How to Create “Free Yarn” from Scraps!

Is it Free if you were just going to throw it away anyway? Don’t throw it just yet!

[@pamyclark1263]

This is the finest demonstration of reuse fiber into yarn in KZbin! Absolute magic!

[@kbyom]

Aw, thanks! ♥ I created it to answer a question, but had to use the gimbal as a phone mount. I didn't realize until later that this was POV or from a "first person perspective", which I have to say I kind of like now :)

[@charliespinoza1966]

Really pretty! I like how you added little bits of contrasting colors

[@kbyom]

Thank you! That's the fun part of making these. You can really experiment with colors 😍

[@annataylor7226]

I have a bag of white acrylic yarn fiber leftover from when I made my husband a wizard's beard to go with the Merlin Hat and robes that I made for him for the time we went to the Oogie Boogie Bash at Disneyland one year. I went dressed in my Mad Madam Mim costume. I hve been planning to try turning those leftovers back into yarn. I kept my short ends of cotton and acrylic yarns separate by fiber type. I sometimes use them as stuffing in a project but might try respinning those some day. 😊

[@kbyom]

I used to use them as stuffing, but then I stopped making things that needed to be stuffed. 🙈 I tend to have more white and gray yarn waste than other colors, but they're perfect for lightening colors up a bit as well :)

[@esmecat]

i save all my fiber scraps.... usually i save all my spinning bits in color coded tins for carding. yarn scraps are sorted into sock yarn scraps, 100% wool scraps, handspun scraps, and other. i usually use the sock yarn scraps for stuffing because of the super wash and plastic elements. i use fabric bits for stuffing too... and with how much sock yarn i go through, it adds up. i'm debating what to do with it... i had been saving the wool for possible felting... but now i'm going to add it to the carding mix along with my handspun scraps! thank you!

[@kbyom]

I’d love to have the colors divided but I need more bins and space. That would totally cut down on the sorting time. 😍 I like the idea of using the fleece for felting! But then, you’d definitely want to have your fibers sorted as well. 👍. I mainly this yarn for pouches and bags which rarely get washed (or a good soak will do) so I just mix all the fibers. If this were to be used for a clothing item, that wouldn’t work so wrong when it came to washing.

[@rosalindtaylor3479]

Brilliant and beautiful! Thank you.

[@kbyom]

Thank you! ♥

[@leckmich5452]

Does this work wirh cotton too? Everything you used looked so wooly

[@kbyom]

I believe you can, but the fibers would be shorter so it would depend on what you like to spin with. My friend, @knittingwithnele tested it with some cotton & linen and made a nice skein of yarn, but found it a bit more difficult than wool. The end texture was a bit different, but she still had a really nice skein of yarn to work with :) I make things for Viking reenactment, so most of my yarn is Wool, but there some have a percentage of acrylic, alpaca, and silk in there. (The little green pieces on the purple yarn are 100% silk, but they twisted in nicely). The wool has longer fibers which works really well for spinning in any super-short fibers. - just remember what you used when washing anything later ;)

[@knittingwithnele]

The cotton/bamboo/other cellulose fibres didn't break from a ply, so they did mixed in to the woolen/polyamide/acrylic/other base, but as a separate thread, which caused a bit of extra work in the spinning and plying phase. Also cable plied merino was terrible to blend in! A little bit of cellulose fibres weren't a problem, but a lot might become quite an issue.

[@across2726]

Too much work for me😂😂😂. I spit splice all my pieces together and make hats and bags that way. ❤😊

[@kbyom]

Yep, it's a bit of work, but it's nice to know the short bits can be used for something other than stuffing :). If it's less than 10 inches, I'm usually too lazy to splice with it. Most of my yarn stash is outdated and If I can't find something in a similar weight to use it with... -or if there's not enough to make a small pouch... then I just throw it in the scrap bucket. Most of these pieces are cut from weaving in at the end of a project. -or mid project if I used a lazy join.

[@shelleybuckingham733]

One e you have put it into a hank, dinyou need to wash it and hang it to set? Ive just started carding my scraps and wasn't sure if i should wash before ysing ir not. Thanknyou for a lovely video. Subscibed👍

[@kbyom]

Aw, thanks for the subscribe! ♥ It's not necessary to wash beforehand unless you have something really gross in there that you don't want to end up in your carders. (Wool is a self-cleaning fiber.) I would rinse it after (which cleans it a bit) when it is on the niddy-noddy and let it dry to set the twist. Alternatively, I'd soak the yarn the yarn, thwack it, and then hang it to dry with a weight on it.