Yarn you no longer love

 

This is really funny.  I spent the morning putting the yarn I didn't want any longer - had it for years - in plastic bags.  This is the second time I've done this.  I really need to get rid of the yarn I know I'm not going to use because I have so much of the yarn I really love!

I have my friend's daughter and daughters-in-law take what they want and they dispose of the rest as they see fit.  If there is any left this time, I'm going to donate it to my church's craft group.

I hate getting rid of it, but I've been buying yarn on sale for over 20 years and have quite a stash.  Besides, I want to use my new, pretty yarn!

Peggy

    It's important to decide if you don't want to use the yarn at all or if you just don't want to use it for you and those you like to knit/crochet for.  If you're certain that you never want to use the yarn for any purpose, donate it to a thrift shop or a shop that takes donations of such materials for artists and teachers.  For example, we have S.C.R.A.P. in San Francisco.  If you live in an area without such shops, call some local churches.  Many have charity knitting groups that love donations for their projects.  Likewise a needle arts guild might accept donations for charity projects that they knit.  Is there a Michael's or other craft store where people routinely gather to make knitted and crocheted pieces (the size is described by the store) to fit together for charity blankets.  Perhaps they would accept your yarn.

     If you don't want to use the yarn to make items for you and your friends, do you have friends who knit or crochet who would like to use the kind of yarns you have.  Make up gift packages for them.  No matter how much yarn we have, a gift of a yarn we didn't select in a color we might not have thought of using can inspire us.  Call it a "no reason" present.  But why not use the yarn for charity items yourself?  Every year, in between projects for family and friends, I make a variety of charity scarves.  There is a lovely pattern for a Chemo Cap and Scarflet on the Berroco website.  The pattern is available in crochet and knit versions.  Make up a bunch of sets and send them to the Cancer Society to go to people going through chemotherapy.

I've done a few things with yarn that I'm done with, or never engaged with. Some I donated to our LYS, because they also do charity knitting events. Other yarn I put in the Goodwill pile, and still others stayed in my stash and came into use again. 

I have just spent a few days organizing and cataloging my yarn (sadly, I have to admit that I have that much, and it was getting out of hand) and I have a toy "bug eye" the kind that refracts or makes kaleidoscopic what you are looking at. It helps me come up with color combos that I would not otherwise have thought of, so that green yarn that isn't in your queue right now, might some day fit right in again. 

You just have to figure out how many "some days" you can stash for. Also if you find it's a yarn that you will no longer plan for (acrylic anyone? my family wouldn't let me make afghans out of wool, or anything out of wool, so I tried "high end acrylic" as a substitute. Can't do it anymore) it can go. but if it's just a question of color or even texture, I'd hang on to it

 Hi ShellyR,

How about checking out the "Yarnbombing" posts and looking at the picture references that readers have sent in and donate all that yarn to those yarnbombers   Who knows, we may wake up one morning and see some decorations in our own neighborhoods. I think this would be just so-o-o-o-o stunning!  Just thinking about it makes me laugh! 

  If you belong to a Knitting club maybe you could have a yarn swap like my members do every week.  I have some nice yarn i swapped with two of my ladies and i'm knitting a pair of  baby legwarmers for my craft stall.  You could also have a craft stall or sell it on Ebay.  There are lots of ways to swap yarn you don't love.  Maybe you could knit up a wrap or a shawl for a pressie etc.

 

 we have a Gildas Club in our town so thats where I donate all my yarn and fabric. They have knitting groups for cancer pts and families.  I will also knit caps and donate them there and at my oncologists office. Giving cancer pts and their families something to do while going threw the disease is very rewarding.

When I have yarn I don't like, I swap the yarn for yarn I've never tried or yarn I think I will knit up, using one of the several swapping forums on Ravelry (Karma Yarn Swap, Completely Pointless and Arbitrary Swap, Chittery Chattery Swappers, UKarma Swap, etc.)  Other choices include Destashing (sell/trade) it on the ISO and Destash forum on Ravelry, destashing (sell/trade) through the knittinghelp.com forums, or "freecycle" it locally or on Ravelry. 

If you are part of a knitting group (or try to create one if there is not one near you), have a knitting potluck.  I actually heard this idea in reference to scrapbooking but I don't see why it can't work for yarn and patterns too.  Have everyone who attends bring a skein or two of yarn they are not enamored of (or don't have anymore use for) and make a trade.  Chances are everyone will find something they like. 

When I started knitting, I somehow wound up with every color acrylic know to man. And some very tacky "fru-fru" (novelty) yarn. I cleaned out closets & had 8 big yard trash bags that I gave to the retirement home.

Hi Jules,

I would hope that you consider making hats/scarves for your local homeless shelter.  The winters can be cold for those folks left out in it.  I started doing this two years ago and my mom and  sister also help out with this effort. If you (or anyone else reading this post) can do that for the rescue mission in your area,  they will be so htrilled to get them.  We usually knit all year as time permits.

Please consider this option?

Kelleigh~

Hello,

I would love to take the yarn off your hands,lol

Let me explain...I am 55 F who has been knitting since I was 11.I broke my back twice, am disabled and on a very limited income. i would love to have any yarn in your stash that you do not want.

 

I have plenty of free patterns from the internet,but I cannot afford the yarn. i love my knitting it takes my mind off of my pain. I also have fibromyalgia and lupus,so I am pretty much housebound and bedridden. I used to quilt,craft,etc.but now the only thing I can do and enjoy is knitting.

If anyone has yarn they would like to donate, I would appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.

I do chemo caps,blankets,hats and booties for newborns that I take to my local hospital.

If you can help me out, I would really appreciate it. My email is marykathryn22@yahoo.com.

Thank you so much; i hope to hear from you. have a blessed and joyous holiday season.

MaryKathrynh

Hi MaryKathrynh, 

How are you doing?  I read your post and am wondering if you had any response to your request?  I know that the Good Will Stores have yarns from time to time. 

Good Morning Jules G! I trust by now you have found a use for the yarn you didn't care for. This past month my LYS had a Christmas party where we played "Dirty Santa." It was a chance to exchange yarn from our stashes that we weren't likely to use. I brought in some nice bamboo yarn I'd had for years and took home a nice silk/wool blend. I've also given away some other yarn - either from partial or full skeins - to friends who could use it and to charities. This past year my church donated scarves that had been knitted by members to a homeless shelter. Also, no, normally I would not make a baby blanket for a friend out of seaweed colored yarn, but I have used "sea foam." I'll confess that once I made booties out of leftover yarn that was in a tweedy brown/green/ivory mix, but this was when I was married to a real skinflint! Turned out that the baby was female, but the mother expressed appreciation anyway. Take care and happy knitting and stashing!

If it's machine-washable, I use it for prayer shawls which are donated to a group at church.  If it isn't machine-washable, I give it to my daughter.  She can always find a use for it.