What To Do With Yarn That's Beat

[Real Deal]

In the interest of recycling, what do you do with yarn that's beat?

 

My sister was recently was given a trash bag full of yarn that I would classify as beat, but you know, you look at all that yarn, and there's no way to throw it away if it can possibly be made into something.

 

I looked at it and sorted, and thought. Many skeins were fuzzed up on the outside layer ~ ones that aren't supposed to be fuzzy, like Red Heart Super Saver.

 

Lots of pets hair. OK. I can use masking tape on that.

 

A good deal of it was rolled into balls, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's that the balls were wound so tightly that the "sprong" is permanently gone from the yarn. I don't understand why people do that! It's ruined, but we're talking pounds of yarn here. It made me want to cry.

 

When I finished sorting it was about half Red Heart and half Simply Soft. The Simply Soft was very inconsistent, with some of it soft and nice, and some of it stringy.

 

There's lots of nice colors, but I was stumped about what to do. I thought for a couple days, then finally decided. I'll use all this for shopping bags or rugs. Now I've narrowed that down to shopping bags. I'm happy with this choice.

[aflute05]

It's nice that somebody decided to give your sister all that yarn. Someone did that for me once and I made shawls and scarves for months. I just wish people would take better care of yarn, and not wind it tightly, like you described.

I'm so glad you were able to salvage some of it. Making shopping bags is one small way to be better on the environment!

Kudos!

[oliveoil]

Shopping bags--Great idea!!

[mellowe67]

How about the dog beds, there is some info regarding them in the charity blitz for this month. That would be like rugs. Just an idea.

[darski]

I was going to suggest pet snuggles but you already have a plan. good on you for making the effort.

[chrissyf]

you could also use all that great donated yarn for pet snuggles for your local animal shelter. They are going to be well loved and the critters do not mind if the yarn is sproingless and beat up.Just a thought

[Real Deal]

You know, I looked at all that yarn, and I don't care how much yarn I acquire, that bag full is at least 5 pounds. Probably more. I am not letting it go to waste.

 

I began the first shopping tote with some of the Simply Soft, but it honestly felt too skimpy. I frogged it and started over with double strands. This is much better. I've paired up all the colors so everything I make will be tweeded. It looks good and is sturdy.

[HomekeepingGran]

This is probably not the kind of thing you were looking for, but use it for stuffing in other projects. Personally I don't like to spend my time with yarn or thread that isn't in good condition.

[Real Deal]

You know Gran, you're right. There are some smaller balls I think I'll chop up because I do use stuffing. Good idea.

[sOCKsgirl]

I have to admit I think i may have wound a ball of yarn too tight not too long ago. a couple years ago when I first started to learn to crochet I wanted to make a baby blanket for my friend. My cousin never EVER uses patterns she can't even read them so she just said "make a chain as long as you want the blanket and keep doing single crochet until it's as wide as you want" well the chain ended up stretching out the more I crocheted and the blanket was almost as long as a twin sized bed! It was taking way too long to make so I quit and bought my friend a gift instead!

 

I decided to unravel the half made blanket and turn it into my baby ensemble. I used 2 new skeins of yarn and now i'm on the unraveled yarn, well the unraveled yarn definately seems less "sproingy" and very kinky. I hope it won't show too much because I really don't want to go out and buy more yarn.

 

Actually now that I think of it I did the same thing to some caron simply soft when I was trying to make a beret that didn't work out. I wound that way too tight.

 

Oh my I'm guilty of yarn abuse! I swear I didn't know what I was doing! Can you ever forgive me?

[Real Deal]

Yeah, yarn is funny that way. Once it has been too stretched, it doesn't want to go back.

 

What I'm doing now is working out good though. Now I've got a tote and a rug going using double strands, and they're working up fine. I'm doing single crochet. I figure if I use longer stitches, like double crochet, it might look fine until the items need washing. Then they'd probably go limp as noodles. I'm staying with tighter stitching, so I think they'll be OK.

