Edited to add: Y'all! Ravelry still does destash! Fallen out of love with your yarn? Let’s unpack that…in today’s episode of the Midweek Ramble. 💔 Destashify: destashify.com/ Yarn Hoarders on Facebook: facebook.com/groups/YarnHoardersDestash/ Join us on Patreon for exclusive bonus content and to support the WOOL NEEDLES HANDS TH-cam Channel: www.patreon.com/wool_needles_hands Enjoying the content here at WOOL NEEDLES HANDS, but not ready to become a Patreon member? Consider leaving a small donation in the form of a Super Thanks (right below the video window). It's a one-time, no subscription necessary monetary donation of as little as $1.99 and all proceeds go back into creating high quality, consistent content for everyone to enjoy. Your contribution means a great deal. Thank you. 🙏 ❤ Tayler
I don’t use Patreon, would you consider using TH-cam membership? I missed that over dyeing video and I think YT membership might be more accessible to some of us.
In addition to all your creative solutions for yarn that I have fallen out of favor I offer up another solution. I have created a basket of one off knitted items that accumulate over time and offer up to any visitor to look through and adopt anything that they fancy. Often in the basket is socks, hats, slippers,scarves etc. I solve the problem of my need to gift freely and often but without the anxiety and worry of gifting the wrong thing. I have such angst over whether they like or want it.
After visiting my Dad in a nursing home and seeing several of the residents gathered around the fireplace knitting and crocheting, I have started donating my craft stashes there. They love it - staff and residents!
Such a great idea…. Crafting is so important to keeping brains active. I love to hear about the social connections made while gathering can not be underestimated. Our Mature Adults are so often missed in our donations, attentions and discussion. So pleased to hear that you have raised this in the discussion!! ❤
@sonyamah5444 - I always make sure, regardless of fiber content, that the yarns are untangled, caked or rolled up. All the crafters have to do is pick what they want to try and start crafting. I know that if it were me, a surprise box of yarns would make my day. I'm in my 70's and can't imagine a day without needles or hooks in my hands!
I started crochet in early 2020 and purchased a lot of pretty individual skeins in acrylic before I knew what I was doing. I still liked the yarn, but I didn't have enough to make a large project. As my skills grew, I quickly moved from small projects to sweaters and blankets. Last fall I joined a weekly crochet Club at my local yarn store. Most of the other people in the club crochet for charity so I was able to give them three garbage bags full. They were thrilled to get them for free and I was happy to free up the space. It has been a lot of fun to see what they made from them. Thinking back, when my mom died 12 years ago (she was a knitter) I found a knitting club who did much the same thing. I gave them her beautiful yarn and in return they made me a shawl out of some of it which I still have. I thought that was such a nice gesture.
Thanks! This is a very valuable episode. I am sort of weighed down by my stash, enthusiastic purchases at the time, but now overwhelming in quantity. Moreover, my focus has shifted to “woolly wool” and colorwork, etc., and lots of my stash is silk, lace weight, variegated, and so forth. So what I’ve started doing is preparing a monthly box of ALL THINGS that I no longer need. I’m lucky enough to live in a city where the charities will come pick it up. I slip in a few skeins of yarn that someone might be delighted to get at a discounted price - have given old “beginner” needles and so forth. That way it’s not a huge dollar loss to me, not a flood on the charity, and might benefit a bunch of people. Xx
I love using the yarn feature on Ravelry. When you look up the yarn you want, you can find the color or a color close to it and look at all the projects people made with it. It gives you ideas for the yarn. I have been looking for a inexpensive yarn that will meet my wants for Merino. I found a yarn at Michaels that I'm knitting a sweater out of right now. So far the yarn is soft and working up nice. I have found a knot in the two balls I've used so far, and tinked back to under the arm to cut and then continue. The yarn is Loops & Threads Luxe Merino. 55% Merino, 45% acrylic. They have around 7 colors. I'm working with the color Sedona. I also bought a sweaters quantity of Rhubarb, and the black. It's a 3 weight, and there is 410 yards. It is around $10.00. I don't know if anyone else has tried this yarn but so far it's working out nicely. I'm making a long sleeve pullover called the Library Sweater. I've knit the whole body and used less than 2 balls so far. I bought 6 balls, so I'm thinking this yarn goes a long way.
I did a de-stash. I donated my acrylic yarn and straight needles to a junior high school with a knitting program. There are 46 kids in the program! The kids knit during their lunch hour and after school. 😊
This is fantastic! My husband's high school has a pretty bustling knitting club and I've yet to donate yarn to them (I keep forgetting!). This is a great reminder to me to take some over there. ❤
Thank you for addressing this issue. For me, it's an environmental subject as well. So many of us have huge yarn stashes, even making jokes about it (referring to it as their 'pension') and we still keep adding to it, because we can't resist the urge to collect more. I myself am guilty to that too but I'm slowly becoming more conscious about it, also thanks to you and your vlogs, in which you often stress the importance of goal oriented yarn buying. I'm hoping that every time we let go of yarn, it teaches us to become more thoughtful of what to buy next time. Also, I'm telling people who want to buy me a present, not to buy me yarn (they know I'm a passionate crocheter so for some people, yarn is the obvious thing). But when I'm gifted yarn that I haven't chosen myself, the chance I'll use it is almost zero. I was gifted a pack of 100% acrylic yarn once, which I never use because it's basically plastic, and after a year I gave it to a local primary school where they used it to teach kids to knit and crochet. I felt bad about it at first but relieved afterwards. The other option would have been to use it as stuffing for my amigurumi :) Thanks for the great tips, keep up the good work!
