What to make with one ball of yarn

When you feel the need to create something in crochet but time, circumstances or the need to use up some of your stash makes it a necessity, what can you make with one or two balls of yarn?  Of course it all depends on the size of your ball of yarn and the thickness of the yarn, but even 1 ball of chunky or double knit (light worsted) can be used to make something.

One 50 gm ball of double knit (light worsted)  yarn will make one place mat or 4 coasters
Amigurumi are always popular and it’s easy to make a very cute amigurumi with one ball of double knit (light worsted) yarn.

With one 100gm ball of double knit (light worsted) you could make a cushion front. Just add a contrasting material back.

Crochet bootees or sandals for babies are gorgeous and a 50gm ball of yarn will be all you need.

A mug holder, made with two or three granny squares. It’s good to make something useful!

Christmas decorations. Use traditional colours such as white, red and bright green, but any colour will work with a few sparkly beads. One colour Christmas decorations look very sophisticated.

Lavender bags make delightful gifts and are ideal makes for fundraising events. They look lovely made with a cotton based yarn thick or thin.

Use one ball of double knit (light worsted) or chunky cotton to create a small storage basket to keep your jewellery or buttons safe

Crochet a necklace using a cotton based yarn, just add a few buttons or beads.

Crochet brooches are very pretty and take very little yarn.

Decorative crochet flowers are special. Add them to jumpers, hats, cushions or to make in a simple corsage.

Pom poms. Okay so not crochet but pom poms add something special to crochet hats, crochet flower wreaths and children’s jumpers.

Crochet key rings take very little yarn. You could make an entwined knot or a small amigurumi.

One ball of yarn will make a child’s hat.

Crochet headbands or ear warmers, pretty, chunky or elegant don’ take much yarn. Use wool based for warmth and cotton based for pretty flowery styles.

A book mark. Even a simple design will create something lovely to give as a special handmade gift or for fund raising.

Crochet Bags

Crochet bags are lovely and you can make them in a whole variety of styles and yarns from simple farmers market shoppers to more sophisticated clutch and trendy beach bags. Crochet bags can be as simple or as complicated to make as you want them to be! What shape or style  to make your bag?

Holdall bags are probably the most useful. My calico bag pattern can be a work bag, beach bag or shopper. Holdall bags are easy to make with either one shaped piece or 5 separate pieces for back, sides, and bottom. Make crochet holdalls big or large.

Half moon shape or clutch shapes big or small. Use motifs or a solid block of crochet. Use a simple crochet button or crochet flower as a fastening, big or small.

Traditional crochet string bags are the easiest and quickest to make. Best made with chunky yarns or thick cottons. The choice of colours in chunky cottons is lovely so you can go bright or subtle.

Lined or unlined bags. A lining prevents your bag from stretching and protects intricate designs from damage by contents. Use a contrasting design for the lining to add a high end look of your bag.

Duffle shape crochet bags with drawstrings are one of my favourite styles. Use motifs or make them intarsia (colour motif) style. Intarsia bags are simple to make but take some expertise in colour changing.

Traditional granny squares make lovely original bags. Use motifs square on or diagonally.

Handbag style crochet bags have a more formal shape and look good in subtle shades or shades of one colour.

Use stripes small or large, 3 large in blended shades of the same colour create a sophisticated look. Combine different yarns of the same weight to create a unique effect.

Embossed or raised designs including surface crochet are very effective particularly on holdalls. Use raised crochet to create tartan effects.

What sort of handles do you want? Crochet, wooden or bamboo handles or round handles all look good and round handles give a retro look. If you make a holdall style crochet bag you can make and line your own crochet handles.

Crochet bags with flowers. I love raised flowers on bags. These look really pretty around the top and handles of your bag. Use the same yarn or a contrast for your flowers and pick out the colours of your bag.

Crochet Throws

Throws are so useful, to snuggle up to when nights are cold, in the garden when days are a little cooler or just for when you need a bit of comfort! Crochet throws are fun to make. Not too big so they take too long to stitch but big enough to make an interesting project. And there are so many style choices!


Oblong,  this is the most useful size and oblong throws look better too 

Use one style of motif
Choose two or three complimentary style of motif

Use small or large motifs to make your throw or combine small and large together
Strips give you more scope for design choices. Make simple horizontal or vertical strips or fit together in a log cabin design.

Make your throw as one piece from top to bottom and build your design in rows

Start in the centre of your crochet throw and work outwards. This works well if you start with a large oblong central motif or one or two square motifs stitched together. You can then add another row of motifs to finish your throw

Use chunky, double knit or finer yarn. The thicker the yarn the more quickly your throw will grow. 

Finer yarns give more definition and thicker yarns work really well with popcorn stitches and cables. 

Finer yarns work beautifully with more intricate motifs to create a lovely lacy effect.

The yarn content is critical for what you want to use your throw for. A cotton or acrylic blend is ideal for summer throws. Wool blends are ideal if you want something warmer. 

Colour is critical to your finished effect, use one colour or multi colours. One colour creates a subtle effect. Stick to four or five colours for a sophisticated effect or use yarn scarps and take pot luck!

