PUGCENTRIC PURSUITS
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Ideas for Using Scrap Yarn

I'm afraid my scrap yarn bin and leftover thread basket gets more attention than anything else in my stash.   Most of these things were made without a pattern, just a hook, a ball of yarn or thread, and a few idle hours.  And the nice thing is that many of these projects are helpful for storage or organizing other things in my house.

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​​I kept an empty plastic jar out of the recycling bin and used a 6 mm crochet hook and some DK yarn to crochet a cover.  The pattern was easy: 2 dc, front post dc, 2 dc, chain 1, cross dc over two stitches, chain 1, and repeat to end.   ​Once I got to the top of the jar, I added a 3 chain mesh to run a ribbon through.
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Since my wrapped jar is going to hold dpns, I used a flower brad (from Michael's) to attach a crochet motif with 4 beaded stitch markers.    

(I used Gedifra Ayala yarn, a little over an ounce, for this project.   It's a rayon/linen/nylon blend with a little shine.  It's very nice to handle with great stitch definition.) 
tiny crochet basket to hold digital camera
I was playing around with braiding a dollhouse rug.  The results were not happy, so I was using it to rest my camera on.  It occurred to me to work two rows of single crochet up the side.  The little bed is perfect for storing my camera safely, and the spot of color is useful sometimes to add to a photo shoot and crop out later.   I think this fools the camera into improving the white balance?

I crocheted a cover for a glass bottle with white cotton thread.  I tinted it green by sitting it in a bowl of diluted acyrlic paint and textile medium.  With all the openwork stitches, I use it to display organize and earrings. 

The crochet bowl holds small skeins of needle point yarn.  It was worked with polyester twines and a jumbo hook.  I didn't make this one - it was a thrift store find.

The wall hanging features a square motif crocheted with post stitches and a pretty variegated thread.  I stitched it onto a piece of purple felt, and added a border of vintage crochet.  It hangs on the bookshelf with my needlework books; I use it to store bookmarks.  (I love to make bookmarks, but that is a different project.)

I love to work with vintage Red Heart Luster Sheen.  Not the cotton thread - it's a fine sport-weight acrylic that comes in skeins.    I used leftovers to crochet the bowl in a basketweave pattern.  And I had enough to make three coasters.  Turns out that three coasters can be laced together with ribbon to make a great wrap for a mason jar.

These tiny crocheted stars just take a little bit of cotton thread.  I love the filet centers.

The hot pads are a blast to make.  It's really just a standard circle worked with double crochet.  That's the base, and you free-form any design you want using a sc-chain 3- sc stitch.  It's old-fashioned ruffle crochet with folksy-artsy flair.  And so much fun to do.

Vintage size 30 thread makes a tiny circular motif that fits very nicely in pendant blanks you can buy online.  A resin top makes a nice finish, but I never got that far.

The snowflake is an exploded thread crochet ornament.  I used polyester twine and a big hook.  It was floppy, of course, but lacing it into a wire frame with brown twine took care of that problem.  I use craft wire, which can be hardened with a mallet.  It flattens it, strengthens it, and gives it a nice texture.

I crocheted a band with orange variegated crochet thread to display a special book collection.

Recycling bottles is good for Mother Earth.  An empty vitamin bottle was just the size to hold the scissors, pencil and pen that I use every day.   And it's the perfect framework for a lacy crochet cover.  A big double crochet shell, alternating with a mesh stitch, was the perfect design.  And very easy to gather at the top with a crochet chain.

Two more tiny bottles got the same treatment.  The very tiny bottle with the long neck and the white cover is perfect for storing whatever steel crochet hook is in use.  The tips of those hooks can be terribly sharp, and I have a pug with a special interest in thread crochet!
  • Home
  • My Etsy Stores
  • Dollhouse Crochet
    • How I Crochet for the Dollhouse
    • Playing with Scale for Dollhouse Bedspreads
  • Embroidery Projects
  • Knit & Crochet Projects
    • Crochet Projects
    • Ideas for Using Scrap Yarn
    • Fixing a Hole in Knitting
    • Queue
  • "Everything Else" Projects
  • Vintage Yarn Library