Scrap Yarn Ideas

I love this page, at this link, for scrap yarn ideas. Lisa's site, CrochetNMore, is one of my faves and I have received her bi-monthly email newsletter for years. She is always adding more ideas to the scrap yarn idea-list. Right now, she is up to 89 of them!

Number 89, for example, says: "I braid lengths of scrap yarn into toys for my cats. I make braids of different lengths and knot four or five together, my cats love to chase and chew on these and the braids don't tangle. - Dori krone"

Some tips are from Lisa and many are from people like you and me.

Lisa also has lots of free crochet patterns, a blog, crochet tips, and so much more. It takes a month-of-Sundays to enjoy all of what she has available here.

Have fun!

Handmade Christmas Gift Ideas - Yarn Dolls (I Love Yarn Day)

Today is/was "I Love Yarn Day," so I went searching for a really good tutorial for those lovable yarn dolls we've all seen and remember, but which some, like me, cannot remember how to make. They are so simple but unless I have one in front of me, or have the instructions, I end up with just lumps of yarn strands.

For our ongoing series (9/21-12/24) of handmade Christmas gift ideas, these seemed perfect because they are good for so many things this coming season. They are package trims. They are stand-alone gifts. They are ornaments. Depending on the yarn (or even thread), they can be pendants, mobiles, and much more. I've seen some with braided arms and legs. Trims such as wiggle eyes can be added.

The best tutorial I found is at SpudandChloe's site, posted by Susan, and here is the link. Susan uses a special gadget to wind her yarn but she clearly explains how to do it by simply wrapping around cardboard. 

Her photos are clear and detailed. I loved the story of how her daughter was the one who got these started in her household and how they turn up everywhere now.

Through the years, I have tried to make these, but mine always end up lumpy. I never had really good steps to follow. Now I have no excuse. I plan to make a zillion of them.

For other projects in my series, just look along the right sidebar for the label "Christmas Gift Projects." I hope to post only tips that do not require knitting, crocheting, machine sewing, tatting, embroidery, or any other skilled technique.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway (deadline Oct 31) for $25 in handcrafted merchandise from my Etsy store.

Another Free Charity Crafting Pattern Suggestion

Our Friday morning charity crafters have only two rules. Oooops, make that three rules. First, we only use our leftovers or donated yarn. Second, we are not obligated to work on any charity projects except those two hours on Friday mornings. And, third, we only use patterns we each like and find to be stress-free and a delight for each member to work with.

Now, Rule #1 is constantly broken because we often use yarn from our own stash or buy some to finish something off. Rule #2 is often broken because many times, we work on charity projects throughout the week at home. However, Rule #3 is one that we try never to break.

As for the patterns, the photos here will show how the "average" or "intermediate" level crocheter can use up their leftovers for everything from baby blankies to lapghans and even scarfs.

I'm giving you one link for the diagonal stitch here, and another over here. You can choose which one is easier for you to use. One of them has absolutely great photos in the tutorial and the other is brief and to the point. I'd suggest you browse both.

Now, what we love about this one is that we can easily use up our leftovers. These photos show a baby blankie about 34" square. I even used different weights - some sport, some a lightweight worsted. I was careful to keep a "drape" so baby could be wrapped easily.

One close-up shows that I even changed colors part way into a row. For this type of "blanket of many colors," creativity is allowed.

Another thing we like about this one is that, unlike a granny, it only increases so far, and then it decreases, which makes it less stressful and less tiring.

I hope some of you find this one useful. We love it. Tomorrow, I hope to post some photos of some scarves I've made for the homeless, using this stitch.

Oh, for each of our group, our first try gave us headaches. We had funny protrusions after the first couple blocks, but then, we didn't have the benefit of the photos in that tutorial.

Now you know what to do with those little balls of this and that which you have tossed into a container, hoping to use them in something other than a granny square.