Ripple or zig zags stitches work well 

Textured stitches such as popcorns, clusters look classy in throws. Work as a whole or as individual motifs

Raised stitches and cables are brilliant if you use a thicker yarn 

Flower based motifs are lovely if you sue cotton or a cotton blend

If you want a more contemporary look go for diagonals, squares and triangular shapes

Entrelac or stitch is very useful if you want to create a picture design. Use dc’s (sc’s) or trebles (dc’s).

Sirdar Snuggly Spots review

Sirdar Snuggly spots is the perfect  yarn to use if you want to create an unusual finish without the need to change yarns. There are many yarns now available that create a variety of special effects but Sirdar snugly spots is a bit more unusual, it creates spots randomly as you work.

There are 16 colours to choose from. I’ve tried the very pale pretty spot, this gives a very subtle sprinkling of pale pink and pale lavender spots. The darker cosy spot produces more pronounced spots of orange and grey.

A 50g ball makes 165m/179 yards. Sirdar Snuggly is made with 55% nylon and 45% acrylic and is very easy to work with. It’s perfect for children’s clothing and blankets and soft scarfs. I used it to make the teddy (more on this in May!). I use hook size 3.25 but any size up to 4 mm would be fine.

I’d like to Snuggly spots for a crochet Arran style jacket using the speckle. This is my favourite in the large range of Snuggly spots. You could also use this yarn for throws and blankets, picking out the colour of the spots for contrasting yarns.

Buy from Deramores.com and woolwarehouse.co.uk

Finishing off

When you spend time making something special and original to you finishing off well will show your work in the best light. Remember if you are making something like a scarf both sides of your work will be on show!

Make one extra chain for a more secure finish before weaving in ends. Fastening off the ends of thicker yarns, thread through denser areas of the same colour.

To keep the back of your work tidy crochet over loose ends as you work if you can. This works well if you are working with a thicker yarn or making a close work pattern. Doing this also makes finishing off easier.

Make sure the corners of cushions or bags are fully pushed out, use the back of your hook to do this.
If you are using a fine cotton yarn block out your motifs and your work will look 100% better.
For cushions and scarfs block edges to get a crisp straight edge finish.

Depending on what you are making if your first chain row is a bit loose crochet a dc(sc) row at both edges of your work or all around.

Attaching a material lining or backing add right side to right side with your work and use a matching shade of cotton. Use stem stitch and your stitches will disappear into the fabric of your crochet stitches.

Use back stitch on the wrong side when stitching motifs together.

If you don’t like sewing you can double crochet or slip stitch motifs together or even use something a bit more complex to make the joining of the motifs a feature of your work.

Leave long ends when finishing off or changing yarn, so you have enough to fasten off securely.
Sounds obvious, but invest in a pair of sharp embroidery scissors to make your finish ends  neater
Trim pompons and tassels so all strands are even

If possible use your main thread for stitching on buttons

If you can crochet edgings directly on to cushions and baby clothes rather than stitching it on for a better and more secure finish.

Making cushions choose a cushion pad slightly larger than your finished cushion cover. Your cushion will look plumper and will show your work off more distinctly

If you are making button loops add a row of dc’s (sc’s) for more secure fastening than a simple row of chains.

Calico Crochet Bag Pattern Story

I made a crochet bag a couple of years ago, I love it and use it all the time. I decided to create another bag but something simpler that a beginner would be able to make. I wanted this design to use the same layout as the first one which makes a strong rigid and reliable bag that doesn’t stretch.

This latest design is quick and easy to make and you have the choice of making the basic pattern which looks really classy or adding on the surface crochet to lift the bag to an extra level, something that makes it really special. Even with the surface crochet this crochet bag is not as complicated as it looks!

Use your bag for your craft projects and it would look really stylish as a holdall or beach bag. Cotton yarn is lovely to use for summer patterns and using a cotton rich yarn makes for a good rigid bag. Adding a lining is not my favourite thing to do but is so worth it to stop your bag stretching and also protects your bag from damage by the contents you add.

I used a pale sage green as this is one of my favourite colours but the crochet bag would also look good in pink with a cream trim or a darker colour with a contrasting colour for the surface trim. You could also try this pattern in Sirdar Beachcomber which is a cotton rich yarn with slubs and comes in a range of blended colours. This finished bag would make the perfect beach bag, pick one of the colours from the blend for a contrasting lining.

Debbie Bliss Juliet

Debbie Bliss Summer Tweed is sold as DK (light worsted) but it feels more like a 4 ply to me. It comes in a lovely range of beautifully blended colours from violet, daisy, poppy, rose, begonia, marigold, honeysuckle and petal. I used honeysuckle. The yarn has slubs which makes for a more interesting finish and gives and extra level of interest.

Made up of 52% cotton 48% acrylic Debbie bliss summer tweed is brilliant for shawls, scarves and lightweight summer knits. Wash at 30C 50 g balls. Yardage is 120m/131yds and Debblie Bliss summer tweed comes in 50g balls.

It would make a lovely cover up or summer jacket. I made a summer shawl with motifs, which I designed for summer weddings. This lovely quality yarn would make a gorgeous holdall style bag particularly blended with a plain double knit yarn (light worsted).

I used a hook size 3.25mm (U.S. 3) and my motif is 9cm (4”) by 9cm (4”). Pay up to £4.50 and buy from Black Sheep Wools or Deramores.