[Real Deal]

When you hand roll balls of yarn, roll around the ball and around 1 finger at the same time. That puts extra space in there when you remove your finger. Just keep rolling over a finger as you work. When the ball gets fairly large, you might want to roll over 2 fingers to keep the tension correct. It seems very odd at first to do this, but it does work.

[Cliffnote]

I use mine as stuffing for dolls, pillows,ect.... I have some thats tangled and I have no patience to untabgle it(its really bad) and I also save the tiny scraps I cut from projects, and I use it for stuffing things.

 

Kim

[Becky Morgan]

You can unwind the too-tight balls, make them into a big loose hank and hang them in your shower (or steam them if you have a steamer.) That helps. So does fastening them with several secure rubber bands and throwing them in the dryer.

[Empress Busy Bee]

Many skeins were fuzzed up on the outside layer ~ ones that aren't supposed to be fuzzy, like Red Heart Super Saver.

 

Lots of pets hair.

My answer is not going to be popular I'm sure. Honestly I'd just throw it away.

I'm highly allergic to pet hair, especially cats. So I'm not going mess with something that's filled with it.

The fuzzy stuff doesn't look nice and never will.

If I had to make something, I'd make pet blankets to donate. That's just me. I know you're already making things.

 

[mamarose22]

I belong to a craft group and we do some community service projects. I used to crochet pet mats for our local shelter, but was told they no longer will accept crocheted or knitted blankets as the pets get their claws caught in the yarn, They prefer fabric over yarn.

You can wash the yarn, especially the balls with pet hair. Unwind them, and wrap the yarn around a chair and when you come to the end, tie a piece of the yarn in the middle, like the old-fashioned skeins. Then put it in the washer on a short cycle and dry. This way you know you are not making anything that can cause the recipient to have an allergic reaction.

When I get odds and ends of yarn, I just make a huge granny rectangle, adding on new colors even in the middle of the row. This is sent to people in need.

[Empress Busy Bee]

You can wash the yarn, especially the balls with pet hair. Unwind them, and wrap the yarn around a chair and when you come to the end, tie a piece of the yarn in the middle, like the old-fashioned skeins. Then put it in the washer on a short cycle and dry. This way you know you are not making anything that can cause the recipient to have an allergic reaction.

No you cannot know that you're making something pet hair free. Some is always going to stick.

It's not a chance that I want to take. I had my airways nearly closed up by a cat hair reaction. It's not something I ever want to go through again. It's easy for people without the allergies to say wash it and it'll be fine. It's just not a chance I want to take.

[Real Deal]

Since all this yarn was given to my sister, it's staying at her house, and I'm working on it when I'm over there. She has had a lot of pets in the past, so it's not a problem in this case. All the items I make will be for her or myself. Some of the yarn does need cleaning before using though.

 

I finished the first project and it came out adorable. It's a small rug, just big enough to put in front of her favorite chair as a footie rug. It's all double stranded Caron Simply Soft, done in sc in stripes. Dark and light blues are the main colors, then stripes are in maroon, pink, peach, yellow, red and white.

 

I didn't want to put fringe on the ends because it goes ratty looking so fast. I often finish items with a shell edging, but that didn't seem right either. I have no idea why I did this because it doesn't even make sense to try it with double strands of ww, but I did a 3 st picot, then 5 sc along the edge, 3 st picot, 5 sc along the edge. I didn't like it and ripped back to the first picot. I looked at it and looked at it, and finally decided to make the picot bigger. I took it out and made a 5 st picot, then 5 sc, 5 st picot, 5 sc.

 

Now I was rocking! This st which is not designed for use with this heavy of yarn was coming out so cute. It wouldn't make a point, but instead made a U shape, and once the entire row was done, was surprisingly attractive. So I did the other end also, and showed my sister. She loved it. I put it down on the floor and just sat there drinking my coffee and beaming, that I'd really made something so cute and useful with this yarn. Now I have to tie and weave in all the ends.

 

I feel much more encouraged now about using yarn that is "beat." If it's not ripped and torn, or weaked in some other way, throw rugs are the way to go. They can be used in so many places ~ next to the bed, in front of favorite chairs, in doorways, and in front of the kitchen sink and stove for padding underfoot. I guess I'll be busy.