I have a pretty big stash of yarn. A yarn shop is like a sweet shop for me; I just can’t resist this and that, ooh and that one there is fabulous too…what shall I make with it…I’ll think of something.
You get the idea. I made a massive bedcover in mosaic crochet during Covid, and then I made bags, and cushions, and a blanket for my daughter. I had so much wool and cotton, but of course I never had the right colour for what I wanted to make, or the thickness wasn’t right, so I need to buy more anyway. I’m making a cushion at the moment. Pink and white cotton. It’s pretty!
I have a big chest of drawers with wool/cortton sorted by colour and tone. It works quite well.
And then I have a wardrobe full of fabric, and backing, and ribbon, and… it’s a big wonderful mess!
Great tips, Linda. I agree with enjoyable stash, rather than minimal or a certain amount. Any amount of stash takes time and thought to organize and plan projects with. Yes, I would like all of the time to be active knitting time, but in reality stash maintenance takes effort and time.
I must confess I went down the spreadsheet route, but it has worked for me after many years of dysfunctional yarn stashing! It is now a LOT easier to find a particular yarn and/or pick back up a WIP to match my mood 🤣
My headings are:
Brand/manufacturer
Yarn name
Colourway name
Colourway number
Dye lot
Number of balls/skeins
Multi coloured?
Palette
Fibres and %
Weight (e.g. DK)
Grams/skein
Yards/skein
Metres/skein
Partial (Y/N)
Machine Washable
Storage (which box/large bag - largely by yarn weight)
One tip I have is put a copy of the inventory in a binder and another copy on the inside of the box with the inventory sheet viewable. Number the boxes. Plastic bags with yarn and pattern together.
When I started back to knitting seriously I had yarn everywhere in no particular order and as you said everything had to come out to find anything. Then one new year I went out and bought six plastic lidded tubs and set to and sorted my yarn by weight and then allocated each a tub. Any oddments of any weight had a tub which I could dip into for smaller projects and accent colours. I then spent sometime cataloging all the yarn in a note pad with colour and amounts. I made sure once the yarn was used that the page was taken out. I have mainly “shopped”from stash for the last 3 years only buying if I didn’t have enough yarn for a project request. I am now down to one tub of yarn and slowly adding to stash again.
Sorting by color doesn't appeal to me. I only have a small stash as I'm limited by my apartment size, but most of the yarn is sorted by what projects I use them for. I have a label maker as well, so I can label everything so all I need to do is find the right label to start.
I have a pretty big stash of yarn. A yarn shop is like a sweet shop for me; I just can’t resist this and that, ooh and that one there is fabulous too…what shall I make with it…I’ll think of something.
You get the idea. I made a massive bedcover in mosaic crochet during Covid, and then I made bags, and cushions, and a blanket for my daughter. I had so much wool and cotton, but of course I never had the right colour for what I wanted to make, or the thickness wasn’t right, so I need to buy more anyway. I’m making a cushion at the moment. Pink and white cotton. It’s pretty!
I have a big chest of drawers with wool/cortton sorted by colour and tone. It works quite well.
And then I have a wardrobe full of fabric, and backing, and ribbon, and… it’s a big wonderful mess!
Great tips, Linda. I agree with enjoyable stash, rather than minimal or a certain amount. Any amount of stash takes time and thought to organize and plan projects with. Yes, I would like all of the time to be active knitting time, but in reality stash maintenance takes effort and time.
These are excellent suggestions Linda! Thank you. :)
I must confess I went down the spreadsheet route, but it has worked for me after many years of dysfunctional yarn stashing! It is now a LOT easier to find a particular yarn and/or pick back up a WIP to match my mood 🤣
My headings are:
Brand/manufacturer
Yarn name
Colourway name
Colourway number
Dye lot
Number of balls/skeins
Multi coloured?
Palette
Fibres and %
Weight (e.g. DK)
Grams/skein
Yards/skein
Metres/skein
Partial (Y/N)
Machine Washable
Storage (which box/large bag - largely by yarn weight)
Ongoing project (Y/N)
Project bag (what design)
Notes (e.g. gift from)
One tip I have is put a copy of the inventory in a binder and another copy on the inside of the box with the inventory sheet viewable. Number the boxes. Plastic bags with yarn and pattern together.
When I started back to knitting seriously I had yarn everywhere in no particular order and as you said everything had to come out to find anything. Then one new year I went out and bought six plastic lidded tubs and set to and sorted my yarn by weight and then allocated each a tub. Any oddments of any weight had a tub which I could dip into for smaller projects and accent colours. I then spent sometime cataloging all the yarn in a note pad with colour and amounts. I made sure once the yarn was used that the page was taken out. I have mainly “shopped”from stash for the last 3 years only buying if I didn’t have enough yarn for a project request. I am now down to one tub of yarn and slowly adding to stash again.
Sorting by color doesn't appeal to me. I only have a small stash as I'm limited by my apartment size, but most of the yarn is sorted by what projects I use them for. I have a label maker as well, so I can label everything so all I need to do is find the right label to start.