Needlecrafts
Crochet
By
Mollie Johanson
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Mollie Johanson
Mollie Johanson is a professional needlecrafter with over 10 years of hands-on embroidery, sewing, and knitting experience. She is the author of “Stitch Love: Sweet Creatures Big & Small." Mollie also designs and sells stitching projects, co-hosts a crafting podcast, and has taught online embroidery courses.
Learn more about The Spruce Crafts'Editorial Process
Updated on 09/18/22
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When you finish a crochet project and there's still a partial skein or even a few dozen yards left, what do you do with the leftover yarn? Simple! Use one of these free small crochet project patterns that are perfect for extra yarn:
- Flower headband
- Mug cozy or coasters
- Little hearts or a pocket pet
- Coin purse or pouches
- Baby bonnet
- Fingerless Gloves
- Kitchen trivets, dishcloths, or washcloths
Some patterns in this list use one or two colors in small quantities, while others incorporate a rainbow of yarns to use your yarn bits in a colorful way. Grab a hook and get started! Read on to learn how.
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Flower Headband
Small things are almost always good options for using up yarn leftovers, but some patterns are so well-suited for this that you'd never think of them as scrap-busters. This floral headband is one of those projects. The headband itself makes use of one color and the little flowers take care of a few more. Best of all, it's easy to adapt the size of this for babies, kids, or even adults!
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Mug Cozy
After working on a bigger project that uses lots of colors, it can be especially frustrating to have so many partial skeins left. After sharing a colorful crochet-a-long, Kirsten from Haak Maar Raak created a few companion patterns that use the leftovers in a very cute way. Both this mug cozy and their pin cushion tutorial use yarn to cross stitch over a crocheted base, which is a brilliant technique for using up small lengths of yarn.
Hygge Mug Cozy from Haak Maar Raak
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Crochet Hearts
From pins to patches to pretty embellishments, you'll love crocheting these easy hearts! Each one takes only about 5 yards of yarn, and you can alter the size with your yarn and hook choice. You could even use these to document all your projects by making one heart with the yarn from each thing you make. Then hang them on a string to make a garland celebrating the crochet you love!
How to Crochet a Heart from The Spruce Crafts
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Pocket Panda
Small toys don't use much yarn, making them a fast and fun way to use what you have. This Pocket Panda is a great example of how cute your yarn leftovers can become. And don't worry about not having these colors on hand. First, colorful pandas would be adorable for kids. But you won't have to stop with panda's because Spin a Yarn Crochet has lots of small (and free!) patterns.
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Coin Purse
Keep your cash contained in this crocheted coin purse. You can make this with a partial skein of yarn, plus some extra for a stripe, or use smaller amounts of lots of colors to add more stripes. Sure that means more ends to work in, but you can't beat stripes that use up all those leftovers!
Coin Purse Crochet Pattern from The Spruce Crafts
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Crochet Bonnet
With rows of granny stitch and ruffled flowers, this adorable bonnet can use as many or as few colors of yarn as you can imagine! Mixing up the colors looks as lovely as creating a soft gradient, and the result is a sweet hat with a vintage feeling.
Stash Busting Pixie Bonnet Crochet Pattern from The Firefly Hook
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Washcloths
Corner to corner crochet can be a great way to work with small amounts of yarn, and that's what this washcloth from My Poppet does. Holding the colorful yarn with a neutral boucle yarn gives it a great texture while gentle changing colors on a diagonal. And if rainbows aren't your thing, you can swap in any extra cotton yarn you have on hand!
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Mug Coasters
Have you ever thought about giving your mug a hug? You can do that with these crocheted coasters! Each little disc has a rim that hugs the bottom of your mug. They are simple to work up and would make a great gift when paired with a mug or some tea!
Mug Hug Trivet from Lady Jay Crochet (on Ravelry)
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Pouches
When it comes to staying organized, you can never have too many pouches. And when you have a partial skein of yarn, you can crochet your own lined pouches in two styles! These small zipper bags use star stitch, giving them a fun texture that also gives the sides the structure you need.
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Fingerless Gloves
Have some extra yarn after making a hat or scarf? Put it to use with some fingerless gloves! Treble crochet makes these mitts come together quickly and easily, and they don't need much yarn at all! The starting point for these is a simple rectangle, which means any crocheter can make them without worrying about shaping fingers or thumbs in standard mittens or gloves.
Fingerless Gloves for Beginners from The Spruce Crafts
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Kitchen Rounds
These all-purpose kitchen rounds from Jennifer of FiberFlux are perfect for using small amounts of cotton yarn. They look pretty and work as trivets, dishcloths, coasters, and anything else you might need a small circle for.
Kitchen Lovelies Pattern from FiberFlux
Updated byMollie Johanson
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Insights, advice, suggestions, feedback and comments from experts
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Regarding the concepts mentioned in the article about small crochet projects to use up leftover yarn, let's explore each one:
Flower Headband
A flower headband is a great way to use up leftover yarn. This project allows you to incorporate different colors and is easily adaptable for different sizes. You can find a crochet flower headband pattern on the Make & Do Crew website.
Mug Cozy
If you have partial skeins of yarn left, a mug cozy is a perfect project to use them up. This pattern by Haak Maar Raak uses yarn to cross-stitch over a crocheted base, making it a creative and cute way to repurpose small lengths of yarn.
Crochet Hearts
Crocheting hearts is a quick and easy project that only requires about 5 yards of yarn per heart. You can use these hearts as embellishments or create a garland to celebrate your crochet projects. The Spruce Crafts provides a tutorial on how to crochet hearts.
Pocket Panda
Small toys are a fun way to use up yarn leftovers. The Pocket Panda pattern by Spin a Yarn Crochet is an example of how you can turn your yarn scraps into adorable creations. You can find the pattern on their website .
Coin Purse
A crocheted coin purse is a practical project that can be made with a partial skein of yarn. You can choose to add stripes using smaller amounts of various colors. The Spruce Crafts offers a crochet coin purse pattern.
Crochet Bonnet
With rows of granny stitch and ruffled flowers, a crochet bonnet is a charming project that allows you to use as many or as few colors of yarn as you like. The Firefly Hook provides a stash-busting pixie bonnet crochet pattern.
Washcloths
Corner-to-corner crochet is a great technique for working with small amounts of yarn. The washcloth pattern from My Poppet combines colorful yarn with a neutral boucle yarn to create a textured and visually appealing result.
Mug Coasters
Crocheted mug coasters are not only functional but also make great gifts. Lady Jay Crochet offers a pattern for mug hug trivets that hug the bottom of your mug.
Pouches
Crocheted pouches are useful for staying organized, and they can be made with a partial skein of yarn. All About Ami provides a pattern for star stitch pouches that have a fun texture and structure.
Fingerless Gloves
If you have extra yarn after making a hat or scarf, you can put it to use by crocheting fingerless gloves. The Spruce Crafts has a beginner-friendly pattern for fingerless gloves that come together quickly and don't require much yarn.
Kitchen Rounds
Kitchen rounds, such as trivets, dishcloths, and coasters, are versatile projects that can be made using small amounts of cotton yarn. FiberFlux offers a pattern for kitchen lovelies that are both practical and pretty [[11]].
I hope this information helps you find inspiration for your crochet projects using leftover yarn! Let me know if there's anything else I can assist you with.