I have been marling yarns forever. Great stashbuster! Another simple trick that sometimes works is to dump all your yarn into a pile a see what colors work together. Sometimes it’s a big surprise!
Great topic. Don't forget that yarn can be used for stuffing knitted or crocheted dolls, creatures etc. Also knitting guilds sometimes have destash events.
Another option under the “donate” genre for US watchers: my local Buy Nothing Group has yarn pop up every month or so, and I’ve given some away as well. It’s a nice medium between a charity and friends because while they may be strangers they’re your neighbors, and you can look through everyone who is interested to pick a recipient. I’ve also seen someone giving away a fveey ancy stash (Madeline Tosh, Spincycle, and that price point of yarn) by asking people to comment under the photo of the yarn they were interested with a project idea they had for it, and chose based on that!
Another place to consider donating are two online second hand art shops: Make & Mend Shop and A Thrifty Notion. They are basically art supply consignment/thrift shops. Make & Mend is half fiber arts and half other art supplies and also has an in person location. A Thrifty Notion is specific to sewing and fiber crafts. I feel like these are really cool small businesses with a focus on keeping our crafts more sustainable and accessible. : ) Also, check if little yarn shops in your area have a destash bin that accepts donations! Sometimes I see vendors at wool and yarn fairs have these, so I know that some stores must have them!
Perhaps not hand dyed, but elementary school teachers would use yarn. At the high school I work at there is a knitting club which does charity knitting (blankets for nursing homes, hats and blankets for hospital pediatric wards, etc). I have donated those “yarns that no longer bring me joy” to them.
I was “working on” a sort of complicated cardigan for years with this rusty wool. Eventually I just frogged it and did a Norwegian-style color work sweater with it-it was done in like a month. 😂
I knit prayer shawls for my local church and I'm glad you brought up donations! The church I started knitting prayer shawls at operated entirely on donated yarn. The shawls are given away for free, usually to people dealing with an illness or grief. I've found it very fulfilling work and would encourage people to participate if they are comfortable doing so!
Great video! I inherited 3 large 100Litre tubs of yarn from a craft friend who passed away last year. All of us in our craft group got the same quantity and the remaining acrylic yarn was donated to another group who knit/crochet for charity. Janet had a huge stash of yarn and craft supplies! I wasn't totally in love with most of it, there were some sweater quantities of wool but most were 1 or 2 balls of each colour, but I wanted to honour my dear friend by using all of it........ I saw a fair isle blanket knit make along but the suggested wool wasn't available in Australia, I rummaged through Janet's stash and there were the colours! I'm planning on gifting the blanket to her husband for Xmas. In one of your previous videos, you paired mohair with fingering weight yarn for a floofy cardi, so I raided Janet's stash for mohair and yarn, on their own the colours weren't appealing to me, but marled together they looked fabulous, they became a cropped cardi grandie girl #1, which she loves. I love the idea of holding 3 strands of fingering weight yarn to make a chunky beanie, with all these ideas, I might get through the tubs afterall, and my large stash as well.
When i buy or receive yarn that is not my color, sometimes I find the great use by gift knitting! I am learning the colors that suit me and also what may suit others! Love holding two similar color yarns as well, sometimes to even change the tone or temperature of the colors 😉
Clever 👌 Anyway I am not ready to say goodbye to anything in my stash. Everything I have, speaks to me.. all the time.. even when I am at work I am thinking about what to do with THAT yarn in my stash.. so I am not ready to let it go, I love everything I own 🤣 I just need more time to knit all that yarn, like 45 years I think 🤣 My favorite podcast! ❤ 🤩 love your ideas and thoughts are brilliant 👌 Big hug from Norway
I have overdyed lots of yarn! I have a gorgeous batch of 10 skeins of Elsepeth Lavold's Silky Wool in a deep burnt orange color. The original color was an insipid pinky gray. I bought the yarn on deep discount intending to dye it.
I bought expensive yarn that looked like school colors yellow and blue. I did not want to knit with it. I bought green mohair and it is knitting up so nice. Thank you.
Our elementary school art teacher does a weaving project every year with the 4th grade. I donated a big bag of leftovers and yarn I no longer used/ was interested in to the teacher. She loved it. I like knowing it will be used.
Gift knitting is good. ALso I have tried lace kitting and it is not my jam. But taking a strand of plain lace yarn and marling it with other yarn for sweaters etc. has been great at slightly changing the color and thickness of the other yarn
As a crocheter, quilter, and more recently a knitter, I am lucky my lovely niece is always happy to shop my yarn and fabric stash. I taught her how to quilt and she taught me how to knit. And I have been crocheting since I was a kid.
Great ideas, i feel like taking yarn I'm not thrilled with and holding it up to all kinds of others and see if something looks complimentary! I really like this idea.
I had some yarn in my stash set aside for a top and it just kept getting pushed aside. I realized that the issue was that I didn’t want to wear the color near my face, so I doubled it and knit myself a pair of shorts for sleeping in! I love them and I have one less sweater quantity of yarn in my stash!
Local community facebook groups often ask for yarn for care homes and/or kids craft nights which definitely made me feel slightly better knowing the yarns I spent so much money will be enjoyed by someone else rather than sat in my stash
Loved these tips! I am currently working on a pair of fingerless mitts with leftover yarn from a sweater. I used the ravelry search for yarn to find patterns - first the sweater, then mitts, next is a hat. The process and knitting is so enjoyable. Also had crocheted a tee with a cotton blend. The colour was not what I had expected (first online pandemic yarn purchase) but went ahead anyway. Easy yarn to work with, gorgeous drape and then I tried it on. The colour totally washed me out. I hung onto it for 6 months until a little TH-cam birdie talked about dyeing garments to get new life out of them. The new navy sweater is perfect and has interesting depth in the colour. Highly recommend over dyeing. Another donation or resale place maybe local knitting or crochet classes. I gave away my partially used acrylic stash to some students in the kids class but I could see adults wanting to try out some hand dyed yarn at a discount. Haven't heard about destashify but it is definitely worth a look for my other crafts that have fallen to the wayside since I took up knitting. Many thanks T!
