Isolation and the single yarn ball/skein....

Here are some balls of wool I bought whilst on holiday in Holland, there is this marvellous little wool heaven ( yeah shop) in Delft that stocks Lana Grossa and other yarns such as Katia and Scheepjeswol on shelves from floor to ceiling: Bliss.
They are what I'll be occupying myself with in the coming week.
So I'm aiming to finish with a brainstorm on what you can do with just one ball( I have an attic full of bags of just one ''try out'' ball of something...)

Meanwhile back to the isolation bit: I have just come to the end of an 18 month contract and my childminder's youngest has started school so she's given up childminding and is doing other - more lucrative- work.
The school will start an after school club in 2 month time so I have given myself 2 months to find a suitable next post , preferably as part of a career structure....
Hubbie is going to France for a week and here I am dreading the days and evenings filled with????? a void?????

Of course there's the house( YAWN) which needs a lot of TLC and a springclean as well as a de-clutter and there's the 2 diploma courses that I have work to do for:
City and Guild's Machine embroidery and P Turner's diploma in crochet : BUT....
WHERE OH WHERE IS THE SOCIAL CONTACT???
I LOVED going to work in Oxford, in a large and very friendly organisation and all that fabulous shopping at luchtime....

Due to my loss of income we can't really afford a babysitter so I can't go to my crochet class or knitter's group either, I have to be home every evening....
And because of late working or meetings in London I missed the last 2-3 weeks of thise classes also and I'm beginning to feel really isolated....

Then I thought maybe this isn't an unusual occurrence and maybe there are more mums who feel this way sometimes?

Back to the crochet : The balls in the picture have a few destinies I planned as I bought them:
The pinks/beige Katia wool is to be a scarf for my youngest: 10 sts on 10mm knitting needles was suggested in the shop so I'll give that a try.

The green/purple/jade/royal blends- far left at the back on the photo below- these are 2 different yarns in a similar colourway from Lana Grossa and I'm going to make a striped scarf: part chenille , part merino wool for my eldest daughter.

The turquoise at the front is a Katia Aztec WOOL mix and varies from turquoise to a pale grey so I want to make a few crochet samples to play with stitches and tension ans see how the colours move or work out when made up.....I just HAD to have it as the colours are amazing, not really shown too well by the photo.

Then there are 2 more ( 1 omitted from photo) merino wool ''Bingo print ''from Lana Grossa and I want to play with them but not yet sure what will be the outcome, maybe I order more from Holland by mail if possible?

Finally in the photos are the Filatura mohair wound balls mentioned in my mohair scarf project , there's not much and I need to see how the colours vary , but then again you can't undo/frog this mohair so I need to get the sampels done in a way that I can join up into useful pieces later...?


Clockwise from top left- the pics are clickable, Blue/purple /green/browns wool and chenille,
by Lana Grossa, the wound Filature purples/reds mohair, the pink/beige Katia wool, the turquoise /grey Aztec from Katia, green/blues merino wool Bingo Print from Lana Grossa.










One Skein ideas: Varying from approx 160 m a ball to 80-90 m per ball:


1.Beanie/hat
2.Fingerless gloves
3.skinny scarf, possibly corkscrew or very lacy
4.egg cosies
5.i-pod/MP3 player/mobile phone covers
6.Doll's sweater
7.Cushion cover- possibly only one side( USA read Pillow)
8Bag
9.:use in multi yarns project such as poncho/capelet/shawl/scarf/bags/waistcoat etc etc
10:Use in Freeform project : jacket,cardigan,shawl,bag of any kind or whatever.
11:Baby hats for friends or charity( soft yarns only)
12:Baby bootees : IF the yarn is very soft...
13:Part of a toy or Amigurimi or one in it's entirety? ( I fancy making an elephant or/and a dachshund)
14:Uses as stripes with another yarn or same yarn in plain or contrast colour
15:Make lots of tiny pompoms and decorate the edges of a gnirob sweater or scarf or cushion.....
16:Make into beads in crochet, stuff it and make a showcase necklace
17:Wire it up and make a tiara or crown for dressing up.
18:Make part of a slipper sock?
19:Use up the ball in french knitting and plait or knot the cord into a hairband?
20:Wire up the above french knitted cord and make flowers?OR FELT IT?
21:MAKE JUGGLING BALLS?
22: Make buttons- lots of them and decorate a cushion or bag or scarf....
23: make motifs and felt them for a bag or household item decoration...
24: make motifs and decorate an item of clothing...
25:Make and donate granny or other squares or shapes
26: make scarves/hats and donate to the Christmas appeal for boxes that go to the colder climates.
27: as above but for toys to fit into the Christmas boxes.
28: make hats for smoothie bottles as per appeal...
29: make a vase, a pot or a 3d item- stiffen it using Paverpol or similar product if needed.
30: make lavender sachets?
31: Make wheat bags- if the yarn can survive frequent heating in a microwave...
32: make doll's blanket or other clothing: dress,coat,skirt,hat/scarf set,legwarners etc et's
33: teddy bear's sleeping bag...
34 dog's lead or collar ( and/or) dog coat.- depends on size of dog.....
35: make lots of tassles and decorate a horse's or pony's bridle for a festive occasion....
36: PINWEAVE a panel ....for a bag or scarf or waist coat?
37: Use it to do surface crochet onto another item....clothing or accessoryor furnishing..
38:Cut it into equal lengths and weave it through a crocheted mesh or lacy knit ?


And I could go on and on but this has been fun and cheered me up no end, thanks for reading.

I'd very much welcome any other ideas?