I have been wondering about dryer balls for sometime now. Folks in my SAPGAP group often ask for leftover fiber to be made into dryer balls. I have seen them at my guild meet-ups and at local craft fairs. So, I finally started doing some research.
Turns out, dryer balls are really easy to make and super useful. I modded this recipe from DIY Natural (they call for wool yarn wound into balls), but I used some old roving for the centers and some pretty, left-over pencil roving for the outside layer. I rolled the roving into a ball shape ad secured it tightly with the pencil roving; then slipped each ball into the leg of some panty hose (no, I do not own panty hose and buying them was an experience unto itself . . . ahh the wonders in Walgreens pharmacy!) I tied each ball off with some acrylic yarn and then loaded the next ball into the leg.
Then, when my little “caterpillar” was complete, I put it into the washer with a small load of towels, cranked up the hot wash and the cool rinse; then dried them with the towels on high heat. Apparently, it can take a couple of goes to get these to work sometimes, but mine felted solid after the first wash and dry.
Now, to package them up and send them off as (late) Christmas presents 🙂
Knitting the Stash! 
Oh, I’ve heard of dryer balls before and they seem to come really in handy! Thank you for the tutorial!
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Oh good! I was super surprised about how easy these were to make–and a nice way to use up some of the fiber I have that’s just not going to make the spinning cut. Hoping you had a nice holiday and you’re in for a good new year!
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I have some alpaca with very short staple I cannot spin – well, I can but I don’t enjoy it. I made dryer balls by hand, but the hour off squeezing and swishing is not good for my hands. I tried the panty hose, and socks, by stuffing the loose wool in tightly then thing off and tossing in the wash. The wool migrated through my house and socks doo bad that they are not ever going to separate! I did not expect that! So, what I do now is knit up balls two asst a time, stuff tightly and tie off. Now I don’t care. What is that saying? Necessity is the mother of invention? Yours are very pretty, and are now in my mental notebook
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Wow! That migrating alpaca fluff sounds like it’s straight out of a horror movie! I’d like to hear more about your knitting technique–I have not encountered that method before! Happy New Year to you!
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Stupid auto correct! The wool migrated through the *hose*
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ha! I really had quite a gremlins theme running through my head 🙂 phew!
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This looks like a great gift idea, but I do not know how you would use dryer balls. How are they useful?
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They work like dryer sheets, I’ve heard: reduce static; help absorb moisture from the laundry (so that the drying time is lessened); and, if you use a few drops of good oils, they can freshen up your load of laundry. For me, the best part is faster drying! Hope that helps.
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