Scrap Yarn Acorns

DIY Scrap Wool Felted Acorns

I used to knit. A lot. Every day of college (and even high school sometimes) I’d plop down in front of Days of Our Lives and get my knit on. I haven’t knit in a while. I tell myself I’m going to knit, and get suckered into a pattern or the beautiful textures of the yarn and I buy ALL OF THE THINGS. I sit down and count out the stitches and knit the first 4 or 5 inches and then… it ends up in the knitting graveyard.  These sweet little bits of fall are one way I’ve found to actually *use* some of that lonely yarn. Wanna know what you’ll need for this fun autumnal craft? Acorn caps, leftover wool, and a hot glue gun. (Note: it HAS to be 100% wool. Nothing machine washable.)

Step 1. Make a small yarn ball

Start by winding a small little ball with your yarn. Make sure your ends are tucked in and secure.

Step 2. Roll ball of wool between palms under running water

Squirt a drop or two of dish soap onto your ball, get it wet, and lightly begin to roll it between your palms. Imagine you’re making little playdough balls. (And then picture my daughter’s thighs because they are doughy to the max these days!) Your goal is to keep your yarn balled up but still continue to agitate it.

Step 3. Rinse and Repeat

Rinse and repeat this step graaaaadually increasing your pressure. You’ll feel that the yarn ball will get firmer and firmer as you roll it between your palms. Each of these took me maybe 3-5 minutes of agitation? (The technical term for this craftastic fall project is ‘felting.’ In a nutshell- ha! See what I did there?!- you’re separating the fibers of your wool yarn and then tangling them all back together creating a ‘new’ fiber.) See how it tightens up and gets smaller? That’s the felting.

Step 4. Glue on acorn caps

Once your yarn has ‘felted’ and dried, glue your acorn caps on. I didn’t do anything to my acorn caps to prep them, I just left them in a bag in the hot car for a few weeks which did a good job drying them out. Technical stuff, folks.

Not that you asked, but here’s why my lazy seasonal self loves this project…. 1. It’s easy. 2. It’s sweet and subtle and colorful. 3. It makes use of one thing I NEVER know what to do with… leftover wool. 4. Best of all, I can make a little acorn ball in no time so it’s a great little project to have on hand when the kids are eating dinner, when the macaroni and cheese is cooking, you name it. I hope to keep adding to my stash so one day I’ll have a whole big bucket full of these colorful yarn acorns! Cheat alert: You caaaaaan buy felted balls online… Amazon has them (affiliate links) and so does etsy.