Jazz Up Your Projects with Tassels

If you’ve been reading this page for very long, you probably know that one of my obsessions (or shall we say interests?) is using yarn stash as much as possible. I have an unreasonable stash, and I’m guessing I’m not the only one, so whatever we can do to use a little more yarn in each project seems like a good thing to me.

And one way to use more yarn on a project or as a totally different standalone thing is making tassels.

They add interest to clothes, purses or any item you add them to. In jewelry making, they’re a perfect addition to boho necklaces, fancy earrings, purses, clutches and scarves. If you knit a pillow, blanket or scarf, you can add tassels to the corners to emphasize a color used in the project or just to add another color that ties into your decor or your favorite coat.

They are super quick and easy to make and can have so many different uses. You can make tassels for pillows, blankets or bookmarks, add them to back packs, purses or zip pouches.

Hello Sewing has a tutorial for making tassels out of yarn that includes a video to show you how it’s done. They also have a suggestion to make smaller tassels just but cutting a skein of embroidery floss, which is a great option if you do cross stitch or embroidery and maybe have a little more thread than you need (also guilty).

While their examples show using the same kind of yarn throughout the tassel, it’s also a lot of fun to grab a bunch of leftovers in the same color or coordinating colors to make a boho, multi-textured tassel that uses even more leftovers. These are great to decorate gift bags or even make a fun holiday garland if you use the same colors that are on your tree.

Get the tutorials from Hello Sewing.

[Photo: Hello Sewing]

Generally I like knitting patterns where I feel like you can use whatever yarn you have (because my stash is big enough and I want to use it, thanks) and make a successful project. This is one of those times when a special yarn makes the process that much easier.

The Floral Bouquet Shawl from Xandy Peters uses a specific extended color pooling yarn from Feisty Fibers, which allows you to place the bobble flowers with increasing frequency as you knit the project.

It starts with a solid color yarn, then the two color yarn is added in, and you make a bobble whenever you encounter the color pops. This would be hard to replicate with other yarn that doesn’t have the extended color pooling built in.

The background of the shawl is ribbed, making the project reversible.

The shawl uses fingering/sock yarn and comes out to be an asymmetrical triangle that’s 54 inches/137 cm long and 36 inches/ 90 cm deep and 60 inches/150 cm across the top edge.

Xandy says the pattern is for intermediate to advanced knitters. Knowing how to work traditional bobbles would probably help, but there’s a great video tutorial for how to work the floral bobbles so you can practice on other yarn or even incorporate the bobbles into other projects.

The bobbles are five-petaled flowers but they also kind of look like starfish to me, which could be fun on a child’s cardigan or other pattern. They’d also be fun on the leg of a sock or around the brim of a hat for extra whimsy.

The pattern includes photo and video tutorials, and written and charted instructions. It also includes tips on what to look for if you choose to use different yarn for the project, and instructions on how to dye your own yarn to use in the project.

If you want to give it a try, you can find the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Xandy Peters]

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