Got your thumbs in a bind with yarn left-overs?

UPDATED! Scroll down I've been doing a lot of crocheting lately. Amigurumi, fashion scarves, bracelets for my daughter, more amigurumi... Now I have a lot of unused bits of yarn. I found a great, very easy project in Crochet! magazine which I check out from my local library. It is a pet mat/cushion for inside animals that need a place to sit and stay. You simply use your yarn scraps by crocheting in the round, making a long tube that you stuff with poly-fiber-fill. You spiral the tube around itself, sewing as you go, until you have a pad for a pet to sit on. (I'm not done. I estimate that I have 60% more to do.) My little sister's dog, Sadie, is going to love this when I finish it. This project is reminiscent of those old braided rugs that many of our grandmothers had in their homes at some time or another. I like doing things like this while watching movies with my husband. I like to keep my hands busy. Now that I've gotten this far with the project, I'm going to work on designing large amigurumi snakes following a similar pattern to this. I know my boys will LOVE them. Another note on crochet, check out the Free Form crochet movement via http://www.freeformcrochet.com/ or http://www.marloscrochetcorner.com/freeform.html It's definitely unique and those who do it, liken it to painting with yarn. Even Björk Guðmundsdóttir likes free form crochet. Sydney asks: So how do you sew it together? My grandma used to make rugs kind of like this. I want to try! Reply: The instructions say to use a tapestry needle. I was going to weave in and out and use yarn (since it's thicker and will bind it strongly), sewing as I coil it. I'll do it through the center of the tube so that it won't be visible.