I am planning to use my less loved yarn to practice and compare new techniques - new cast ons, bind offs, etc. I’m hoping it will help me decide what to use in my bigger projects without needing to try something and then need to tink back when it doesn’t work.
I started crocheting at the end of 2021 and definitely got a little yarn happy at the beginning and bought tons of cheap yarn from Joann’s Michael’s and big bags from goodwill so i could build up a stash and feel like a “real crocheter”. I got sucked in by sales and “limited edition” or seasonal yarns because I had that “well if I don’t buy it now then I can’t get it” mindset. Now that I know my preferences and what I like using I have quite a bit of yarn that I no longer want to use but had a hard time getting rid of it because I feel financially and environmentally wasteful. I used to feel like I should just make something with it so I can use it but it got to a point where the yarn didn’t only take up a lot of physical space but also mental space as well. So I’ve been working through yarn I do love and I’ve held back some staple colors for when people in my family ask me to make them things but I have given away and donated quite a bit of yarn that doesn’t bring me joy. I now know that I’d much rather buy yarn I love and is good quality even if it means I don’t have a lot anymore
Thanks for the video! Wonderful topic! My problem is I love all my yarns! Can’t even decide which ones to give away! I just need TIME to knit them all! 😅😅❤
I use your first tip often...for the impulse buy yarn that I just had to have but didn't purchase for a specific project. It's not just me right?!? Since I'm stuck with the quantity I have I love the advanced search to see what my possibilities are for just that amount! I often find projects I may not have sought out on my own!
Great topic, I have lots of yarn that I still love, but I get so easily distracted by new yarns or I see projects I want to make and feel I don’t have the right yarn. I will try to implement the yarn combinations and use some of the fingering yarn. I clearly buy way faster then I can knit😂
I’ve over dyed quite a bit of yarn that wasn’t speaking to me anymore. I went threw a phase of bright colors for poppy color work but I’ve realized I just never wear them. When I over dye the yarn a lot of time I just try to mute it darken it slightly and it makes a big difference
What a fantastic pod today as always Finding destashed yarns on a few sites is so nice when on a budget I’ve already checked few out My many thanks Taylor !!! 😊💝🇨🇦
A little disappointed you moved that over dying sweater video to your patreon. Will the over dying yarn video help with a sweater? I have a weird yellow tan sweater I would love to get deep brown.
This video may be just for you if you’re thinking of overdyeing a sweater. The video was public on this channel for quite a while, but I’ve decided that any yarn dyeing or dyeing videos I do from here on out will be available exclusively on Patreon.
Super topic! I did this a couple years ago and may do again soon. One thing I do is to kit my yarns with ideas found, this does a couple things one reminds me of what the yarn's direction is all about and sets prepared projects ready to go. When boredom hits, change is in order, or getting to the ending a current wip, or time to shake up things, I grab a kitted project. I usually have at least 2-4 kits ready to grab and start. I also do this around March and again in June and again in October for holiday knit gifts. I always have a gift wip going, along with personal wips. This way when that birthday rolls around or holiday I am ready. I have been doing it this way for ages and it is helpful. That yarn I didn't like, but knit into a quick hat is great for a teacher gift or homeless person or a neighbor that fed my animals. Folks don't care if you hand made it they are touched.
Here in Chicago we have a non-profit creative materials reuse store where craft and art supplies can be donated - generally the folks who shop there are makers so I always feel good about donating some of my "better" yarns to The Wasteshed. Since viewing your episode on the Centro knitting machine (one of my fav episodes!) I've been thinking of purchasing one for clearing back stash & to make hats for donations to various agencies in the city. Have a great weekend everyome!
Hi Jill! This is really an amazing thing to have access to for not only those wanting to offload supplies and materials, but also for those looking to save or really to even have access to the craft at all. I wish there was something like that here. And I'm glad you like the Centro video. It really is a great way to create for charity. ❤️
I think many get half way through knitting a garment and get bored. Depends if its the texture, the way it knits up or the colour, which can be re-dyed. Would it look better in a plain stockinette stitch and gets lost in a lace pattern? 95% of my yarn is pre-loved and discontinued, which makes it difficult to match a pattern with the same gauge and correct amount of metres to knit a garment. 😢
I do digital art & design, so I like to treat yarn as texture and color palette and thru that vision design items based off vibe, details and composition. You can try it too with some pencils or whatever drawing supplies you got on hand. Whole point is to relieve anxiety around "making or not making"-thoughts. Simple lines on paper or screen can be much easier to digest, re-imagine, spin around elswhere than you headspace and maybe even help with starting new project with existing supply. Because buying ANYTHING often starts with an idea of an idea, you could basicaly try to sell it to yourself again.
Only for those who use easy care yarn, though! A lot of knitters knit because we love hand knits, but I wouldn't want to saddle anyone in a rough situation with an item that needs to be hand washed or even that can't go in the dryer. We really value the things we make, but when giving a gift to a stranger, I think it's more appropriate to prioritize what their needs are and not expect them to automatically love something because we loved it or spent a lot of energy on it. For folks who buy more premium natural wool yarns that don't make good gift knits, I'm sure that other knitters who are experiencing hardships in their lives and can't afford those yarns would love to get them as a donation.
