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 luscious alpaca or cashmere that was too expensive to buy more than one, the leftovers from long-completed projects. Wherever they came from, those single skeins are a minor source of guilt for knitters everywhere. 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 country, there are hats, mittens, scarves, bags, socks, ponchos, baby sweaters, belts, headbands, a cell phone carrier, and even a tea cozy and a set of coasters for the home. A scrapbook of tastes and styles that celebrates the ingenuity of knitters nationwide, this is a collection with appeal for every type of stitcher.

With patterns arranged by yarn weight, knitters will easily find broad ranges of possibilities for their particular yarn orphans. Each pattern includes the names of the contributing yarn shop and the designer, and a black-and-white image of the completed project.

101 small, sweet patterns — enough to take care of the single skeins in everyone’s collection and prove once and for all that there is no such thing as leftover yarn!