Stash-Busting with One-Skein Knitted Gifts

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One of the best ways to work through your stash is to make one-skein knitted projects as gifts. Mittens, hats, and even shawls can often be worked with just one skein of yarn, or even with partial skeins. Plus, people love to receive them. One of my goals to close out the year is to clear out some of those beautiful single and partial skeins I’ve been saving by creating some beautiful accessories to give as gifts.

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Featured above: Gretel’s Mittens by Allison Haas

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Go stash-diving along with me as I pair some beautiful yarns with our very favorite one-skein, gift-friendly patterns. You can get all of these patterns together as part of our Perfect One-Skein knitted Gifts to Give collection, as individual patterns, or get them all as part of an Interweave+ membership!

Emily Shawl by Mandy Moore

Requires: 330 yds of laceweight yarn
I’ll Use: Sincere Sheep Shimma from my stash

This shawl is excellent for eating up those leftover bits of laceweight from other projects. It calls for a 995 yard ball of mohair/silk yarn, but the instructions let you know that that skein should be enough for fully three Emily Shawls! If you have an in-tact skein, you could make three one-skein knitted patterns from one skein by batch-knitting this project! For me, it’s perfect for my leftover Sincere Sheep Shimma, purchased back at Interweave Yarn Fest 2018. This beautiful red color is just right for a friend of mine who loves rich colors.

The Proverbial Cap by Meg Swansen

Requires: 120 yds of worsted yarn
I’ll Use: Daybreak Criations Omar, Belmont & Kahauna from my stash

This intricate cap serves as a sampler for tons of different twisted-stitch motifs, from twisted rib to twisted cables to elaborate lattice braids. All that texture works best with a natural-colored yarn like this alpaca Daybreak Criations yarn I have in my stash. This is another Interweave Yarn Fest purchase I’ve had difficulty matching to a project, and The Proverbial Cap is perfect. Plus, those double-helix motifs means it will coordinate with the DNA Pullover I’m currently knitting for my fiancé in moss green!

Gretel’s Mittens by Allison Haas

Requires: 225 yds of worsted yarn
I’ll Use: Knit Picks Swish Worsted from my stash

There’s so much to love about Gretel’s Mittens, from that delightful twisted-stitch herringbone lattice to the striking angled cuffs. I love them in a rich autumnal color like they’re shown here; I’m going to be working them up in rich Bordaux-colored Knit Picks Swish Worsted. I have two balls of this gorgeous yarn in my stash, which means I can make two pairs: one for my sister, and one for my mom!

Speer Hat by Rose Beck

Requires: 170 yds of aran yarn
I’ll Use: Mountain Meadow Wool Laramie from my stash

Here’s another gorgeous textural hat from the One-Skein Knitted Gifts collection—this one worked in a chunky aran-weight yarn for extremely quick knitting. Plus, those cables are simple enough that they don’t require a cable needle! Apparently I’m very into undyed yarns for hats this season, as I’ll be working the Speer Hat in my natural Mountain Meadow Wool Laramie. I ended up with two small balls of this yarn; it should be just enough to make one hat with a large pom-pom on the top for a friend who has classic taste in hats.

Arc Mittens by Peggy O’Grady

Requires: 125 yds of bulky yarn (for size small) or 225 yds of bulky yarn (for size large)
I’ll Use: Mystery Barberpole Alpaca Yarn from my stash

I’ve been searching for a good project to put this mystery skein from my stash to good use. I know it’s alpaca, but I I don’t know any more than that because picked it up from a yarn adoption without a label. It’s a gorgeous yarn in soft grey and natural. I absolutely love how barberpole yarns work up for mittens, so I’m going to use this skein to make a pair of simple, lovely Arc Mittens. Alpaca mittens are so luxurious! I have plenty of yarn to knit these mittens but I’m not sure how my gauge will turn out. I’m planning to knit them and decide who to give them to based on who they fit—my dad if they turn out large, or a friend if they turn out smaller.

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I hope you had fun diving into my stash with me! I’m definitely feeling inspired to knit with these skeins and move them from my stash and into some lovely accessories. Best of all, I’m planning all of these as gifts, which means that while I have a lot of knitting to do, I’ll also be able to check a lot of people off my list.

If you’d like to knit these projects and work up and gift some of those single skeins lingering in your stash, you can download them all in the Perfect One-Skein Knitted Gifts to Give collection!

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Projects Perfect for Gifting