Knitting is an amazingly sustainable craft. We can unravel a project and reuse the yarn to make another project. When we make a mistake, we don’t cut out a section of a project and discard it. We “frog” or “tink” and reknit that section.
When we accumulate some leftover yarn, we use it to make multi-coloured items, like Zigzag Socks, for example.
There are also a number of ways to use up even the smallest bits of yarn. One of those ways is to turn them into a “scrap fur” – a luscious fur-like texture that looks terrific on collars, cuffs and cushions.
Here’s how we do it step by step.
STEP 1. PREPARE THE YARN
Choose the yarn that you will use to make scrap fur. There are no rules here. Use yarn in the same colour or an eclectic mix of colours. Take different types of yarn, or stick with the same yarn, same thickness, or same fibre content. It is totally up to you.
Cut the yarn ends you selected into pieces of the same length. The longer the pieces, the longer the scrap fur in your project. Aim at a length that is around 15 cm / 6″. It forms a nice “furry” look without allowing the strands to tangle too much.
The easiest way to cut yarn into pieces of the same length is to wrap the yarn around a narrow notebook or two wide fridge magnets clinging together, and to cut all wraps in the same spot.
Technically, you can wrap the yarn around any narrow object, but it helps to have a slot in the narrowest side of that object. This slot will make cutting through the wrapped yarn much easier.
No matter what object you choose to use as a template, the width of that object should be half the planned length of the yarn pieces.
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For example, the width of the fridge magnets that I use to cut yarn ends for my swatch is 6.5 cm / 2.5″. This will give me yarn pieces that are 6.5 cm or 2.5″ x 2 = 13 cm or 5″ long.
Align several yarn ends and wrap them around your template. Try to make wraps in one layer, otherwise, the length of the yarn pieces will differ slightly.
Insert scissors into the slot in the template and cut through all yarn wraps.
When we turn these yarn pieces into fur, we’ll need them folded in half. You can fold them in half right now, or you can keep them in a pile and fold each piece before you add it to the project.
Now we are ready to make scrap yarn fur.
STEP 2. CAST ON
The backing of the fur is worked in stockinette stitch, so there is virtually no pattern repeat. Feel free to cast on as many stitches as you like, or skip this step entirely if you add a furry section to a project that you already have on your needles.
To make my swatch, I cast on eight stitches. The type of cast on is not important. Use your favourite method. Mine is long-tail cast on.
We can make scrap yarn fur denser when we add a yarn piece to every stitch of every row or round, or we can keep it more sparse when we add a precut strand to every other stitch of every other row or round. The decision is yours.
I noticed that when we add fur elements to the first and last stitches of the row, the edges of the fabric become distorted, so I’m going to work the edge stitches in stockinette stitch, without adding precut yarn pieces to those stitches.
STEP 3. ADDING YARN PIECES TO KNIT STITCHES
3.1. With the working yarn at the back of the work, insert the tip of the right needle into the first stitch on the left needle from left to right.
3.2. Take one precut piece of yarn, fold it in half (if you haven’t done it in step 1) and place the fold on the tip of the right needle.
If you hold the working yarn in your right hand, it is easier to use your left hand to place the folded piece of yarn on the tip of the right needle. If you hold yarn in your left hand, place the precut piece on the needle with your right hand.
3.3. Pull the piece of yarn through the stitch, but don’t drop the stitch off the left needle yet.
3.4. Insert the tip of the left needle from left to right into the just-knitted yarn loop formed by the precut piece. Do it so that the left needle is at the front of the right needle.
Then push the tip of the right needle a bit until it enters the first stitch on the left needle. Now both needles are holding the stitch and the yarn loop, and the left needle is at the front of the right needle.
3.5. Wrap the tip of the right needle with the working yarn as we do when we knit a stitch.
And pull this yarn wrap through, knitting the stitch and the yarn loop together through the back loop.
3.6. Finally, pull the ends of the precut strand to tighten it and even out the length of its halves.
Repeat steps 3.1 through 3.6 every time you want to add a fur element to a knit stitch.
STEP 4. ADDING YARN PIECES TO PURL STITCHES
4.1. With the working yarn in front of the work, insert the tip of the right needle into the first stitch on the left needle from right to left.
4.2. Take one precut piece of yarn, fold it in half and place the fold on the tip of the right needle.
If you hold yarn in your right hand, place the precut piece on the needle with your left hand. If you hold yarn in your left hand, do it with your right hand.
4.3. Pull the piece of yarn through the stitch, but don’t drop the stitch off the left needle yet.
4.4. Insert the tip of the left needle from left to right into the just-knitted yarn loop and ease the right needle out, leaving the yarn loop on the left needle.
Now we are going to purl the stitch and the yarn loop together through the back loop.
4.5. First, we insert the tip of the right needle from left to right into the back loops of the stitch + yarn loop duo.
4.6. Wrap the tip of the right needle with the working yarn as we do when we purl a stitch.
And pull this yarn wrap through, purling the stitch and the yarn loop together through the back loop.
4.7. Pull the ends of the precut strand to make sure the strand is securely embedded into the fabric and its ends are of approximately the same length.
Repeat steps 4.1 through 4.7 every time you want to add a fur element to a purl stitch.
Working stitches through the back loop twists them and locks each precut strand firmly in the fabric. The strands won’t fall out even when they accidentally get slightly tugged.
As you see, the fur shows on the purl side of the fabric. The knit side looks very interesting too, with a speck of colour appearing every time we add a precut strand to the work.
You can scatter the colours randomly, arrange them in stripes, or even form motifs similar to the ones used in carpets.
The density of the scrap yarn fur depends a lot on the thickness of the yarn strands that we add to stitches. If the yarn is thin, it is better to make every stitch of the fabric “furry”, unless you are after a flatter look.
Test the density of the fur on a swatch to find the right texture for your project. You can always unravel that swatch and reuse both the yarn and the precut pieces. No waste.
SAVE IT FOR LATER
This and 26 other in-depth tutorials are part of Knitting Collection #9.
