• Creative reuse - Crochet - Hats and scarves - leftover yarn

    Bespoke winter gear

    July 30, 2026 - By 

    Too often, I have leftover small balls of yarn that I want to use without buying more of the same yarn if it doesn’t have a dye lot. Instead, I have been making an effort to create unique looks with stripes or gradient colors that coordinate and aren’t too garish. Taking marled or color striping yarn and combining it with a solid – oatmeal/aran, gray, or other neutral is one way of doing things, but taking similar yarns with subtle shade variations can create an appealing set and also use up yarn.

    The lack of stores that carry washable, budget-friendly yarns you can try in person has made me more creative about trying new ones. Several months ago, I got a few different yarns at a yarn swap during World Wide Knit in Public Day. I was happy to score a ball of yarn that I wanted to try, but didn’t want to pay $10 shipping for yarn that I might or might not like. Now that I’ve tried it, I found that an online shop that I purchase from frequently, which has free shipping with a threshold that I would meet from other purchases carries the yarn.

    There are still containers of larger remainders – half skeins and balls as well as a basket with assorted colors of tiny balls – in my stash that I can’t bring myself to toss. Though I haven’t been on a yarn buying hiatus, I have become more intentional about what I want to buy, try and give away. There is a lot of yarn that I don’t want to go to waste which I am making into eye-catching one of a kind sets!

    Drumroll, please… I have completed 72 sets this year. That’s right six dozen and my goal is 85 for 2026! I might need to change the goal or start on some other projects. Stay tuned…

    Happy crocheting!

  • Crochet - Hat and scarf goals - leftover yarn

    Have you made any crafting goals?

    January 5, 2025 - By 

    Happy New Year!

    This is going to be a colorful year. I have already decided that I want to get faster with working with color in my creations this year with multiple yarns, not just colored yarns themselves.

    New Year’s Day, I made some attempts at interlocking. That’s where two pieces of mesh are worked together. Interlocking will be revisited when I have some lighter weight yarn. For the patterns that I have in a book, the yarn I have will be too bulky. The swatches did set the wheels in motion and gave me a few ideas of how I could do some similar creations without starting with two pieces of mesh, but one starting base and then adding a second or third color.

    Then, the next day, I had an opportunity to go to a day crafting group gathering. While chatting with friends, I made a hat using two colors and figured I could do that more. It was a simple hat, but I want to experiment with more elaborate patterns and incorporate oddballs into my work.

    There are a couple of sketches that I made that I will try – they may or may not work. If they do, great, otherwise, they may give me ideas about other things that I want to work on.

    For 2025, I am committing to making 12 red scarves and 75 hat and scarf sets.

    This will give me the opportunity to make a couple of things for myself. I have an idea what I’d like to make and the yarn, I just haven’t found the right pattern. Let’s not forget the mystery ball afghan that I started working on and the new blanket that I want to make for myself.

    Have any of you set crafting goals for the new year? Let me know what you’re planning.

    Happy crocheting!

  • Creative reuse - Crochet - leftover yarn

    How do you use your leftover yarn?

    May 19, 2022 - By 

    For me, one way of using up leftover yarn is to make oddball hats.

    There is never the right amount of yarn for a project. When you buy something just as when you guy a carton of eggs and only need 3 for a recipe, you will have some left over. Depending on the style of the hats and scarf I make, there may be yarn left over. Knowing this, I purposely set aside the yarn that I have just to make some hats to donate to an organization. Some hats can be made with less than 150 yards of yarn while others are quite thirsty and require 200 yards or more. A good rule of thumb is to have about 200 yards of yarn to make a hat. A crochet swirl hat or a half double beanie (or toque) won’t take as much as a hat with front/back post ribbing or cables.

    As I complete some sets, I put the remaining yarn into a bag. Since I’m beyond the halfway point of 100 sets and it’s May, I’m taking a few days to just make hats. Even after making a couple of hats, I have some yarn left and will combine those with gray or brown and use the them to make hats with accents. If you haven’t figured this out yet, I don’t like to waste yarn. When it gets to a very small amount <5 yards, I add it to a mystery ball.

    Making hats with a limited about of yarn is fun because there are constraints… almost like yarn chicken in every hat. Ok, not really. I save the bands for yarn and some will give a yardage. If I have unused full balls, or I can rewind the partially used ones to give me a better estimate of how much I have. I could weigh the yarn to get an idea of how much I have. That’s more accurate, but not as much fun. Instead, I reach into one of the bags and see how much I have, then go through the hat patterns that I have committed to memory and begin.

    I’m impressed with the end results – warm hats.

    There’s still a bit of yarn left in the bag and hopefully I’ll make a dent in the bag once I make 10 hats or so. Then I’ll go back to making sets and continue to add to the bag. It’s an ongoing cycle. Unless I put the remainder back into my working stash because I bought a large quantity on sale and will use it later. There’s always a plan, even if I don’t know what it is when I begin. That’s the creative part.

    Happy crocheting!