Get Started on Stash Busting with Ziggy Triangle

I think that many knitters have as a new year’s resolution or goal to use more of their stash whenever a new year rolls around. I say pretty much every year that I’m not going to buy more yarn (unless, you know, I really need it for a project) and even when I’m not accumulating much, it still feels like I’m not making much of a dent in what I already have.

If you’re looking for projects that can help you use stash — whether it’s little bits of leftovers or whole skeins — I’ll be sharing more of that sort of stuff as we head into the new year and beyond. But for now, I’ve got the Ziggy Triangle by Leila Raven, which is perfect for using a solid yarn and a multicolored yarn, or a solid and a bunch of odd balls.

The pattern was designed for sport weight yarn but it’s easy to customize if you want to make it with different yarn. This would be a fun one to use your advent calendar minis or whatever bold yarn you have on hand.

It features a lacy zigzag pattern, and the designer recommends a smooth and colorful yarn paired with a more neutral, fuzzy yarn so you get a contrast in textures as well as in colors.

Because this is worked as a triangle, you can make it any size you want, just make sure you know how much yarn went into the first half so you leave enough for the second half (you can weigh your yarn before you start and through the process to see when you need to start decreasing).

As written the pattern makes a sweet little neck kerchief, but again, you can always make it bigger if you want, if you have more yarn or use a heavier weight yarn instead of the sport weight.

You can find the pattern on Ravelry.

[photo: Leila Raven]

One of my favorite things to make on a circular knitting machine is scarves, because they’re a great way to use leftover yarn and certainly faster than knitting by hand.

But if you pay attention to the colors you’re using and how you are using them, you can make fun knitting machine scarves that look like something different when you roll them up.

One of the first versions of this I saw was the sushi scarf, are there are a lot of variations on this one. For example this one from Flower and Anchor that uses five colors of yarn, or this one from Three Threads NE that uses four. These generally are made to look like California rolls, but you could change up the colors to make them different things if you like. Just make sure the outside of the “roll” is black or green to indicate the nori. I found another version on Pinterest if you’re looking for a free pattern, but there’s no image of it rolled up.

Another popular variation is making a scarf that rolls up to look like a mug with coffee, tea or another fun beverage inside. This collection of three mug scarf circular knitting machine patterns from Idaho Cottage Creation includes green tea, a pumpkin spice latte with whipped cream and a candy cane colored confection (which honestly reminds me of the Grinch since it has a green mug!). Again you can change the colors of the mug part and the drink part. The little handle looks like it’s crocheted on these, and it doubles as a loop you can thread the scarf end through when you wear it.

Again there’s a version of the green tea scarf on Pinterest with crocheted elements. I also found a latte done with a striped yarn and a red mug that’s pretty cute and gives you an idea what a different beverage would look like.

I also love this pumpkin pie scarf designed by Jodi Favish Saunier. It has a bit of crocheted edging to give it a fancy crust but you can omit that if you don’t crochet. These are all on Facebook but she also has a watermelon and lemonade pattern that are super cute.

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