I bought 3 expensive hanks of 110g of worsted weight Friesian wool that was dyed with logwood. I was so happy to support a local farm. When I made a cake of yarn, pieces of logwood fell out of the yarn and my hands were now blue. I have then soaked the hanks in water 3 times in the hope of releasing the excess of dye, but the water was still blue. Someone suggested to soak it again with an alum mordant this time so that it might help the dye "stick" to the yarn, but that was also unsuccessful. This yarn is so rough on the fingers when I handle it, leaving a coat of blue dust that stains my fingers. I even made a couple of pompoms but hated so much the feel on my fingers that I gave up. I have not yet found the courage to throw it in the garbage. Any last resort suggestions for this awful yarn ?
Gosh, how frustrating! It sounds like the yarn was not brought up to temp for long enough. My first suggestion would be to put the yarn in a pot with the alum mordant and bring it up to just under simmering and leave it until the water goes clear (the color will leach out of the yarn as the water heats up). If that doesn't work, I'm afraid I'm not sure what to do other than trying to over-dye it with acid dye (the word acid coming from the use of a citric acid mordant...there's no acid in the dye). Have you reached out to the dyer where you purchased it?
@@WOOLNEEDLESHANDS Thank you so much for your suggestion. I would really really like to make this work even though the color has already lost its intensity. I contacted the owner of the yarn company. She is not doing business with this hand dyer anymore. She said that she still has some hanks of the same batch of yarn as mine, and that was not a problem for her to knit with it and that she was aware that some dye was released when soaking in water. She was ready to give me a full refund for the untouched yarn or a gift certificate of 60% of the purchase value for the yarn I had already manipulated.
Nope. You're not going crazy. It was here for about two months. With the exception of some dyeing content from a few years ago, new yarn dyeing/dyeing videos in general will be shared on Patreon.
Instead of over-dying, you can bleach it! I wanted to change the color of a knitted sweater that was dark aubergine color not fitted to me and bleaching it worked! Now it’s rich pink/purple 😊 The yarn was cotton & nylon mix and I think it could work on wool as well.
@@WOOLNEEDLESHANDS please wear it while eating some pasta or pizza. You don't need to share it anywhere, I will just be satisfied knowing that you might
Taylor or anyone, please tell me roughly how many 25g balls of the lace weight yarn you used for the cardigan or a normal woman's sweater? I just love the idea but don't want to over order as it's expensive.
It will depend on the pattern you want to knit. You’ll need the same number of yards/meters (not the weight) of the lace weight yarn as the weight of yarn you’ll be using to knit your sweater, in your size. Hopefully that makes sense.
@@Katepwe yes it seems so obvious now that you've said it.... have you every used the Drops lace weight kid silk? I'm looking at it on sale now and am thinking I might get some, it's seems like a good price.
@@hannahv1930 I used the Drops Kid-Silk and really like it (I'm a medium grade of sensitive, I'd say). It is not comparable in softness to the higher priced mohairs, like Isager which I used recently. But I would use and plan to use the Drops Kid-Silk again for sure. And the price is great.
Edited to add: Y'all! Ravelry still does destash!
Fallen out of love with your yarn? Let’s unpack that…in today’s episode of the Midweek Ramble. 💔
Destashify:
destashify.com/
Yarn Hoarders on Facebook:
facebook.com/groups/YarnHoardersDestash/
Join us on Patreon for exclusive bonus content and to support the WOOL NEEDLES HANDS TH-cam Channel:
www.patreon.com/wool_needles_hands
Enjoying the content here at WOOL NEEDLES HANDS, but not ready to become a Patreon member? Consider leaving a small donation in the form of a Super Thanks (right below the video window). It's a one-time, no subscription necessary monetary donation of as little as $1.99 and all proceeds go back into creating high quality, consistent content for everyone to enjoy. Your contribution means a great deal. Thank you. 🙏
❤
Tayler
I don’t use Patreon, would you consider using TH-cam membership? I missed that over dyeing video and I think YT membership might be more accessible to some of us.
In addition to all your creative solutions for yarn that I have fallen out of favor I offer up another solution. I have created a basket of one off knitted items that accumulate over time and offer up to any visitor to look through and adopt anything that they fancy. Often in the basket is socks, hats, slippers,scarves etc. I solve the problem of my need to gift freely and often but without the anxiety and worry of gifting the wrong thing. I have such angst over whether they like or want it.
After visiting my Dad in a nursing home and seeing several of the residents gathered around the fireplace knitting and crocheting, I have started donating my craft stashes there. They love it - staff and residents!
Imagine the knowledge they have! Wish they were making a podcast.
Such a great idea…. Crafting is so important to keeping brains active. I love to hear about the social connections made while gathering can not be underestimated. Our Mature Adults are so often missed in our donations, attentions and discussion. So pleased to hear that you have raised this in the discussion!! ❤
@sonyamah5444 - I always make sure, regardless of fiber content, that the yarns are untangled, caked or rolled up. All the crafters have to do is pick what they want to try and start crafting. I know that if it were me, a surprise box of yarns would make my day. I'm in my 70's and can't imagine a day without needles or hooks in my hands!
I started crochet in early 2020 and purchased a lot of pretty individual skeins in acrylic before I knew what I was doing. I still liked the yarn, but I didn't have enough to make a large project. As my skills grew, I quickly moved from small projects to sweaters and blankets. Last fall I joined a weekly crochet Club at my local yarn store. Most of the other people in the club crochet for charity so I was able to give them three garbage bags full. They were thrilled to get them for free and I was happy to free up the space. It has been a lot of fun to see what they made from them. Thinking back, when my mom died 12 years ago (she was a knitter) I found a knitting club who did much the same thing. I gave them her beautiful yarn and in return they made me a shawl out of some of it which I still have. I thought that was such a nice gesture.
