Odd Ball Knitting: Creative Ideas for Leftover Yarn

The book arrived in great condition, exactly as described, if not better. The author gives useful and clever ideas and instructions for creative uses for odd ends of left-over yarn from earlier projects. Often a knitter will carefully plan the yarn quantity so as not to acquire too much left over. In this attempt, the knitter may under-order the amount needed and never have enough to complete the project at all; since,dye lots are never the same when the yarn is not purchased all at once. With this book, the knitter has a safety net; leftovers are not wasted and, therefore, justify the purchase of the additional skein of yarn.

I ordered this book expressly because the other reviews said it did cover more of the "how" of stash management. I was pleasantly surpised to find many delightful patterns, and lots of ideas that prodded my own creativity. While this may not be for all knitters, if you are a serious 'knitster' this is a great addition to your library.

Plenty of knitters wind up with odds and ends in yarn stashes which just keep growing: now there's a use for these stashes in Oddball Knitting: Creative Ideas For Leftover Yarn. Patterns for the projects are arranged within chapters by the amount and type of yarn required, so it's easy to link a project based on what's available in a leftover stash. You can make a rug or poncho if you have a lot - or can provide mini-holiday stockings if you have just a little. Of course, there's the usual anticipated scarf projects - but there's plenty of original new designs to pique interest. The perfect gift for the avid knitter who always has leftover yarn.

I got this book out from the library and liked it so much I'm buying it--even though I've sworn off buying knitting books. It has great tips for getting rid of all those half-balls, quarter-balls, 3-4 yards of your very, very favorite yarn ever. As well as hints for preventing and dealing with moth infestations, storing yarn, and fantastic technical details about figuring out how much yarn you need for a project. It has some nifty patterns, but you can find all sorts of stuff on-line for free. The real value of this book is helping get your creative juices flowing. Note that, since it's for people with lots of leftover yarn, it's written for *experienced* knitters, not beginners! It's published in paperback, which helps keep the cost down. If you've got more than one giant box of leftover or neglected yarn, this book is for you (as well as anything by Kaffe Fassett).

If you are looking for a treasury of patterns for your oddiments of yarn, this may not be the book for you. However, this reasonably priced volume has the "how" of oddball knitting, including calculating how much yarn you have, weights, lengths to finish a row, how to combine colors and most importantly, how to safely store your stash of yarn. The patterns include a stunning shawl, scarves, hats, purses, socks and an Amish-inspired afghan. There are 31 patterns in all, but the main use of this book is to know HOW to combine yarns to make something out of nearly nothing. If you are bothered by those golf-ball sized bits of sock yarn after making a pair of socks, or want to use a single ball of novelty yarn that was so tempting you bought just ONE, this is for you. But this book demands you use YOUR creativity, so don't look for designs here, just seeds for design ideas.