Wow, That's a Lot of Yarn.

March 27, 2008 8:22 PM

What to do with a whole crate of yarn?

My partner's mother doesn't have as much time to knit as she'd like, but that doesn't stop her from raiding yarn stores. ("I buy yarn like I'm a woman of leisure," she told me embarrassedly.) Since once upon a time I knitted a scarf or two, she decided to ship me some of the overflow, so now I have literally an entire crate full of the stuff. Every color and weight imaginable, with lots of skeins of feathery trim or shaggy stuff. It's really, seriously, like $200 worth of yarn.

So what do I do with it? I'm not really into knitting more than the occasional scarf every two years, and while I'll surely give some of it away to friends who are more committed knitters, that will still leave me with a ton left over.

I can't help but feel like there is some awesome way to use it that I'm just not thinking of. Some incredible non-knitting/crocheting craft idea, or some interesting household use. I thought about Mod Podging it onto a large canvas and making some sort of decorative art, but I'd have to be pretty sure that's the way to go before I try that. I also thought about going outside at 2 AM and wrapping it around my entire block as many times as it will all stretch, Christo and Jeanne-Claude style. But again, that's a waste unless it's a last resort.

So what would you do with a crate of yarn?

posted by [NOT HERMITOSIS-IST] to media & arts (31 comments total)

-Give some to me...

-Make a million God's Eyes and hang 'em all over the neighborhood.

-Make your own version of those punch through yarn rugs? I've never Mod Podged, but creating your own punch card type art seems like an alternative to it.

-WIGS. No seriously, yarn wigs, and fake mustaches and beards...I don't know exactly how, but it sounds pretty awesome in my head.
posted by kkokkodalk at 8:32 PM on March 27

Donate it to a local arts or educational group. I'm sure there's some around where you are.

or send it to my girlfriend, she's dead knitty
posted by jtron at 8:47 PM on March 27

Entertain the hell out of every cat in your city.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 8:49 PM on March 27 [2 favorites]

I appreciate the sentiment, but for the sake of the question let's assume I'm keeping it, no matter how many third world countries I could feed with yarn soup.
posted by [NOT HERMITOSIS-IST] at 8:52 PM on March 27

Second donating in some form.

If you ARE up to knitting, you can knit little blankets/hats/booties for preemies in hospitals (my grandma's occupying herself doing this, and really enjoying it)
posted by Planet F at 8:54 PM on March 27

And to reiterate, knitting is definitely off the table. I'm not interested in learning how to knit better, so the only way I'll be keeping preemies warm is by coccooning them in yarn like a spider.
posted by [NOT HERMITOSIS-IST] at 9:00 PM on March 27 [1 favorite]

make a felt stone rug. Or other things out of felt balls/ felt stones.
posted by kitkatcathy at 9:10 PM on March 27 [4 favorites]

this felted stone rug caught my eye the other day, made from a yarn stash...
posted by judith at 9:10 PM on March 27

In the knitting world, this is called a "stash". If you google "stash yarn" you will find infinite uses for it. I realize you want a non-knit project, but all the ones I'm envisioning are seriously horrible (yarn+paste+patience=>worst homemade-wallpaper regrets ever).
posted by LobsterMitten at 9:12 PM on March 27

First you should look through it and see what material it's made of. If it's acrylic (like the novelty eyelash stuff usually is) it will not felt.
posted by LobsterMitten at 9:14 PM on March 27

You could host the world's largest cats-cradle event.

The felted rug that judith links to is a knit-free project, but only wool yarns will work.
posted by padraigin at 9:16 PM on March 27

You could either make a small loom or buy a child's loom and use the yarn to weave some really funky art to decorate your home. If you were really motivated, you could do a big artwork to hang up on a wall of your house.

Use some of the yarn to embroider designs on some of your sweaters, jackets or coats.

Braid, twist or knot the yarn to make your own jewelry. Add found objects and giant beads for extra artistic effect.

Make giant paper mache animals to hang from your ceiling and either wrap or attach yarn to them for fur or feathers.

Leave strands of brightly colorful yarn in your bushes outside...sometimes birds will swoop down and pick up the yarn to use in their nests, which is kind of neat to see.
posted by pluckysparrow at 9:16 PM on March 27

Oh! You should get some stuffed animals and dolls at a thrift store, completely wrap them with yarn and set them up in your house as an installation piece.

Or get yourself some blank canvases and use the yarn and a large sharp needle to embroidery abstract, complicated designs on it. See if you can cover the entire canvas with stitches. Then give these out as holiday gifts.
posted by pluckysparrow at 9:27 PM on March 27

I've long had a soft spot for Project Linus, which helps children "who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans". As you can see, donations of "blanketing materials" are welcome.
posted by moxiedoll at 9:33 PM on March 27 [1 favorite]

Yarn poofballs (also known as pom poms).
posted by brain cloud at 9:41 PM on March 27

I have no ideas that don't involve actually knitting the stuff. (My suggestion would be felted bags, assuming that it's feltable. Bags aren't much harder than scarves, but they're infinitely more awesome.) But could you maybe trade it for some craft supplies that appeal to you more? I would get myself on Ravelry and check the de-stash groups there for someone who is bicraftual and willing to trade quilting or scrapbooking or beading or whatever-floats-your-boat supplies for your yarn.
posted by craichead at 9:43 PM on March 27 [1 favorite]

What exactly is your aim here? Are you trying to get as much personal fun out of a crate of yarn without expending too much effort (thus the no-knit ultimatum)? Or are you willing to undertake a fair amount of effort and would just like some alternatives to the knotting/knitting/crocheting/weaving? I would have very different suggestions for these two different cases.

