6 Yarn Hacks

Five different yarn hacks for knit and crochet lovers. Enjoy!

Instead of throwing away all those yarn scraps, save them and tie them all end-to-end to make one large string. This way you never waste yarn and can use it for any project.

If you don't feel like wrapping small bits of yarn into a million balls, take a toilet paper tube and cut a slit at the top. Stick the end of the yarn in the slit to keep it in place. Then wrap all the yarn around the tube and stick the end through the slit so it doesn't unwrap.

Using a medium size bowl or box (I used one of my own creations), put a binder clip on the edge. Put a ball of yarn in the bowl and thread the yarn through the loops on the binder clip, keeping the ball in place when you knit or crochet.

For those of you who have a lot of small amounts of tangled yarn, this is the answer to keeping all your yarn neat and organized. First, start wrapping the yarn around a small object, or two of your fingers. Then, take the yarn off your fingers and start wrapping around the middle of the looped yarn. Fold the looped yarn in half and keep wrapping around the middle of it. When it reaches a general ball shape, start wrapping in all directions to make the ball even. Keep wrapping until you run out of yarn.

If you like crocheting amigurumi, yarn scraps are the perfect substitute for polyfill or cotton balls. Save all your extra yarn scraps for your next amigurumi project.

When crocheting a project and you need to switch colors in the middle of the row, this is an easy way to seamlessly change yarn by completing the last stitch with the new color. If still confused, keep reading.

For Single Crochet:

When you are ready to switch colors, first unravel your last stitch. Yes unravel it, because you only need half of it. If you are doing a single crochet, (insert hook, yarn over, and draw loop through.) Now you have two loops on your hook. Add the next color by pulling loop of second color through both loops on hook. Now you can crochet normally from there, and tie the two extra strings in the back in knot. Congratulations, you have successfully switched colors. (It took me a little while to figure it out myself).

For Half Double Crochet:

Same as for single crochet, except pull three loops out instead of two.

For Double Crochet:

Same as for single crochet, except pull through three loops instead of two, then yarn over, pull yarn through two loops on hook, pull loop of second color through the last two loops on hook. From there keep crocheting normally with your new color.

This way you can switch colors without being able to tell by looking at the finished project.