One-Skein Wonders

There are lonely, single skeins of yarn in every knitter’s closet — casualties of projects discarded in mid-row, single balls of alpaca or cashmere because you can’t afford more than one, the leftovers from long-completed projects. They really should be used, but for what? Here are 101 original and charming solutions to the perpetual one-skein problem. Contributed by yarn shops across the United States, these patterns include hats, mittens, scarves, bags, socks, baby sweaters, belts, headbands, a cell phone carrier, and even a tea cozy and a set of coasters, each using just a single skein of yarn.

With patterns arranged by yarn weight, you’ll easily find broad ranges of possibilities for your particular yarn orphans. Each pattern includes the names of the contributing yarn shop and the designer and an image of the completed project.