I have become a yarn hoarder. Yarn collector? Accumulator?
A yarn magpie. Yes, a magpie. I pick up the shiny, pretty, appealing yarns and add them to my cozy nest of soft goodies.
As a new yarn magpie, I’ve learned that collections require space and organization. And pretty collections require displays 😊.
My first problem as I started accumulating new yarns was how to keep it all straight. I got Knitcrate boxes of pretty wool. I picked up skeins of acrylics on sale at my local Michael’s store. I indulged in bright colored cottons and then found a box full of old, unmarked and unorganized yarn in my basement that I never even knew existed! So, how do I remember what it all is? And where it all is? And what I plan to use it for? And how do I keep from buying new versions of things I already have?
So how do I remember what all I have? My crafty friend (Jenn @ craft.jenn.dev) had recommended I look at a site called ravelry.com for pattern ideas. What I found there was so much better! Ravelry not only has a stockpile of patterns, both free and for purchase, but if you set up an account you can track ALL the yarn craft things in one place. You can track all your yarns with the brand, size, care information and then track quantities as you use it. You can save favorite patterns, queue up projects, and record everything you make. And within each project you can include the amounts of yarn you use, which removes it from your stash and allows you to know how much you need to make the same project again, or give others a general guideline on how much yarn they’d need to do the same project as you!
I jumped straight in to Ravelry, set up an account, and started my journey. I took a picture of each yarn I had and recorded how much of each I had. I started planning projects and linked yarn in my stash to my project ideas. I added all my crochet hooks (and the 2 sets of knitting needles I was given) to my list of hooks and needles. Now at any time, if I find a project I want to try, I can pop into Ravelry and look at each yarn I have and how much is left, compare it to what the pattern requires, and never buy duplicates of yarns I already have! Ravelry is the answer to so many questions. Yay!
If you want to take a look at my stash or see the projects I’ve made, I’m on Ravelry as TangledUpCrafts.
Two things Ravely can’t do, though, are keep your physical balls of yarn labeled, and keep them organized. Those both required some interesting trial and error!
First was labeling. Because a picture isn’t enough when you have a lot of similar things, you need to keep them labeled! At first, I tried to keep everything in skeins with their store labels on. But that only works for so long. Some yarns are easier to work with in balls or cakes, and sometimes you use so much you need to ball the rest. So I tried cutting open labels and adding extra paper to wrap labels around the yarn cakes. That… wasn’t great. Finally I found the perfect solution for me! I dug an old (and distressingly rusty) hole punch out of a desk drawer, punched a hole in the label, tied the center pull of my yarn cake to the label and tucked it inside the ball! Now I have pretty colored balls on display, but I still have a label with the brand and color attached right to the skein!
Now how do I store all the yarn I’ve collected over the last few months? That’s a far more difficult question. I started with just the yarn for the Afghan of Forever. I was just a bunch of skeins in a tote bag inside a small plastic storage bin. The tote of yarn moved upstairs to be worked on; the storage bin got relegated to other uses. Then I bought new yarn and the tote overflowed. I bought a large storage bin, but it was deep and disorganized and soon overflowed with endless wonder (aka more yarn). I tried smaller bins within bins, more bags, more totes, etc. Mostly I ended up yarn in boxes and bins and on tables and floors spread all throughout the house. It was not good.
Finally, in a surge of stress-cleaning a week ago I decided to clean out my laundry/utility/storage room in the basement (which is still not clean, boo). I opened up a long-lost corner of the room and discovered a tall, narrow, open-backed, black-lacquer shelf unit. I’ve had it since I was living in the dorms in college freshman year, many, many years ago, though it was blue back then. Over the years it was painted black and put to many uses in many dorm rooms and apartments, until if found it’s way into the storage area of my home. But it was perfect!
I dug out the unit, cleaned it off and brought it upstairs. It fits perfectly with my living room décor and slid right in between my TV and a lamp, about 5 feet away from where I do most of my crocheting. I filled it with piles of colorful yarns! I had ordered skeins and skeins of yarn in over 40 colors to start making amigurumis, and the skeins fit wonderfully in the biggest section. Partial skeins and skeins designated for projects fit on the next shelf up, and the lovely, soft, expensive Knitcrate skeins sit on top for me to stare at lovingly. And on the very bottom is space for boxes of tools and notions and a space for a couple books and a binder of patterns. And because the yarn is so pretty, it makes a nice colorful display! Also, since my husband both indulges and enables my habit, he thought it was pretty cool and is totally okay with a yarn display in the living room (love that guy!).
I still have a tub of yarn in the basement, mostly leftover bits from completed projects and old skeins of cheap yarn leftover from the Afghan of Forever and the box of yarn I found that I didn’t know I had. But the pretty yarn and the yarns I’m currently using (or have plans to use) are all close at hand, organized-ish, accessible and on display!