Tuesday, December 20, 2022

Free Scrappy Knitting and Crochet Projects

What do you make with your Chanukah Yarn?  Your advent calendar yarn?  Collecting 10-20 g mini skeins can be a lot of fun, and there was a time when I was trying to get as many as I could possibly find for the beekeepers quilt.  (This isn't a free pattern, but one of my personal hibernating scrappy projects!)  Below I'll try to collect some options for fun scrappy projects that are free patterns. Even if you don't want to make the exact pattern I've linked, it might inspire you how to use the yarn with another of your favorite designs.  I am also going to include some of these patterns of examples of what you can do with one of your favorite existing patterns. 

Free Scrappy Knitting Patterns

  • Ombré, designed by me!  This is a hat pattern that uses worsted weight, but you could increases the stitches in multiples of 4 to blend thinner yarns for the hat.  I love using this with scraps of solid colored yarn I have on hand, but it would be also fun to blend variegated ones. 
  • Scrappy Marl Hat - A stockinette hat with a ribbed brim that is a great way to show off a lot of colorways.  Knit with two strands of fingering held together (or DK weight yarn) 
    • This hat shows off how a lot of fun stockinette hat or sock patterns can be used with remnant yarn.  If your yarn has a lot of speckles or color variation, then a stockinette pattern can show it off well.
  • Scrappy Socks  - This pattern is a free Ravelry Download. A simple stockinette ankle sock knit with fingering weight yarn.  The pattern shows off two socks that are knit in different colorways, so you can visualize a pair of mismatched socks. 
  • Scrappy Ski Hat - Knit with worsted weight yarn, this is a fun colorwork pattern for blending different yarns.  
  • Scrappy Bias Shawl - uses 200 g of fingering weight yarn.  It looks like it is knit in garter stitch.  I love blending different yarns together with garter stitch projects. 
  • Happy Scrappy Fingerless Mitts -   This pattern is a free Ravelry Download.  This patterns shows off solid yarn, but imagine the fun you could have with the Chanukah Sampler yarn!  This pattern is written for fingering weight with a self striping yarn, but you could put your won stripes into it. 
  • Scrappy Block SocksThis pattern is a free Ravelry Download.  Knit in fingering weight yarn 400-490 yards.  Want to go a bit beyond stripes or a fade?  Pick minis that have some contrast and work them in this fun colorwork pattern. 
  • Super Scrappy Socks This pattern is a free Ravelry Download.   This is a super fun pattern that includes some contrasting colorwork between color changes to really make the different sections pop.  
  • Sideways Scrappy Scarf - Knit in garter stitch with DK weight yarn, you can use up remnant yarn for a fun vertical stripped pattern.  
  • Scrappy Bias Scarf - Knit in Aran weight yarn, but you can adjust the number of stitches to do this with fingering or DK weight.  A bias is a great way to blend different colors because the diagonal stripes are super fun to wear. 
  • Scrappy CowlThis pattern is a free Ravelry Download.   This is a fade to blend different minis together.  The pattern is written for fingering weight yarn, but it wouldn't be hard to adapt for a DK weight project. The Chanukah Samplers aren't designed to be a fade set, but you could still blend the transitions in a super fun way. 
  • Remnants Shrug - It is written as a one size fits most pattern, but I did look at the pattern and it would be easier to make bigger or smaller since it is knit as a rectangle.  I would personally double check my arm span measurements and then also measure a towel across my back to get a sense of the dimensions that would work for me personally.  However, I'm including this in the list as an idea of what you could do with another stockinette shrug or even sweater. 
  • Garter stitch projects are wonderful for blending different yarns together, even if they aren't intended as a fade.  

