Every knitter has the bag. Half-balls, the last third of a skein, the leftover colour from a hat you finished last winter. It is too good to throw away and too little to start anything, or so it seems.
Here are ten patterns made for exactly that bag, grouped by how much yarn you actually have: tiny scraps, about fifty yards, or a few part-skeins. Nine are free. Every pattern gets the same card, so you can see at a glance who designed it, the skill it asks for, the yarn and how much of it, how long the designer says it takes, and one honest thing to watch for before you cast on.
How these cards work. Every figure on a card comes from the designer’s own pattern page. Where a designer doesn’t say something, the card says so rather than guessing. We don’t copy designers’ photos, so click through to see each finished piece on the designer’s own page, which is also where the instructions are.
Quick picks: match the pattern to your scrap bag
- Odd ends and tails: the knitted heart (under 10 g) or the lace bookmark (leftover sock yarn).
- Three or four small colours: the Halloween treat bags or the bubble beanie.
- Half a ball of chunky: the potholder, the pumpkins or the mason jar cozy.
- A whole bag of mini skeins: the scrap yarn shawl.
- You are a new knitter: start with the pumpkins or the bunny from a square. Both are knit flat with no shaping on the needles.
Before you start: sort the bag by weight, not colour
The fastest way to use leftovers is to sort them by yarn weight first. Each card below names the weight the designer used, and most of these patterns are forgiving about fibre and colour but not about thickness. A kitchen scale helps too, because several designers give the amount in grams. If a pattern asks for a yarn you don’t have, our guide to substituting yarn explains how to swap. One fibre rule matters here: anything that touches a hot pan, like the potholder, should be wool or cotton, never acrylic.
Tiny scraps: 15 grams or less
1. Knitted Heart
A small stuffed heart that takes less than 10 grams of yarn, about the length of tail most of us throw away. The designer made hers in leftover cotton and suggests it for decorations, gifts and charity knitting.
| Designer | Louise, Handy Little Me |
|---|---|
| Free or paid | Free printable |
| Skill | Confident beginner |
| Yarn weight | DK (light) |
| Yarn | Less than 10 g per heart, any DK yarn |
| Size | About 6.5 x 6.5 cm, stuffed |
| Time | About 1 hour 30 minutes in total, per the designer |
it is shaped with increases and decreases, so you need to know both. The designer says it is the perfect size to practise them on.
2. Willow Lace Bookmark
A leaf-lace bookmark knit from about 40 metres of fingering yarn. If you knit socks, this is where the end of every skein can go.
| Designer | Louise, Handy Little Me |
|---|---|
| Free or paid | Free (an ad-free PDF is optional) |
| Skill | Intermediate |
| Yarn weight | Fingering (4 ply) |
| Yarn | Around 10 g / 40 m; the designer used a Dark Omen merino sock mini |
| Size | Bookmark |
| Time | About 1 hour, per the designer |
it is lace, and the designer recommends knitting a small swatch first because lace can surprise you with how open it comes out.
3. Halloween Treat Bags (Candy Corn Colors)
Striped drawstring bags in two sizes, knit flat in stockinette. The designer made them from the leftovers of her pumpkins and a candy corn hat, and they are just in time for this month.
| Designer | Louise, Handy Little Me |
|---|---|
| Free or paid | Free printable |
| Skill | Basic, beginner |
| Yarn weight | Bulky |
| Yarn | Scraps of three colours, around 10 to 15 g each; the designer used We Are Knitters The Petite Wool |
| Sizes | Large 15 x 5 in, small 9 x 5 in (flat, before seaming) |
| Time | About 3 hours 20 minutes, per the designer |
three colours means more ends to weave in, and you need string or ribbon to tie the top.
About 50 yards: a part-ball
4. Coiled I-Cord Potholder
One long i-cord coiled into a round and stitched in place, with a free video for every step. The designer suggests it as a housewarming gift for someone who loves to cook.
| Designer | Davina, Sheep and Stitch |
|---|---|
| Free or paid | Free, with a free video |
| Skill | Beginner |
| Yarn weight | Chunky (any worsted or heavier works) |
| Yarn | 50 yards of chunky yarn |
| Size | Not stated by the designer |
| Time | 2 to 3 hours, per the designer |
use wool, cotton, hemp or alpaca only. The designer warns that acrylic and other synthetics can melt under a hot pot. It is also knit on double-pointed needles and sewn together with thread.
