Don’t Throw Away Your Leftover Yarn! Knit or Crochet Any of These Projects With It.

If scrap yarn is accumulating in your yarn stash, we’re betting you’ll be able to use it all up with these creative ideas for scrap yarn knitting and crochet projects. Many of these ideas are accompanied by free crochet patterns — so if you have a sizable yarn stash, you’ll be able to create quite a few of these projects with zero out-of-pocket costs assuming you already have the right knitting needles or crochet hooks on hand. In some cases, there’s a possibility that you might want to buy embellishments for finishing your projects — but maybe not. Maybe you already have embellishments in your craft supplies stash as well. To round out the list, I’m also including some suggestions for patterns you can buy — but only ones that I think are truly worth the money.

Crochet Granny Squares

The granny square is one of the most popular scrap yarn craft projects in history. There are more than one zillion different ways you can make them. If you only have short lengths of scrap yarn, you can make small granny squares by crocheting each round using a different yarn, resulting in a colorful and eye-catching look.

Then there are zillions of different things you can do with your squares once you’ve crocheted a big pile of them. If you have huge quantities of scrap yarn, you can create an entire granny square blanket. If you only have a little bit of scrap yarn, you can make smaller projects with your finished grannies — or donate them to a charity that transforms donated squares into blankets for people who need them.

See Also:

• Our picks for the best granny square crochet pattern books

A Scrap Yarn Granny Square in a Rainbow of Colors:

If you don’t have massive amounts of scrap yarn in your stash, you could try combining your scraps with purchased yarns to get a bit more mileage out of your yarn budget. Let’s say, for example, you would be interested in using your yarn scraps to make a blanket, but you don’t have enough leftover yarn to do it. The design of this granny square is ideal for combining your yarn scraps with a larger quantity of purchased yarn. Or you could aim for making a smaller project such as a pillow.

I crocheted this sample square using a rainbow of scrap yarn colors, but you could use any random colors — they don’t have to form a perfect rainbow. It would be lovely to try this pattern using only fall colors, for example.

Easy Color Blocks Scrap Afghan Square

This is an easy square you can crochet using leftover yarns, purchased yarns or some combination of the two. If you make enough of the squares, you can combine them to create a blanket, throw or afghan — but you aren’t limited to making blankets. You could use single squares as coasters; combine 2 of them back to back to make potholders; or combine them in any other creative way you like.

Click here to get the free crochet afghan square pattern.

Scrapghan Patterns: Crochet Scrap Afghans

“Scrappy Afghans” Pattern Book by Leisure Arts

So far, the best crochet pattern book I’ve found on the topic of scrapghans (scrap afghans) is a Leisure Arts publication called Scrappy Afghans. It features 8 different patterns for blankets you can crochet using yarns you have left over from other projects. Multiple designers contributed patterns to this book, so you get a really nice mix of different styles and construction types. If you need scrapghan patterns, I’m betting you’ll LOVE this book!

• Learn more about Scrappy Afghans in our detailed book review.
• Click here to shop for this book at the publisher’s website.

Crochet Flowers:

If you have a substantial collection of scrap yarn, crochet flowers can be fantastic projects for using it all up. In many cases, you can use the flowers as appliques to dress up other craft projects. You can join flat flower designs to create flower-themed blankets, pillows, tote bags, wraps or other items.

Pictured above, we have a multicolored flower that you can make entirely out of scrap yarn. As far as I know, my project samples were made using discontinued yarn colors. That doesn’t matter; the whole point of this pattern is that it allows you to pull out all your little bitty yarn scraps and use them up. There is absolutely no point in buying new yarn to make these flowers! So, I invite you to look through your stash and see what odds and ends you have hanging around that can be transformed into beautiful flowers.

Basic Crochet Heart Applique

This little heart doesn’t require much yarn, and it’s pretty quick to crochet. It’s fun to embellish the heart with ribbon, buttons or scrap yarn; you can crochet it with one kind of yarn or thread and then embellish it with a contrasting type. Then use the finished heart for adorning a hat, cowl, bag or whatever item you have on hand that needs a bit of beautification.

Use up Scrap Yarn With Freeform Crochet and Knitting

Keep in mind that you don’t need to work from a crochet pattern; freeform crochet and knitting are a couple of the best ways I can think of to use up scrap yarn.

The hat pictured at above left is a great example of a freeform scrap yarn project. I used up little bits of blue scrap yarn along with a brand new skein of the green yarn to crochet and knit the hat using freeform techniques.

So there you have it: Those are some fantastic ideas for how to use up scrap yarn. Happy decluttering, and happy crafting!

Learn More About Crochet:

• Click here to find our picks for the best crochet books.
• Click here to find crochet stitch tutorials and instructions.
• Click here to learn more crochet techniques.
• Click HERE to Find Fabulous Yarn for Crochet and Knitting
• Click here to learn about crochet hooks.
• Click here to find my favorite crochet project bag.

Learn About Other Crafts: Knitting, Sewing, Quilting, Paper Crafts and More

• Click here to get updated on the latest craft supplies.
• Click here to learn about knitting.
• Click here to find our beginner’s guide to knitting needles.
• Click here to find outstanding craft project ideas.

Page last updated on 6-30-2021. Thanks for visiting!