Free Scrappy Crochet Patterns 

  • Scrappy Corner-to-Corner Crochet Blanket - I haven't doing any C2C crochet projects yet, but I've always wanted to do a colorwork version.  I love the idea of a scrappy blanket to use up remnant or miniskeins! The sample was knit with DK weight yarn. 
  • Scrap Yarn Crochet Basket - I adore this pattern.  It is written for you to hold multiple strands of yarn together, which I don't love to recommend for the Chanukah yarn... BUT I love the idea of taking remnants from a bunch of projects and including them in a basket you use to hold yarn or other works in progress.  
  • Scrappy Blanket 2 This pattern is a free Ravelry Download.   A chevron throw blanket that features so many different colorways. Since it is a blanket you could use almost any yarn weight.
  • Scrappy Bucket Hat - written for worsted weight yarn,  but you can imagine how you can combine different colors for a more structured hat.
  • Granny Square Projects - In general yarn scraps are wonderful for projects made out of these fun blocks.  I'm not linking to a particular pattern, but a lot of scrappy granny square projects are available.

Other Recommendations

The following video was recommended to me in one of the Chanukah premieres.  I haven't watched it yet, but I wanted to share another source recommending scrappy projects.  A Lovely Yarn "A Very Scrappy Episode ~50 Patterns Using Mini Skeins, Yarn Scraps, or Advent Yarn Kits"

Sunday, December 18, 2022

The 2022 ChemKnits Chanukah Special is Here!

Welcome to the 2022 ChemKnits Chanukah Special!  Every night of Chanukah (plus a few nights beyond) there will be a new yarn dyeing video on the ChemKnits Tutorials YouTube Channel published at 8:30 PM Eastern Time. 

Each video will air as a live premiere, so we can watch the video together and react in a live chat in real time.  After the video is finished it will be available on demand like a regular YouTube video.  To help you know what to expect, here are the runtimes and nights I will be in the live chat room:

  • 12/18 Night 1 - Runtime 32 minutes
    • I will pop into the live chat but I may be a bit late and it might be a short visit in the chat room.  (I'm celebrating the first night of Chanukah in person with family and friends! I won't have footage of this for the vlog, but I'm super excited!
  • 12/19 Night 2 - Runtime 36 minutes 
    • I will be in the premiere live chat!  
  • 12/20 Night 3 - Runtime 32 minutes 
    • I will be in the premiere live chat!  
  • 12/21 Night 4 -  Runtime 30 minutes
    • I will be in the premiere live chat!  
  • 12/22 Night 5 - Runtime 35 minutes 
    •  I will be in the premiere live chat!  
  • 12/23 Night 6 -  Runtime 33 minutes 
    • I will be in the premiere live chat!  
  • 12/24 Night 7 -  Runtime 34 minutes 
    • I will not be in the live chat for night 7.  Christmas Eve is our big family Christmas celebration with my husband's family. I grew up celebrating Chanukah, and my husband grew up celebrating Christmas. We are a blended family now and celebrate each other's traditions together.  
  • 12/25 Night 8 - Runtime 34 minutes
    • I will try to be in the live chat but it is tentative.  I will update closer to Christmas Day! 
  • 12/26 Bonus DK Colorway - Runtime 31 minutes
    • I will be in the premiere live chat!  
  • 12/27 Bonus Sparkle Colorway -  Runtime 32 minutes
    • I will be in the premiere live chat!  
  • 12/28 Chanukah Vlog (behind the scenes) -  Runtime 53 minutes
    • I will be in the premiere live chat!  
The entire schedule of when I will be in the live chat is subject to change, so see the pinned post on the upcoming premiere in the YouTube chat for the latest updates.  I'll also try to update this post as I have notice. 

If you miss a video, don't worry!  All of them will be in the 2022 ChemKnits Chanukah Special Playlist so you can catch up on any videos you missed.  


The 2022 Chanukah Samplers have sold out, but you can still pick up some awesome hand dyed ChemKnits yarn on Etsy. Want to make sure you know when I launch special preorders in the future?  You can follow me on Patreon even if you don't sign up for any of the tiers.  I always announce in a public post when new preorders are available and you can get an email notification that the post is up.