Crocheting and knitting for a living creates lots of small scraps of yarn - but rather than waste them, I've started to put mine to good use by making a multi-coloured granny stripe blanket for myself using all the longer ends of the different yarns I use with my projects.
It's turned into more of a "memory blanket" as I can see all the different things I have made over the years just by looking at the colours and yarn textures used in the blanket.
I use the "Russian Join" technique which I learned via YouTube - the video I learned from can be found below. It's really easy to do once you've practiced a couple of times, and avoids me putting off sewing all those ends in when it's finished. (Believe me, I'm VERY good at putting off sewing in all the ends!)
I've still got a rather large pile of yarn ends left to use, which will only grow larger with all the new things I have been making lately and in the future, so my blanket should be full size in next to no time. Here's my "Loopy Hound" modelling the beginning of the blanket.
As you can see from the above photo, the ends used are all different lengths; the shortest used so far was about 10cm and the longest just over a metre. I have also used different yarn thicknesses, from 4ply up to aran yarn weight. I tried using chunky yarn ends as well but it was too large and bulky for my liking compared to the other yarns used, so perhaps I will make a chunky version blanket too. I like the fact that this is a completely unique blanket, very colourful, sometimes clashing, but it's all my Loopy projects rolled into one, and will be cherished and well used when it's eventually finished. I may have to make other things too, seeing as the supply of yarn ends I am using is pretty much infinite right now...
I got the idea from my Nana who also made a large crochet blanket with all her ends as she too was an avid crocheter - she used a slightly different pattern to mine (just trebles without the granny formation) but the principle is the same, so this is blanket is dedicated to her.