I get SUPER excited when I find good yarn at the thrift store. When you destash, even if you donate, everyone is blessed 😊
Thanks! This is a very valuable episode.
I am sort of weighed down by my stash, enthusiastic purchases at the time, but now overwhelming in quantity. Moreover, my focus has shifted to “woolly wool” and colorwork, etc., and lots of my stash is silk, lace weight, variegated, and so forth.
So what I’ve started doing is preparing a monthly box of ALL THINGS that I no longer need. I’m lucky enough to live in a city where the charities will come pick it up. I slip in a few skeins of yarn that someone might be delighted to get at a discounted price - have given old “beginner” needles and so forth. That way it’s not a huge dollar loss to me, not a flood on the charity, and might benefit a bunch of people. Xx
I love using the yarn feature on Ravelry. When you look up the yarn you want, you can find the color or a color close to it and look at all the projects people made with it. It gives you ideas for the yarn. I have been looking for a inexpensive yarn that will meet my wants for Merino. I found a yarn at Michaels that I'm knitting a sweater out of right now. So far the yarn is soft and working up nice. I have found a knot in the two balls I've used so far, and tinked back to under the arm to cut and then continue. The yarn is Loops & Threads Luxe Merino. 55% Merino, 45% acrylic. They have around 7 colors. I'm working with the color Sedona. I also bought a sweaters quantity of Rhubarb, and the black. It's a 3 weight, and there is 410 yards. It is around $10.00. I don't know if anyone else has tried this yarn but so far it's working out nicely. I'm making a long sleeve pullover called the Library Sweater. I've knit the whole body and used less than 2 balls so far. I bought 6 balls, so I'm thinking this yarn goes a long way.
Ravelry has “will sell or trade” option on your stash tad! I had great luck finding stuff there.
Ditto! I found a discontinued yarn that I needed two more skeins for my project. It was even the same dye lot!
Correct.
I've seen that feature but wondered how "usable" it is. Cool that you've had luck!
I did a de-stash. I donated my acrylic yarn and straight needles to a junior high school with a knitting program. There are 46 kids in the program! The kids knit during their lunch hour and after school. 😊
This is fantastic! My husband's high school has a pretty bustling knitting club and I've yet to donate yarn to them (I keep forgetting!). This is a great reminder to me to take some over there. ❤
Thank you for addressing this issue. For me, it's an environmental subject as well. So many of us have huge yarn stashes, even making jokes about it (referring to it as their 'pension') and we still keep adding to it, because we can't resist the urge to collect more. I myself am guilty to that too but I'm slowly becoming more conscious about it, also thanks to you and your vlogs, in which you often stress the importance of goal oriented yarn buying. I'm hoping that every time we let go of yarn, it teaches us to become more thoughtful of what to buy next time. Also, I'm telling people who want to buy me a present, not to buy me yarn (they know I'm a passionate crocheter so for some people, yarn is the obvious thing). But when I'm gifted yarn that I haven't chosen myself, the chance I'll use it is almost zero. I was gifted a pack of 100% acrylic yarn once, which I never use because it's basically plastic, and after a year I gave it to a local primary school where they used it to teach kids to knit and crochet. I felt bad about it at first but relieved afterwards. The other option would have been to use it as stuffing for my amigurumi :) Thanks for the great tips, keep up the good work!
Yup…..Ravelry still does destash! It’s a really great resource.
yup just checked
Great to know! I don't know where that little seed was planted in my mind, but I'm happy to know I was wrong. 😂
I have been marling yarns forever. Great stashbuster! Another simple trick that sometimes works is to dump all your yarn into a pile a see what colors work together. Sometimes it’s a big surprise!
Oooo I love this!
Great topic. Don't forget that yarn can be used for stuffing knitted or crocheted dolls, creatures etc. Also knitting guilds sometimes have destash events.
I just did a purge and threw away yarn and projects I no longer loved! So freeing! Started some exciting brioche projects with new amazing yarns.
Another option under the “donate” genre for US watchers: my local Buy Nothing Group has yarn pop up every month or so, and I’ve given some away as well. It’s a nice medium between a charity and friends because while they may be strangers they’re your neighbors, and you can look through everyone who is interested to pick a recipient. I’ve also seen someone giving away a fveey ancy stash (Madeline Tosh, Spincycle, and that price point of yarn) by asking people to comment under the photo of the yarn they were interested with a project idea they had for it, and chose based on that!
Another place to consider donating are two online second hand art shops: Make & Mend Shop and A Thrifty Notion. They are basically art supply consignment/thrift shops. Make & Mend is half fiber arts and half other art supplies and also has an in person location. A Thrifty Notion is specific to sewing and fiber crafts. I feel like these are really cool small businesses with a focus on keeping our crafts more sustainable and accessible. : )
Also, check if little yarn shops in your area have a destash bin that accepts donations! Sometimes I see vendors at wool and yarn fairs have these, so I know that some stores must have them!
Perhaps not hand dyed, but elementary school teachers would use yarn. At the high school I work at there is a knitting club which does charity knitting (blankets for nursing homes, hats and blankets for hospital pediatric wards, etc). I have donated those “yarns that no longer bring me joy” to them.
