first year of knitting I've knitted 62 balls of
yarn. I only have leftovers from 3 balls. Usually I
end up with snippets of yarn (less than a foot long)
that I keep for reference along with the tag.

*How do I use left oddballs and leftovers?*

Some examples:

I knitted the Anouk pinafore (18 mo size), then I
whipped up a matching hat to use the leftovers. I
still had an almost intact ball of the lesser used
colour: it became a Halley's Comet hat.

Anouk:
http://musicaitalia.free.fr/img-merinas/anouk-marti2.jpg
Matching hat:
http://musicaitalia.free.fr/img-merinas/bonneta2.jpg
Halley's Comet hat:
http://musicaitalia.free.fr/img-merinas/halleyscomethat.jpg

A 100 g sockyarn ball = my first pair of socks + 1
pair of baby socks + 1 pair of flipflop toeless
socklets

http://musicaitalia.free.fr/img-merinas/chaussettes3.jpg

Leftovers from a skull illusion scarf will become a
Pasha penguin; those from a robot illusion scarf,
toasty little creatures.

The most silly thing I've done: buy an extra ball to
knit a Tychus hat with my skull tote bag leftovers;
then buy 2 extra balls to knit a 2nd Tychus hat with
the leftovers from the first one. The remaining yards
were used up to knit a camera case and 2 pompoms.

Mini skull tote bag:
http://merinas.blogspot.com/2005/08/fini-n-19-sac-mini-skull-tote.html
Hats and case:
http://musicaitalia.free.fr/img-merinas/tychus.jpg

*My favourite one-skein projects: hats*

I hate knitting scarfs. My advice to beginners: knit
hats instead. They're a much faster knit and they are
the best way to learn a new technique. Not only will
you learn cables, stranded knitting, lace patterns,
entrelac, whatever, you'll also learn how those
techniques interact with decreases (or increases). And
most hats are one-skein projects.

*My most bizarre one-skein project:*

I knit a Flower Basket shawl as my first lace project.
After one skein, I had learned the technique but
wasn't convinced it was the right yarn for it, so I
called it quits. I wear the resulting mini-shawl as a
coiffe.

http://musicaitalia.free.fr/img-merinas/fichu.jpg



From Tara in Ohio



I keep all of my scraps in little plastic bags (color
coordinated) and when I need a small project (for the
movie theater or while deciding on my next project) I
knit or crochet squares of various sizes to later be
sewn together in a throw (or bedspread if it gets big
enough).

I knit a LOT of blue things, so I'll probably
turn the blue squares into a throw for the living room
and all other squares will be pieced together for
various baby blankets and gifts!


Got more ideas? Email me

Want more ideas? Check out the oneskein blog.