I’ve always liked to reuse and recycle in my crafting but always been frustrated that I can’t do this with yarn. In the days when everyone hand knitted, you could buy jumpers from the jumble sale and pull them back to reuse the yarn but those days are gone. You can buy yarn in charity shops but not very often.
I’ve discovered a solution to my dilemma. Not really upcycling but re-using. I’ve pulled back all my half finished projects that are lying around and gathered up all the half balls of yarn and I’m making ‘scrapcakes’. What’s a scrapcake you may ask. Well, I tie all the scraps of yarn together and wind them into balls. I have a yarn ball winder that makes those cakes that you see variegated yarn sold in. I’ve made my own variegated yarn!
You need to have fairly long pieces and then I sorted them according to weight, all the DK together and colour, so all the blues together etc . They are perfect for projects like scarves or blankets, you get random variations in colour and they look great.
I’ve made three blankets so far and I’m working on a fourth in green shades.
My aim by the end of the year is to only have full balls of yarn in my stash. And to only buy more yarn with a specific project in mind.
Yeah, right like that will ever happen!
What Kate Made Today 