I was “working on” a sort of complicated cardigan for years with this rusty wool. Eventually I just frogged it and did a Norwegian-style color work sweater with it-it was done in like a month. 😂
I knit prayer shawls for my local church and I'm glad you brought up donations! The church I started knitting prayer shawls at operated entirely on donated yarn. The shawls are given away for free, usually to people dealing with an illness or grief. I've found it very fulfilling work and would encourage people to participate if they are comfortable doing so!
I just love your chatty casual style. So easy to listen to. Thanks Tayler
Thank you so much Valerie! So glad you're here to watch. ❤
Great video! I inherited 3 large 100Litre tubs of yarn from a craft friend who passed away last year. All of us in our craft group got the same quantity and the remaining acrylic yarn was donated to another group who knit/crochet for charity. Janet had a huge stash of yarn and craft supplies! I wasn't totally in love with most of it, there were some sweater quantities of wool but most were 1 or 2 balls of each colour, but I wanted to honour my dear friend by using all of it........ I saw a fair isle blanket knit make along but the suggested wool wasn't available in Australia, I rummaged through Janet's stash and there were the colours! I'm planning on gifting the blanket to her husband for Xmas. In one of your previous videos, you paired mohair with fingering weight yarn for a floofy cardi, so I raided Janet's stash for mohair and yarn, on their own the colours weren't appealing to me, but marled together they looked fabulous, they became a cropped cardi grandie girl #1, which she loves. I love the idea of holding 3 strands of fingering weight yarn to make a chunky beanie, with all these ideas, I might get through the tubs afterall, and my large stash as well.
You can also knit easy accessories like hats and mitts that you can donate to local charities :)
When i buy or receive yarn that is not my color, sometimes I find the great use by gift knitting! I am learning the colors that suit me and also what may suit others! Love holding two similar color yarns as well, sometimes to even change the tone or temperature of the colors 😉
Clever 👌
Anyway I am not ready to say goodbye to anything in my stash. Everything I have, speaks to me.. all the time.. even when I am at work I am thinking about what to do with THAT yarn in my stash.. so I am not ready to let it go, I love everything I own 🤣 I just need more time to knit all that yarn, like 45 years I think 🤣
My favorite podcast! ❤ 🤩 love your ideas and thoughts are brilliant 👌
Big hug from Norway
I have overdyed lots of yarn! I have a gorgeous batch of 10 skeins of Elsepeth Lavold's Silky Wool in a deep burnt orange color. The original color was an insipid pinky gray. I bought the yarn on deep discount intending to dye it.
Ravelry still allows destash. There are groups for it for all sorts of yarn, fiber, equipment, etc.
The marling tip is LEGIT. I marl yarns I'm not super into and it's definitely a case of the sum being greater than it's parts!
I bought expensive yarn that looked like school colors yellow and blue. I did not want to knit with it. I bought green mohair and it is knitting up so nice. Thank you.
Oh this is great news! What a good feeling. ❤️
Our elementary school art teacher does a weaving project every year with the 4th grade. I donated a big bag of leftovers and yarn I no longer used/ was interested in to the teacher. She loved it. I like knowing it will be used.
Gift knitting is good. ALso I have tried lace kitting and it is not my jam. But taking a strand of plain lace yarn and marling it with other yarn for sweaters etc. has been great at slightly changing the color and thickness of the other yarn
As a crocheter, quilter, and more recently a knitter, I am lucky my lovely niece is always happy to shop my yarn and fabric stash. I taught her how to quilt and she taught me how to knit. And I have been crocheting since I was a kid.
Great ideas, i feel like taking yarn I'm not thrilled with and holding it up to all kinds of others and see if something looks complimentary! I really like this idea.
I had some yarn in my stash set aside for a top and it just kept getting pushed aside. I realized that the issue was that I didn’t want to wear the color near my face, so I doubled it and knit myself a pair of shorts for sleeping in! I love them and I have one less sweater quantity of yarn in my stash!
Local community facebook groups often ask for yarn for care homes and/or kids craft nights which definitely made me feel slightly better knowing the yarns I spent so much money will be enjoyed by someone else rather than sat in my stash
Creative Reuse Centers are another great option for donations. They are like thrift stores but specifically for craft supplies.
Loved these tips! I am currently working on a pair of fingerless mitts with leftover yarn from a sweater. I used the ravelry search for yarn to find patterns - first the sweater, then mitts, next is a hat. The process and knitting is so enjoyable. Also had crocheted a tee with a cotton blend. The colour was not what I had expected (first online pandemic yarn purchase) but went ahead anyway. Easy yarn to work with, gorgeous drape and then I tried it on. The colour totally washed me out. I hung onto it for 6 months until a little TH-cam birdie talked about dyeing garments to get new life out of them. The new navy sweater is perfect and has interesting depth in the colour. Highly recommend over dyeing.
Another donation or resale place maybe local knitting or crochet classes. I gave away my partially used acrylic stash to some students in the kids class but I could see adults wanting to try out some hand dyed yarn at a discount.
Haven't heard about destashify but it is definitely worth a look for my other crafts that have fallen to the wayside since I took up knitting.
Many thanks T!
I am planning to use my less loved yarn to practice and compare new techniques - new cast ons, bind offs, etc. I’m hoping it will help me decide what to use in my bigger projects without needing to try something and then need to tink back when it doesn’t work.
