The prolific writer and designer Drew Emborsky, The Crochet Dude, has yet another wonderful book out from Leisure Arts. This one is called Use Up that Yarn! and as the title explains, the projects focus on stash busting, as in lots of small and easy to make items that do not take tons of yarn to make. Most yarn people, whether they crochet or knit, will soon discover that they tend to end up with extra pieces of yarn, sometimes as much as entire skeins, after finishing their projects. I have tons of small balls of yarn and orphaned skeins waiting for that perfect project. Since the projects in this book do not require much yarn, that also means they are fast to make and many would make wonderful gift items (for those who are already thinking of starting those holiday projects).

The 32 page book includes instructions for 13 projects: oval bowl, coasters (those are the flowers pictured on the cover), scarf and mittens set, coffee cup sleeve, snow scarf and hat set, teapot cozy, table runner, round bowl, cowl (these seem really popular up north), fingerless gloves, and water bottle sling. The skill levels range from beginner, easy, and intermediate, but most are at the “easy” level, so that is right in between. I am eyeing the flower coasters because I have a lot of left over pieces of cotton yarn, and who doesn’t have time to make a coffee cup sleeve? These are great little “thank you” items that won’t dig into your personal crochet time, and you end up with some useful items to use for yourself or give to others.

The book retails for $9.95, so that’s about .77 a project. It’s available at Amazon (see the linked ad in this post) and also the Leisure Arts web site which has a hard copy or a digital copy (which retails for $4.98.