What to Do With That Leftover Yarn

After making my Zuzu's Petals cowl I had some leftover green yarn.  I really hate leftovers.  My favorite thing is when a knitting project uses absolutely ALL the yarn (o.k. so there are always some little trimmings, but I'm talking all useable yarn.)  Not only was this bright green yarn leftover, but it was some of my handspun yarn too!  What to do?  

Well, we have a "Nature Table" in our house like those used in Waldorf School classrooms to designate the change in seasons.  It's on the top of our little studio piano which belonged to my grandparents who purchased it in 1936.  The piano is the one my dad learned to play on, me and my brother learned to play on and now my son Sam is learning to play on it too.  Usually there is a playsilk laid on top with some wooden figures, nature items that pertain to the season like driftwood, stones, crystals, leaves, flowers etc., craft projects and a seasonal postcard.  I thought maybe I could knit some trees to add to the winter collection.  

After searching on Ravelry for a while and not finding what I envisioned, I found this pattern of gnomes made out of a wine cork.  I thought I could just make the hat portion, knitting it longer, and voila you have the trees I made above. The tree tops are stuffed with wool and simply slipped them over the wine corks (on the smallest tree I cut the cork in half first.) They measure a scant 3 - 5 inches tall and took me all of a hour or so to knit.  What do you think?  I was really pleased with how they turned out and they add a little color to our mostly white winter display.  And color at this time of year in Minnesota is a valuable commodity let me tell you.  What do you do with your leftover yarn?

Joining in with Linda for Creative Friday.