Orphan balls of yarn. Every knitter has them. Sometimes I buy a bit too much for a project, couldn’t resist a little gem in a sale bin, or became infatuated with a de-stashing listing on Facebook Marketplace. And as a result, I have one ball of this, ball and a half of that - you get the picture.

So, I’ve been trying to figure out ways to start using up some of my bits and bobs. Enter the “one-ball wonder” type of pattern. I’ve made use of these in the past, but this time decided I’d try to come up with a few on my own.

If you follow my blog, you already know I’ve developed a fondness for mock cables (which I’ve dubbed the barnacle stitch), so I’ve come up with a couple of quick projects that can help use up smaller quantities of yarn, but still result in a gift or treat for yourself.

This pattern used 28g or about 84 yards of yarn. The finished measurements of each wrist warmer are 2.75 inches wide (unstretched) and 7.5 inches long. I have large hands and these easily fit me. This stitch pattern has a lot of stretch to it.

The overall length was dictated by the yarn I had available. I suggest you weigh your yarn on a kitchen scale before starting, divide the number by 2 so you know how much yarn you have to devote to each one.

This is a great stash buster project and could easily be done in stripes, using even smaller leftover balls, just be sure to divide each into two before you begin if you want the striping to match.

This pattern is available for free on my blog: link text

Update: I tried making a longer set of wrist warmers using the same pattern and more pattern repeats. This time I did 20 pattern repeats (80 rounds) between the ribbing at the beginning and end. There was sufficient stretch to easily accommodate a woman’s size XL hand and forearm. Used about 43 grams of yarn this time.