5. Herringbone Stitch Coasters
Textured coasters with an optional fringe, in any yarn you have. The designer suggests matching them to someone's kitchen as a last-minute gift.
| Designer | Louise, Handy Little Me |
|---|---|
| Free or paid | Free printable |
| Skill | Advanced beginner |
| Yarn weight | Worsted or bulky; the designer says any yarn from your stash works |
| Yarn | About 75 g of worsted for a set of 4 with fringe, about 50 g without |
| Size | Not stated by the designer |
| Time | About 3 hours 30 minutes, per the designer |
herringbone stitch pulls in tight. The designer tells you to go up a needle size because of it, so don't just match the yarn label.
6. Bunny From a Square
Knit a plain square, then stitch and stuff it into a little rabbit. No shaping on the needles at all, and there is a free video lesson.
| Designer | Kristen McDonnell, Studio Knit |
|---|---|
| Free or paid | Free, with a free video |
| Skill | Experienced beginner |
| Yarn weight | Any (the designer used worsted) |
| Yarn | 42 yards of worsted in any fibre and colour |
| Size | Not stated by the designer |
| Time | About 1 hour, per the designer |
the bunny shape comes from stitching and stuffing, not from the knitting, so you need toy stuffing and a tapestry needle, and the first one may take a try or two to look right.
7. Basketweave Mason Jar Cozy
A seamless basketweave cover for a wide-mouth mason jar, knit in the round from the base up. Use it for flowers, pens or knitting needles. The designer says one skein makes three small cozies.
| Designer | Kristen McDonnell, Studio Knit |
|---|---|
| Free or paid | Paid PDF (a yarn kit is also sold, USA only) |
| Skill | Intermediate |
| Yarn weight | Bulky |
| Yarn | 30 yards for a 16 oz jar, 42 yards for a 32 oz jar; the designer used Cascade 128 Superwash Merino |
| Sizes | 16 oz and 32 oz wide-mouth jars |
| Time | Not stated by the designer |
this is the one paid pattern on the list. It fits wide-mouth jars only, and it is worked on double-pointed needles.
A few part-skeins
8. Easy Knit Pumpkins
Chunky pumpkins knit flat and gathered into ridges with the yarn tail. Three sizes, all from one simple rectangle, and right on time for the season.
| Designer | Louise, Handy Little Me |
|---|---|
| Free or paid | Free printable (an ad-free PDF bundle is optional) |
| Skill | Beginner |
| Yarn weight | Super bulky |
| Yarn | Three or more pumpkins per skein; the designer used Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick |
| Sizes | Small, medium and large (13, 16 and 20 in around) |
| Time | Five pumpkins in about two hours, plus an hour to finish, per the designer |
the knitting is quick, but seaming, stuffing and shaping take time too. The designer spent an extra hour on that for five pumpkins.
9. Bubble Beanie Hat
A textured beanie where every colour change shows, so it is made for odd balls. The designer calls it a great stash buster, and one of her readers says the colour changes keep her from getting bored on the third hat for the kids.
| Designer | Kristen McDonnell, Studio Knit |
|---|---|
| Free or paid | Free, with a free video (her Hat Book is optional) |
| Skill | Intermediate |
| Yarn weight | Worsted or bulky |
| Yarn | 120 to 200 yards in total, in as many colours as you like |
| Size | Adult, 21 to 24 in head |
| Time | Not clearly stated (the designer's card gives conflicting times) |
it uses the Knit 4 Below technique and is knit in the round on a circular needle and double-pointed needles, so it is not a first project.
10. Scrap Yarn Shawl
An asymmetrical garter-stitch shawl knit in stripes, and the big one on this list. Keep adding scraps until it is the size you want, which makes it a slow, steady home for every mini skein you own.
| Designer | Louise, Handy Little Me |
|---|---|
| Free or paid | Free (an ad-free PDF is optional) |
| Skill | Easy (advanced beginner) |
| Yarn weight | Worsted / Aran |
| Yarn | Around 400 to 600 yards of scraps and mini skeins |
| Size | About 60 in wingspan, 23 in deep |
| Time | Not stated by the designer |
400 yards is a lot of leftovers, so weigh your scraps before you start. It is knit flat, but you need a long 40-inch circular needle to hold all the stitches.
What you’ll need
Most of these use what you already have. The few extras that come up again and again:
- Polyester fiberfill for the hearts, the bunny and the pumpkins
- A set of double-pointed needles for the potholder i-cord, the jar cozy and the beanie crown
- A small digital scale to weigh your scraps against the grams on each card
- Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick, if you would rather buy one skein for the pumpkins
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More to knit from what you have
- Got one whole skein rather than scraps? Here is what to knit with one skein of yarn: ten patterns, eight of them free.
- Short on time as well as yarn? These are quick knitted gifts you can finish in a weekend.
- Browse every project sorted by how much yarn it takes, or by how long it takes.
- More knits for the home and kitchen.
- Crochet as well as knit? Our sister site has a whole shelf of knitting patterns at Daily Crochet.