This is a GREAT idea. ❤
I started crocheting at the end of 2021 and definitely got a little yarn happy at the beginning and bought tons of cheap yarn from Joann’s Michael’s and big bags from goodwill so i could build up a stash and feel like a “real crocheter”. I got sucked in by sales and “limited edition” or seasonal yarns because I had that “well if I don’t buy it now then I can’t get it” mindset. Now that I know my preferences and what I like using I have quite a bit of yarn that I no longer want to use but had a hard time getting rid of it because I feel financially and environmentally wasteful. I used to feel like I should just make something with it so I can use it but it got to a point where the yarn didn’t only take up a lot of physical space but also mental space as well. So I’ve been working through yarn I do love and I’ve held back some staple colors for when people in my family ask me to make them things but I have given away and donated quite a bit of yarn that doesn’t bring me joy. I now know that I’d much rather buy yarn I love and is good quality even if it means I don’t have a lot anymore
I love learning new things about Ravelry, thank you for the search tips!
Thanks for the video! Wonderful topic! My problem is I love all my yarns! Can’t even decide which ones to give away! I just need TIME to knit them all! 😅😅❤
And that’s an important thing to consider. It’s totally OK to love it all and to keep it all. ❤❤
I tend to use yarn that I dislike to mock up different stitches, new techniques or swatch a new pattern.
This is a fantastic idea! 🙌
I use your first tip often...for the impulse buy yarn that I just had to have but didn't purchase for a specific project. It's not just me right?!? Since I'm stuck with the quantity I have I love the advanced search to see what my possibilities are for just that amount! I often find projects I may not have sought out on my own!
Great topic, I have lots of yarn that I still love, but I get so easily distracted by new yarns or I see projects I want to make and feel I don’t have the right yarn. I will try to implement the yarn combinations and use some of the fingering yarn. I clearly buy way faster then I can knit😂
You're not alone! 😉
Really great suggestions there Tayler. The idea of searching for different projects made from the same yarn is a great one. ❤
Are you still using your Centro hat loom? Love the podcast. Thank you for taking the time to put together this blurb.💕. Iris
Great ideas as usual! I will use Ravelry a lot more! I love that cute jacket/cardigan. Looks sooooo cozy!
I’ve over dyed quite a bit of yarn that wasn’t speaking to me anymore. I went threw a phase of bright colors for poppy color work but I’ve realized I just never wear them. When I over dye the yarn a lot of time I just try to mute it darken it slightly and it makes a big difference
Great tips and thank you for sharing Destashify.
What!! Hey that was me and somehow I’m here first too?? You’re the best! Thank you!
Yay!!! Look at you! I hope I managed to give you some ideas. ❤ Thank you for the tip. 😘
What a fantastic pod today as always
Finding destashed yarns on a few sites is so nice when on a budget
I’ve already checked few out
My many thanks Taylor !!!
😊💝🇨🇦
My pleasure Debbie! I'm happy you enjoyed this one. Thank you for watching and happy destsh shopping. It's so satisfying!
A little disappointed you moved that over dying sweater video to your patreon. Will the over dying yarn video help with a sweater? I have a weird yellow tan sweater I would love to get deep brown.
This video may be just for you if you’re thinking of overdyeing a sweater. The video was public on this channel for quite a while, but I’ve decided that any yarn dyeing or dyeing videos I do from here on out will be available exclusively on Patreon.
Super topic! I did this a couple years ago and may do again soon. One thing I do is to kit my yarns with ideas found, this does a couple things one reminds me of what the yarn's direction is all about and sets prepared projects ready to go. When boredom hits, change is in order, or getting to the ending a current wip, or time to shake up things, I grab a kitted project. I usually have at least 2-4 kits ready to grab and start. I also do this around March and again in June and again in October for holiday knit gifts. I always have a gift wip going, along with personal wips. This way when that birthday rolls around or holiday I am ready. I have been doing it this way for ages and it is helpful. That yarn I didn't like, but knit into a quick hat is great for a teacher gift or homeless person or a neighbor that fed my animals. Folks don't care if you hand made it they are touched.
This is a fantastic idea. Love making kits with my stash yarn and having things ready to go is just motivating all on its own. 🙌
Here in Chicago we have a non-profit creative materials reuse store where craft and art supplies can be donated - generally the folks who shop there are makers so I always feel good about donating some of my "better" yarns to The Wasteshed. Since viewing your episode on the Centro knitting machine (one of my fav episodes!) I've been thinking of purchasing one for clearing back stash & to make hats for donations to various agencies in the city. Have a great weekend everyome!
Hi Jill! This is really an amazing thing to have access to for not only those wanting to offload supplies and materials, but also for those looking to save or really to even have access to the craft at all. I wish there was something like that here. And I'm glad you like the Centro video. It really is a great way to create for charity. ❤️
Terrific podcast! Thank you.
destashify is a reeeeally dangerous resource to tell us about 😂new place to buy lol
I know!!! I realized that as I watched it back! What have I done?? 😉😂
I’d like to see a demo (from start to finish!) of making the hat on your Sentro knitting machine!
I think many get half way through knitting a garment and get bored. Depends if its the texture, the way it knits up or the colour, which can be re-dyed. Would it look better in a plain stockinette stitch and gets lost in a lace pattern? 95% of my yarn is pre-loved and discontinued, which makes it difficult to match a pattern with the same gauge and correct amount of metres to knit a garment. 😢
What a great idea! I never think to do marled
It's such a magical technique! ❤
Great tips! Thanks for sharing.
I do digital art & design, so I like to treat yarn as texture and color palette and thru that vision design items based off vibe, details and composition. You can try it too with some pencils or whatever drawing supplies you got on hand. Whole point is to relieve anxiety around "making or not making"-thoughts. Simple lines on paper or screen can be much easier to digest, re-imagine, spin around elswhere than you headspace and maybe even help with starting new project with existing supply.
Because buying ANYTHING often starts with an idea of an idea, you could basicaly try to sell it to yourself again.
