I acquired a bunch of secondhand yarn and discarded knitting scraps at the craft thrift store because I might dabble in loom knitting but my actual hobby is unraveling, detangling, and winding.
for instance, I found this wool yarn:
Looks like a big skein that got kind of messy and just needs to be rewound, right?
That's what I thought, but no:
It was a ton of short pieces bundled into something more or less like a loop. That's only a small portion of it. Nothing longer than 30-40 yards at best guess. I haven't weighed the whole heap yet but I weighed and measured 10 grams of it so I can do the math later.
At least I expected this other lump to be trouble:
you can't fool me, that's raw hamburger
The plan is to wash it all, condition it because it's dry as hell, then join the larger pieces into something like a usable skein. A lot of the shorter bits are still long enough to use for weaving, and those will go back. I haven't decided on the longer stuff -- I'd like to see if there's enough for a pair of socks.
I picked up a length of wild-ass patterned sequined fabric while I was there, and commented that I had no idea what I would do with it. The owner responded, "Acquiring craft supplies is its own hobby!" Which is something I've heard a lot in crafting circles, and generally dismissed as consumerist propaganda. But I like processing yarn into a usable state even if I'm not going to be the one using it. At the very least a bag of neatly tied small hanks is more likely to appeal to someone who does have a use for it than a bag of snarled mess.