yarn organizing ideas?

[greyhoundgrandma]

I'm trying to get my crocheting out of the living room--I always end up with the coffee table cluttered past being able to use it. I have a small bedroom upstairs where I had started storing my yarn. The cat is no longer is residence there, so I'm making it my work room.

 

It has a tiny closet (1925 size so small that the rod runs back to front instead of side to side!) that now has four shelves. The closet is full, plus I have about a dozen large storage boxes. I did an inventory of my yarn at the first of the year, but after a month or so, I stopped adding and deleting from it, so it is pretty useless. I tend to buy yarn on sale and then forget what I have.

 

I'm trying to decide the best way to sort the yarn. Baby and cottons separate is pretty obvious. But when I get to the acrylics, I don't know whether to put brands together or colors regardless of brand, or what. What has worked for you?

 

I also haven't found a satisfactory way to store the cotton cones.

 

Any suggestions on the inventory problem? Advantages/disadvantages of using a notebook, index cards, computer?

[katyallen815]

oh wow, would love to help you physically do this, lol I have shelving in the room,that hold odds and ends and smaller bins of fancy fur, etc. paper supplies, and more yarn! I have some  bins in the closet, and two rattan/bamboo curved shelf units that have four shelves each, to store a lot of it, by color, if possible, blues together, and greens, etc...

 

Then when you need a particular color, you can see at a glance how much you have of each, and do you have enough of one kind of yarn to do your project..

 

Im not sooo particular about the brands of four ply ww acrylics, cause well, I don't have many diff. brands, cept for ILTY and Vanna's and some odds and ends, so they go over in the laundry basket, or on the shelving units, lol or a box..

 

My bins are stacked, see through bins, so I can see, and plus they are labeled as well as to what is in them....I hope this helps, I keep sort of a kinda current list in my purse, so I can refer to it when Im at the yarn aisles. I try really hard to cross off the list when I use something, so if I had four skeins of teal, and i used one, i would then cross of the four and make it a 3!!

 

Good luck, this ought to be fun, just really something you can do whatever way suits you, to make your job of choosing, using, and buying yarn more efficient!! Be creative, bins, shelves,baslets,. totes,  and racks, oh and I have two deep cupboards along one wall for storing the specialty yarns, and the books and pamphlets. Have fun!! might take a day or two to get it all stored up and organized, but it's kinda fun to do, least I think!! good luck!

[magiccrochetfan]

I use large clear plastic storage boxes---well they are not completely clear but almost.  i use masking tape to label what is in each box.  sometimes i need to remove the tape if i use something up or decide it goes in a different category.  

 

in the living room where i usually sit to crochet, i have a flat-top trunk next to my chair.  i try to keep everything i am curently working on, on the top of the trunk.  i also have a few smaller plastic storage boxes that i sometimes put a project into if i am not working on it for a while.  i can put everything that goes with it into that box.

 

the closest thing i have to a written inventory is my "stash" on ravelry which  you can search in different ways.  of course it only works if you input the yarn but once that is done it is quite handy.   you can also keep track of projects there and automatically pull the stash yarn into the project listing.  

[magiccrochetfan]

inthe storage boxes i have it sorted by type.  thread in one box, dishcloth cotton in one box, all the wools together.  it is all in one shelf unit, if it isn't on the trunk, so its pretty easy to see at a glance.  

[Bailey4]

I had it all in plastic boxes, but it was getting hard to get at the yarn when I needed it and to see what I had.  Dh picked me up some crates when they had them out for the back to school dorm rooms and I'm liking them.

 

I have yarn sorted by weight and for the worsted by color since I have so much of it.  It won't all fit in the crates yet, so some are still in the bins, but I'm working my way down to the point I can have it all stored in the crates and I can see what I have on hand.

[greyhoundgrandma]

I was aware of the stash part of Ravelry, but haven't really looked at it, nor the project area. I'm leaning toward colors together, although I have several different brands in acrylics.

 

I wish I could go with crates or shelves so I would see the yarn better than in the clear boxes, but we still have one house critter. She doesn't shed as much as the cat, but it's still an issue. There are two bookshelves in the room already that I may can clean out and use by putting the yarn in clear project bags.

 

Thanks for the ideas and suggestions!

[ddc]

At one point I had all my acrylic worsted weight, the bulk of my stash, sorted by color, brands mixed together, but before long I changed that, and keep brands together now. I find that generally I don't like to mix brands - unless I really, really need a particular shade - so it was more efficient to keep them separate. I've used plastic bins, open shelves, but now they are all in closed storage cabinets. I liked the open shelves best because I could look at it and endless fantasize new projects, but I have so much dust in the apartment, I decided closed was better. Leftover balls I sort by brand, in old shopping bags or boxes or baskets or whatever I can find.

 

As for inventory, I do it a couple of time a year. I find I'm just not organized enough to keep up with it as I go along.

 

My favorite project containers are three of those common metal mesh trash cans. They are large enough to hold a project, and since I always work in my recliner, I put the foot rest up, and put the container on its side facing me and work the yarn from inside it, so it doesn't roll away. I've tried other things, but always go back to those. I also bought cheap cosmetic bags at the dollar story and keep one in each project can with scissors, tape measure, hooks, all the usual tools, so I always have what I need with the project and I don't end up with it scattered all over the (tiny) table where I'm working, or, more usually, all over the house.