A Tip on Tips (Crochet and Knit)

One site that I visit often is CrochetnMore. I especially love their Tips. This site has plenty of tips, all from people like you and me. Don't let the site name fool you. They cover knitting, too.

The tip that made me post about them tonight is one that caught my eye in a recent email newsletter. You can sign up for it when you visit their site.

Anyhow, this tip works for both crocheters and knitters. It is for anyone who has WIPs scattered all over the place, some without their hooks or needles. These are the WIPs that will probably never get finished because we have no clue which size, hooks or needles, we are supposed to use. Click here for the tip. It is great!

To see the rest of their tips, too many to even count, go to their Home Page (click here), and scroll down the right side, way to the bottom of the list, for Tips (or click here).

One other thing I love is their page with tips for uses for Scrap Yarn (click here). They list 73 ways to use it up!

They even have some crochet-related products on CafePress (mugs, tee shirts, totes, more) with crochet themes and sayings - very cute.

It's worth a visit for the Scrap Yarn ideas alone.

Free Crochet Scarf Pattern for Homeless

We have a charity crafting group in our senior mobile home community and among other things, we are trying to accumulate some items for the homeless. My climate is very hot in the summer and a rather mild winter - rarely below 30 at night except when desert breezes can make the wind chill 25 or so. So, fingerless gloves are sufficient and very easy to make. We have dozens of those. Hats and caps are also easy.

The biggest problem we've had is finding a decent, quick-and-easy, but suitable, scarf for the homeless. Their needs are different from ours. They cannot launder them often. They must be able to use them for neck protection, or have them wide enough to also pull up around the ears against the wind, possibly wind them up over their heads, and/or tuck them into a jacket. So, I figured we need at least 3 to 4 foot long scarves. Longer than that, and they'll get caught in things. Complicated patterns take forever to make. We also did not want fringe just to make the length because the fringes are too easily tangled out on the street.

I finally took a stitch idea from the fingerless gloves we make, and adapted it, hook size and all, and started making these. They end up lightweight but cozy and nice looking, a ribbed look. The slightly airy feel acts as a thermal barrier against the cold, and they are soft and flexible because of the large hook size.

I realize there are tons of sites and patterns for the homeless but I just didn't have time to test every one of them, although I'll pass some along when I find some.

This pattern is free for you to use for the homeless. If you use it to sell the item(s) you make, you must give credit to me (Pattern by Evelyn Mayfield). It is a very simple pattern.

Hook - J
Yarn: Knitting Worsted
Amount of yarn: about 5 oz. for a 36" scarf.
Width: 8-1/2" (gauge isn't terribly important)

R 1 - Ch 32, turn
R 2 - HDC in "back loop" of each chain across; ch 2, turn.
R 3 onward - Repeat R 2 in each stitch across for 36 to 48 inches; fasten off.

This is a great way to use up scraps, also. Tomorrow, I'll post a quick and easy way to keep track of how long the scarf is, as you move along.

If you find it difficult to print from a blog post, you can now get a .pdf file for only $.99 by clicking here.

Feel free to share your thoughts on this pattern or to suggest other patterns you'd like to see. I tend to specialize in quick and easy projects.

Balls of Scrap Yarn

I have been spending some odd moments this past week or two by tying small scraps of yarn together and winding them into knotted-yarn balls. Sometimes I group them into color families (reds, pinks burgundy, orange; or white, cream, tan, yellow; or black, gray, etc.) and other balls are random. On the random ones, sometimes I alternate a bright color with a dim, dull color, and other balls, I just let them happen.

Any scraps too small to be tied at both ends, usually under 3 inches, I poke into an empty facial tissue box. I have a friend who uses small pieces as stuffing for her projects.

I have found that most of what I make requires at least 6 feet of yarn, even the starting square of a crocheted granny square, so anything smaller ends up as a scrap.

Eventually, I’ll make these into squares and then join the squares into blankies for the homeless. I hope to post photos, soon, showing how nice these can look with a little creativity. God willing, I might be able to do that this week.<\ItemPage>