If you don't mind some work, there are a ton of craft projects that use yarn (I always liked making sock puppets as a wee lass--they always need some yarn hair!--also bracelets, pinatas, yarn-wrapped balls/containers, etc.) or some non-traditional home uses (want to grown peas? use some bright yarn and a few long stakes to make hipster trellises--or knot it and use some beads to make some beaded curtains. Use instead of ribbon to wrap presents). May is coming up--make a yarn maypole?

If you don't want to expend much energy, but still want to wring some fun out of the crate o' yarn, there is always the "Mystify Your Friends" approach. A few ideas to get you started:
1) Fill a friend's (or several friend's--or neighbors--or heck, some stranger's) mailboxes full of yarn.
2) If you have a key to a friend's place, be stealthy and wrap a furniture item in yarn.
3) Place huge piles of yarn on top of cars--or anywhere odd.
posted by eralclare at 10:07 PM on March 27

ok, so assuming you won't be giving it away... and also assuming you don't want to knit it all into the world's biggest dr. who scarf...

umm... adopt a whole mess of kittens? make beaded curtains? rag mop? colorful winter window insulation? fat suit? stuff a scarecrow? soft indoor croquet set? learn how to juggle? larger-than-life faux gumball machine? fuzzy ball pit?

honestly, you'd probably be better off donating it to a school or charity.
posted by tugena13 at 10:11 PM on March 27

Build a huge freakin' eruv.
posted by jtron at 10:13 PM on March 27 [1 favorite]

I see lots of knit-bloggers picking up yarn at Goodwill and thrift stores. I always wondered where it came from, now I can see it's from people who have a butt-ton of yarn and no idea what to do with it.

So there's an option. Otherwise, I don't know what you'd do with yarn other than knit with it, crochet with it, or do that funky plastic canvas needlework with it.
posted by angeline at 11:02 PM on March 27

You have yarn and don't wanna knit. That's cool.

There must be a local boys and girls club or a ymca or a neighborhood school or childcare center somewhere close to you that could put a crate full of yarn to some good.

Donations are still tax deductable.
posted by phredgreen at 2:33 AM on March 28

Learn to crochet? I have a friend who is bored by knitting who has taken up crochet and is happy as a clam. Make a really big God's eye and nail it to your front door? Learn how to stick weave?
posted by posadnitsa at 3:33 AM on March 28

Ebay it?
posted by bluekrauss at 4:05 AM on March 28

People are throwing out a lot of "There must be SOMEWHERE that would love to have it," so:

I've just started a teen knitting club at the (Brooklyn!) library where I work.
The libraries are in a huge budget crunch right now.
I'm just sayin'.
posted by Jeanne at 4:06 AM on March 28 [2 favorites]

I've got a fun, sometimes-silly DIY book that suggests taking an old chair frame and wraps the seat and back in cling wrap for a new chair. Do that with yarn! (I can't find a picture anywhere online, but this is the book.)

You'll need a chair frame like this, with those rails outlining the shape of the back and the seat. Make sure your yarn is strong. Put something sticky on the chair frame so the yarn doesn't just slide off. Maybe wrap it in a figure-8 pattern rather than around and around, to make it more secure. But wrap and wrap and wrap, and soon you'll have a really fun, fuzzy chair.
posted by bassjump at 4:19 AM on March 28 [1 favorite]

learn to crochet! make a giant freaky looking afghan made up of lots of granny squares. with weird textured yarn.

more seriously, one thing i love about granny squares is that they're easy and they're quick and they're small -- perfect for keeping a bit of yarn in my bag and then crocheting when stuck in a waiting room or on a particularly boring conference call.
posted by rmd1023 at 4:33 AM on March 28

Keep the stuff you really love, make a few scarves or a felted stone rug, and give the rest to Interim House in Philadelphia. The ladies in the treatment program there learn how to knit and every scrap of yarn they receive gets used in some project (lots and lots of cool projects, actually). I gave them a box of single skeins and needles last year and I like watching the blog to see if any of my old yarn pops up.

I know it's not what you wanted, but as you're discovering, it's a lot easier to accumulate yarn than it is to use it up. Maybe someone else might like the Interim House idea; whatever you choose to do, I hope you'll let us know.
posted by deliriouscool at 4:33 AM on March 28 [1 favorite]

Join all the people doing Ripple Blankets here

http://neisripplealong.blogspot.com/
posted by chickaboo at 9:39 AM on March 28

Sell it on eBay.
posted by Penelope at 11:09 AM on March 28

freecycle? If you really don't want to donate it, you can use it to stuff things, maybe. But I second chickaboo on the ripple blanket idea-- not that hard to learn to crochet enough to make one of those.
posted by weezetr at 11:58 AM on March 28

I would start a knitting/crochet group (google Stitch-N-Bitch for ideas) and invite a bunch of fun people over for a big yarn party! See who can come up with most creative, softest, ugliest, strangest, and award prizes (free yarn!). I think you'd have a blast!
posted by TochterAusElysium at 8:10 PM on March 28