If after a month of thinking about stash busting you’ve realized there’s some yarn in your stash that you don’t ever want to knit with, don’t worry. It happens to all of us! (I used to buy grab bags when I was in stash-building mode so even I have some unfortunate skeins in my stash.)
But one knitter’s trash is another’s treasure, of course, so you wouldn’t want to just throw those balls away (or, worse, keep them for lack of knowing what to do with them).
First off, you could just donate them to your favorite thrift store. Most of them have craft sections so they can find it a good home.
You could also donate it to a nursing home, preschool or other school or activity center where it can be used for craft projects. I gave a big bag of ends to my daughter’s preschool last year and loved seeing some of it come back to me as hair on projects.
If you or someone you know goes to a church with a prayer shawl ministry or that does other charitable knitting, I’m sure they’d love it as well.
You could also try to sell it on Ravelry, ebay, etsy or anywhere else you like. Or donate it via your local Freecycle group or swap group. Or just post on Facebook that you have some yarn that’s looking for a good home — if you’ve got crafty friends that ought to do it!
I have a longer article on this subject over at About if you need even more ideas for getting rid of yarn; I’d love to know what you’ve done in the past to pass yarn on to others as well!
There is a small Sr. Citizen’s Thrift Shop in Sturgis, SD that I like to donate yarn no longer used or partial skeins along with other items. They use the profits from the store for many charities.
My local Thrift Store (the Mission Store in London, Ontario) is one of my favorite places to purchase yarn, and also one of my favorite places to donate yarn…or the things I make with their yarn. Never overlook the treasures you can find in a Thrift Store: all different sizes of needles…cheap. Vintage yarn – an unbelievable resource of old, carefully stored yarn. Of course, the biggest benefit to buying, and donating, to the Thrift Store is the many Blessings that they pass on to others in our communities, through the money they make…
Girl Scouts!!