Yes. LOVE THIS. ❤ “try and sell it to yourself again”-🤌🤌
Great podcast thank you 🧶☕️😊
Excellent ideas for "that" yarn.
How about knitting something to donate? For example hats for foster kids, lap blankets for a care center or a shawl for cancer patients.
Yes, absolutely always an option. ❤
Only for those who use easy care yarn, though! A lot of knitters knit because we love hand knits, but I wouldn't want to saddle anyone in a rough situation with an item that needs to be hand washed or even that can't go in the dryer. We really value the things we make, but when giving a gift to a stranger, I think it's more appropriate to prioritize what their needs are and not expect them to automatically love something because we loved it or spent a lot of energy on it.
For folks who buy more premium natural wool yarns that don't make good gift knits, I'm sure that other knitters who are experiencing hardships in their lives and can't afford those yarns would love to get them as a donation.
Excellent topic!!
I need to go through my yarn and weed out the no gos!! I also have a large collection of fabric to go through! Guess I'm going to be busy!!
It will be a very satisfying endeavor, I can imagine. Good luck and here's to the chance you'll find a long-lost gem. ❤
Excellent video!
Thanks!
Thank you so much Rebecca! ❤️
love your videos and ideas
Great video. I’ve got some yarn used up!
Consider donating to public libraries for craft projects.
I bought 3 expensive hanks of 110g of worsted weight Friesian wool that was dyed with logwood. I was so happy to support a local farm. When I made a cake of yarn, pieces of logwood fell out of the yarn and my hands were now blue. I have then soaked the hanks in water 3 times in the hope of releasing the excess of dye, but the water was still blue. Someone suggested to soak it again with an alum mordant this time so that it might help the dye "stick" to the yarn, but that was also unsuccessful. This yarn is so rough on the fingers when I handle it, leaving a coat of blue dust that stains my fingers. I even made a couple of pompoms but hated so much the feel on my fingers that I gave up. I have not yet found the courage to throw it in the garbage. Any last resort suggestions for this awful yarn ?
Gosh, how frustrating! It sounds like the yarn was not brought up to temp for long enough. My first suggestion would be to put the yarn in a pot with the alum mordant and bring it up to just under simmering and leave it until the water goes clear (the color will leach out of the yarn as the water heats up). If that doesn't work, I'm afraid I'm not sure what to do other than trying to over-dye it with acid dye (the word acid coming from the use of a citric acid mordant...there's no acid in the dye). Have you reached out to the dyer where you purchased it?
@@WOOLNEEDLESHANDS Thank you so much for your suggestion. I would really really like to make this work even though the color has already lost its intensity.
I contacted the owner of the yarn company. She is not doing business with this hand dyer anymore. She said that she still has some hanks of the same batch of yarn as mine, and that was not a problem for her to knit with it and that she was aware that some dye was released when soaking in water. She was ready to give me a full refund for the untouched yarn or a gift certificate of 60% of the purchase value for the yarn I had already manipulated.
I tried to join the linked destash Facebook group and they blocked me 😂🤷♀️
This was sooooooo helpful,,
3 seconds in, I realize that I DO have a sweater quantity of a certain yarn and I don’t remember why I bought it…so here I am…
I'm glad you're here! ❤
@@WOOLNEEDLESHANDSgosh Tayler, I’m tryna listen to Tayler!😅
Thanks Tayler, lots of good ideas here…
Great ideas❤
I can’t make blankets for this reason. I get bored and want to move on to something bright and shiny 😂
Looks over at Bags of Noro Kotori (deep sigh).
Lol we all have that bag/basket/nondescript box of yarn laying around. I feel you. ❤️
Was that overdyeing video previously posted here on your channel? I feel like I watched it? Am I going crazy??
It was on her channel not that long ago.
Nope. You're not going crazy. It was here for about two months. With the exception of some dyeing content from a few years ago, new yarn dyeing/dyeing videos in general will be shared on Patreon.
Instead of over-dying, you can bleach it! I wanted to change the color of a knitted sweater that was dark aubergine color not fitted to me and bleaching it worked! Now it’s rich pink/purple 😊 The yarn was cotton & nylon mix and I think it could work on wool as well.
That marled hat looks like tomato pesto in the best way
Oooo I like it! (now I'm hungry...) ❤🍅
@@WOOLNEEDLESHANDS please wear it while eating some pasta or pizza. You don't need to share it anywhere, I will just be satisfied knowing that you might
@@saraht855 I just might. 😉
i make hats on my knitting machine to donate.
That's an excellent way to do it!
Taylor or anyone, please tell me roughly how many 25g balls of the lace weight yarn you used for the cardigan or a normal woman's sweater? I just love the idea but don't want to over order as it's expensive.
It will depend on the pattern you want to knit. You’ll need the same number of yards/meters (not the weight) of the lace weight yarn as the weight of yarn you’ll be using to knit your sweater, in your size. Hopefully that makes sense.
@@Katepwe yes it seems so obvious now that you've said it.... have you every used the Drops lace weight kid silk? I'm looking at it on sale now and am thinking I might get some, it's seems like a good price.
@@hannahv1930 I used the Drops Kid-Silk and really like it (I'm a medium grade of sensitive, I'd say).
It is not comparable in softness to the higher priced mohairs, like Isager which I used recently. But I would use and plan to use the Drops Kid-Silk again for sure. And the price is great.
If you're not a fan of the colour, knit/crochet an item and give it away.
I’m allergic to most of my yarn 😂
😂
Oh no! Time to let it go!!
:)
You sound like my horoscope ❤ 😂
One more thought that has helped me:
Show that yarn to another maker and let them tell ypu why it is so great and what you could make with it 🧶