The best scrap yarn ideas

A list of fun knitting projects to use up your leftovers

There is an easy way to calculate how much yarn you need for a knitting project. But for some projects, like sweaters or blankets, you typically want to buy a little extra. Projects like hats or socks often “force” you to buy 100 g skeins while you only need 80 or 90 g. So, in this post, I want to show you fun ideas for all those leftovers.

Important: Don’t throw scraps away. As you will shortly see, even tiny tails can be put to very good use. However, I do recommend attaching the label to all small balls of scrap yarn so the information doesn’t get lost. If you secure the tail with a little rust-free hairpin, the tails won’t get tangled in your scrap yarn box.

#1 Dishcloths, potholders, and coasters

It might sound a bit old-fashioned, but my favorite thing to knit with leftovers is potholders. At the end of the day, “potholder” is just a fancy word for a square multipurpose something that you can use in the household.

You’ve got something hot to take out of the oven? Use a potholder! Knit it a bit smaller and without a strap, then it’s the perfect coaster. Knit it a bit bigger, and you have a floor mop. If you don’t have enough yarn to knit it in one color, knit stripes.

>> Here is my easy potholder pattern
>> This is my simple coaster pattern

#2 home decor & toys

If you ask me, toys are a marvelous way to bust your stash and use up all those teeny tiny scrap yarn balls. They can be great gifts for kids (and new mums). Especially if you think of accessories (like dresses, hats, scarves) for toys/dolls, you are not even limited by the color.

I personally also love to knit home decor. Here, on my blog, you will find tons of patterns for flowers and other seasonal little decoration items. Because let’s face it – not everyone needs toys/stuffies. But a nice pumpkin or mushroom to decorate your house in autumn? I won’t say no to that!

>> here is my pumpkin pattern
>> this is the link to my fly agaric pattern

#3 Ornaments & Christmas baubles

Very small leftovers can also be turned into ornaments. Knitted Christmas baubles or little snowflakes come to my mind. Here, on my blog, I also have a pattern for a lovely little gingerbread man.

I urge you to think beyond these “obvious” choices. There are knitted easter eggs or maple leaf patterns. I doubt there is a single holiday or season where you won’t be able to find a teeny tiny pattern that you can use.

Naturally, these little items are also perfect gifts whenever you are invited to a little party at your friend’s house. You can also glue these tiny little ornaments to a card to create something truly unique. For example, I have a simple heart pattern here on my blog. Takes 5 minutes to knit, and you can attach it to your Valentine’s Day card or gift!

#4 Scrappy socks

Sock knitters probably know this common issue: sock yarn typically comes in 100-gram skeins, but for the smaller sizes, you normally only need 70-80 grams – even for mid-calf-high socks. And then and there, I urge you to look into helix knitting. This is a remarkably easy technique that allows you to knit jogless 1×1 stripes.

Combine that technique with any plain vanilla sock pattern, and you can blend different colors to create lovely scrappy hue-shift socks. And if you are worried that you might run out of yarn, well, then knit your socks toe-up. Naturally, if you have enough yarn left, you could also do normal stripes. Heels, toes, and cuffs can always be knitted in a nice contrasting color as well!

#5 Colorwork projects

There are 3 major ways to knit colorwork in knitting: Fair Isle, Intarsia, and mosaic knitting. All three have in common that you typically don’t need a lot of each color. And even if a given pattern does, you can easily split things up and knit “stripes”. Like I did for the pride socks in the picture above.

This principle works for basically every Fair Isle and mosaic pattern. While you may need a nice contrast-rich background color, all the rest of the colorwork can be scrap yarn! So basically, you can just go to Ravelry.com and search for Fair Isle patterns and pick whatever sparks your interest to bust your stash!

#6 Magic knot ball

And talking about colorwork. After you’ve woven in all ends, you typically end up with quite a few loose ends. If they are long enough, they can be turned into a new ball of yarn using the magic knot. This unique skein can be used to knit funky little projects where the color doesn’t really matter.

Dishcloths, coasters, potholders, mops, and even scarves come to mind. Please do, however, bear in mind that knots can come undone. The magic knot works best with slightly fuzzy, feltable fibers. I wouldn’t use such a ball to knit an important project like a sweater or socks where a single loose knot could spell disaster.

#7 Stuffing for toys and pillows

If those scraps are too short for knotting, you can still use them to stuff your softies. Sure, you can buy polyfill in your local crafts shop, but why not use a resource you were gonna throw away anyway? Yarn scraps are soft, malleable, warm, and fluffy! It’s the perfect stuffing. I have a big yar at home where I put all my scraps, and at the end of the year, I can put them to good use!

#8 Tassels, pom poms, or fringes

A good hat has a pom pom. Period. That being said, those pom poms are big yarn eaters. If you want a larger one, you sometimes need almost as much yarn as for the whole rest of the hat. But if your hat is knitted in a rather neutral color (say white, grey, black), then a scrappy pom pom can actually elevate it! The same can be said about tassels. They are the perfect way to embellish your shawls and scarves.

These scrappy pom poms can also be used to decorate gifts or even as ornaments on trees!

#9 Offering for nesting birds

A lot of song birds, especially those living in overly developed areas, are desperately scrambling to find the appropriate nesting material. Quite a few of them use animal hair to cushion the eggs. And if you are smart about it, you can help them along. A simple bird feeder can be turned into a little nesting material shop for songbirds in spring.

ATTENTION: Plastic and any sort of chemically treated yarn have no place in bird nests. The same applies to overly long strands that could strangle chicks. Ideally speaking, you should use a carder and turn it back into fleece/roving, and only use natural fibers (like undyed sheep wool or alpaca). It’s also important to ensure that these scraps stay dry. I typically add some dry straw because that’s the recommendation of the

Above all, I really urge you to do your research and contact a local birdwatcher chapter/vet/university/etc. This planet is big, and what might be true here for Austria (where I live) will probably not be true for Australia or Wyoming. You want to help those birds, not hurt them. So research always comes first.

#10 Pattern samplers

I am a huge sucker for trying out new stitches. If someone shows me a new way to knit an increase, decrease, or a new bind-off, I instantly want to try it out myself. I feel this is how we truly grow as knitters. However, there is no need to break in a new skein for these little samples. Scrap yarn will work just as well, and if I inspired you, you will find a list of ALL knitting techniques here.

You can even turn these little swatches into full pattern samples. Maybe you want to try out different knitting stitch patterns? Well, what is keeping you from using your scrap yarn to knit a very long “scarf” where you knit each stripe in a different pattern? This exercise will also teach you a lot about gauge and how different patterns react. After all, you will be working with the same number of stitches but your “stripes” typically won’t have the same width and heigh!

#11 A bookmark

A bookmark can not only be a useful item for yourself, but it’s also a great little gift. Say, you bought someone a book for Christmas. Then add a hand-knit bookmark to add a personal touch that will remind the giftee of you for years to come. Since bookmarks typically shouldn’t be too thick, I would stick to lighter qualities like fingering or lace yarn.

>> Here’s a fun bookmark pattern for beginners

Anyway, those were my scrap yarn ideas. Comment below if you have any questions or if you would like to add one.