Knitting

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Ways to Get Rid of Extra Yarn

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stash bustingIf 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!

Comments

  1. 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.

  2. 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…

  4. I belong to a “Grannies” group who raise money for African Grandmothers who are raising their grandchildren because their children have died of Aids. We have fabric and yarn sales every year (except last year and this year-due to the Covid 19 pandemic) We are still collecting yarn and fabric and will eventually restart our sales. Grannies groups are in several cities in Canada but not sure about the USA. Many of us are knitting and crocheting blankets with this yarn now to give to the homeless. This is our 15th year Anniversary.

  5. My town “yarn bombs” the parks once or twice a year as a crochet/knit fun project so any unneeded yarn goes to City Hall and they hand it out to any “bombers” that want or need it. Barbara

Have you read?

Beyond Basic Pumpkin Knitting Patterns

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork. 

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn. 

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look. 

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me. 

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. 

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.