It's been a while since I've been able to take a "proper" finished photo. My last few pairs of socks have been for my boys and have been instantly spirited away once off the needles.
These are made with scrap yarn and I used a random stripe generator www.randomstripes.com to give me some ideas for stripe sequences.
In total these used 70g yarn (UK size 6 foot with 2.5mm needles)
25g Grey: for heels, toes, cuffs and stripes
15g Green
15g Blue
5g Pale Green
10g pink
Making socks with leftovers and scraps has to be the most satisfying thing ever
I had a bit of a rush towards the end as I've decided to try and end every month with a finished object - to try and give me a bit of an incentive to actually get things finished
10 uses for scrap yarn - that don't involve knitting a blanket
Scrap yarn, leftover yarn, whatever you call it we all have it. Unless you are the most minimal and thrifty of knitters we all have a little (or not so little) stash of leftovers from other projects.
The question is what on earth do you do with it?
Yes of course there is the ubiquitous sock yarn blanket or mitered square blanket, or a mahoosive triple stranded project but sometimes you just want something quick and easy. Something that uses up odds and ends but doesn’t require a life-long commitment to yet another epic project.
So here, in no particular order are a few of my favourites:
Knit tiny hearts
Make felted tumble dryer balls
Knit tiny hats for prem babies
Knit scrappy socks - the clasped weft join is your friend here
Donate it to Knit for Peace
Make a magic ball
Knit a cute animal - I love the Bunny Nuggets pattern by Rebecca Danger
Make a pom pom (or two)
Knit an i-cord cosy for your ear buds to prevent tangling
Put it in a vase and make a feature of it!
PIN FOR LATER:
How to make felted dryer balls
Whilst casually scrolling through Pinterest and various zero waste websites I came across a number of references to tumble dryer balls. For the uninitiated these are balls (no surprise there) that you put in your tumble dryer in order to speed up the drying process.
Mr Amazon of course sells packs of these in various shapes and sizes - most of them plastic - which didn’t really appeal to me. Then I came across a reference to tumble dryer balls made of wool and of course my keen knitterly senses perked up at this.
A bit of Googling later and some kitchen experimentation I found myself with quite a bowlful of these cute felted balls. The jury is still out on the whether they categorically reduce drying time but my goodness they are such fun to make - and of course a fabulous way to use up an scraps of 100% wool you happen to have about your person.
I’m sure there are a variety of techniques available for doing this but when I shared photos on Instagram so many people asked about them I thought i would share it here:
HOW TO MAKE FELTED TUMBLE DRYER BALLS
You must use 100% wool for this
Also be aware that strong or deep dye colours in your wool run the risk of colour transfer to your laundry so choose accordingly.
Start of with a small core of tightly wound sock yarn (any yarn will do for this) - about 5g in weight, or if you have any spare roving/yarn ends scrunch these into a small walnut sized ball.
Take your 100% wool and start to hand-wind to form a round ball. Rotate it carefully to ensure an even round shape.
The balls in the photo use approximately 20-25g wool
Once wound, break the yarn and tuck the end in firmly
Once you have amassed 4 or 5, stuff them into the cut off leg from an old pair of tights. Put one down in the toe, then tie a knot. Then add the next ball and tie a knot. Continue until all of the balls are encased - with a knot between each one to stop them felting together.
Throw the balls in with your laundry for a few cycles of washing and drying
Then remove them from the tights and hey presto - cute, fuzzy yarn balls.
PIN FOR LATER
Zero waste socks
Yarn is a self stripe from Third Vault Yarns - Ides of March
As knitters we tend to be a fairly thrifty bunch anyway, and I know that I am certainly loath to part with any scraps after I’ve finished a project.
But, as I was knitting on these socks it dawned on me that these will be my first pair of official “Zero Waste” socks.
The 100g skein gave a lovely pair of toe-up socks for me (64sts on 2.25mm needles) with a fish lips kiss heel and left 40g remaining. My eldest son liked them so much that he also wanted a pair - and although he now has feet that are as long as mine they are also a lot narrower (think canoe’s and you’re on the right track).
So I divided the remaining yarn into 2 x 20g balls and paired it with a toning brown (of long forgotten provenance) from my stash for toes, heels and cuffs. His socks are 56sts on 2.25mm needles and so I got about 5 inches up the leg before the self-stripe ran out.
I just did a Clasped weft join to the brown yarn and carried on to add another inch and then the cuff. So by the time I have finished his second sock there’s won’t be a single scrap of the self-stripe left, which I have to say is all very pleasing,
As I am determinedly ploughing on with my mahoosive (three strands held together) Garter Ripple Squish, the idea of not adding anything further to my dwindling yarn scrap supply is really quite attractive.
I’m not sure if this will be a “thing” for future socks too but it’s certainly been a fun project.
