An Easy Scarf to Use Up All Your Scraps

If you’ve been around here long, you know that I’m in a perpetual battle with my stash. I feel like I haven’t bought yarn in years unless I needed it for a specific project. I knit fairly a lot, and crochet some, too, but it feels like my stash never gets any smaller.

It’s not just the unused balls of yarn that are a problem. In fact, maybe a bigger issue is all the odd balls and leftover bits that seem to pile up without any effort. Even though I love scrappy projects (and knit a whole sweater dress with scraps earlier this year) it still feels like a never-ending quest to use up all the little bits.

So I’m always on the lookout for good patterns that are made to use of the extra bits of yarn. If they are super easy, too, that’s so much the better.

So it is with the Lalu Scarf by Sheena Stone. This any yarn, any gauge pattern is designed to use up whatever scraps you have on hand (assuming they’re mostly the same weight or can be held double to make the same weight).

It’s a tube scarf worked in the round, and she specifically notes that she works it outside in, so the back of the scarf is on the outside as you knit. The needle tips are on the part of the circle farthest away from you as you knit.

It also has an attached I-cord edging, which sounds really time consuming but does give the edges a nice, finished look.

The way the colors are changed as you knit you don’t really need a lot of each color. It would probably be good if you had at least enough of a color to complete one round, but you can change colors more often than every round if you need to because you’re using all your tiny bits.

Grab the free pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Sheena Stone.]

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I know plaid or tartan patterns are really Scottish, not Irish, but there’s something about this time of year (almost St. Patrick’s Day as I write this) that gets me thinking about plaid knitting patterns.

Plaid is fun to knit any time of year, of course, and can be a fun way to combine colors you wouldn’t normally use, or wouldn’t normally put together. Let’s check out some fun plaid knitting patterns!

This plaid hand towel from Darling Jadore on Etsy is a great one for dipping your toes into plaid as a technique or a design feature in your home. It makes plaid as easy as it can get but having you knit stripes horizontally but the vertical stripes are added with duplicate stitch.

I still miss a plaid sweater I had when I was in high school, but the Lumber Sweater pattern from The Knit is On // Mette Christensen is probably the closest I’ve seen to being able to re-create it without writing my own pattern. This design uses two strands of lace weight held together to make a sport weight yarn, which makes mixing the colors that much easier. It comes in six sizes and is available on Ravelry.

I love plaid for accessories like scarves and cowls, and I found a couple of great plaid cowl knitting patterns for you. The first is the Handy Ma’am Cowl from Catherine Clark, which is worked flat and seamed. It uses five colors of light fingering weight yarn and is fully lined in a solid color to make it super cozy to wear. Get the pattern on Ravelry.

Then there’s the Thegither Cowl from Amy Palko, which uses stripes and stranded colorwork to make the plaid design in three colors of fingering weight yarn. The pattern is worked in sections; for a longer cowl work three sections instead of two. There’s also a scarf version where the colors stay consistent if you want a mellower project. Check it out on Ravelry.

The Buffalo Plaid Baby Blanket from Little Barn Owl Store is a classic two color plaid that’s easy to knit and looks adorable. This one is worked in classic red and white but you can change it up to suit the baby’s room.

Speaking of blankets, I love this vintage plaid throw pattern from Chickie by the Sea. The original pattern actually called for Red Heart knitting worsted, which looks similar to Super Saver, but you can use any worsted weight yarn you like to complete this retro look.

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