Comments on: Organizing Your Knitting “Stuff”

By: Sheri at The Loopy Ewe » Needle and Pattern Storage

Sheri at The Loopy Ewe » Needle and Pattern Storage — Wed, 11 May 2011 18:33:52 +0000

[...] done posts in the past on storing stash yarn (including serious posts and not-so-serious posts), and on what you can do with yarn bits ‘n bobs, but I haven’t [...]

By: Faculty Meeting Knitter

Faculty Meeting Knitter — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 02:36:13 +0000

How *timely* indeed. There’s something about this time of year that makes me instinctively start cleaning out closets, and my knitting “stuff” had gotten totally out of control in recent months. So this past week (never one to do anything by halves), I up & (a) joined Ravelry, (b) started a knitting blog, (c) sorted through my milk-crate of loose patterns and magazines, *AND* (d) put my stash of yarn and sewing fabric into order. For the stash, like many of the posters here, I love using extra-large ziploc bags and plastic bins. Oddly enough, I only just now figured out that I should switch the stash from completely opaque bins to the type with translucent bottoms. You’d think a lady with a PhD could have seen out the benefit of *THAT* a long time ago, but never mind… It was way overdue. Higgledy piggledy — and some stuff dating back 15-20 years. No joke. I used a stack of wide, flat bins for the fabric (sorted into household vs. garments and remnants vs. uncut) and a series of regular rectangular bins for the yarn, which I organized by type and quantity. I also commandeered a nifty bin for my WIPs that had been used for something else (which then went into one of the opaque bins that were now empty). What’s special about this particular bin is that it has a hinged lid whose two halves are hinged to swing open and interlock when closed, which makes it really easy to dive in & examine the contents.

Thanks for this post and for all the great ideas in the commentary.

By: Doris

Doris — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 22:23:57 +0000

I love your organization. I am working on something similar. My College Guy who has just graduated (I guess that makes him Graduate Guy)has temporarily returned home, until he gets established a bit. He is moving into Older Son’s room, Older Son having moved to Northern Michigan from Maryland. Graduate Guy’s room will become my fiber room, and I can’t wait!

By: Seanna Lea

Seanna Lea — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:56:34 +0000

I just moved and I’m trying to organize my crafting space. Sometimes I reflect on how much easier it would be to organize if I were more of a mono-focused crafter, but I have way too many interests for that to pass muster.

Currently, my knitting area is a deep closet with a white end table/cabinet for yarn and my filing cabinet, which is mostly for cross-stitch patterns. My books are on a bookshelf behind the door to the room (the closet is in the eventual guest room), and aren’t organized yet.

By: Susan-a-Buffalo-Gal

Susan-a-Buffalo-Gal — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:58:51 +0000

I bought a bunch of inexpensive, pressed board (looks like fake wood) wine racks at Target. I arranged all sock yarns in this chromatically. I covered the fronts with a piece of fabric (that matches other stuff in the room) to prevent fading but mostly to keep Cali, our lab from eating any more skeins of yarn (for her good and mine). Then I purchased two four shelf bookcases to match the wine racks and baskets. Yarn for other projects (sweaters, shawls, blankets) go in baskets, on the shelves with pattern books and pattern binders. I cover the baskets with blue tissue paper to keep out sun and dust. Cedar balls, vlocks, etc go into everything. I keep straight needles in a gigantic vase with a sheep on it. Al large bag with all other stuff (zipped up to prevent lab invasion). We have a family room on our third floor and it all resides there. Just need to keep everything covered because of skylights, too.

By: JessaLu

JessaLu — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:58:29 +0000

I like your setup – especially your cabinet! I use cube racks from Target with a few bin inserts plus a closet to keep my yarn – okay and a bunch of baskets and bowls throughout the house. ;o) As for keeping my projects with me, I like to use my own bags. ;o)

By: Michelle

Michelle — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 05:31:09 +0000

I use a closet sweater organizer to store my yarn. The kind that hang off the closet rod and has 5 cubbies that are closed on all but one side. It’s the perfect depth each, skein can lay down flat and I can see it. And if I stack it just right I can fill each of the 5 cubbies to the top, that’s a lot of yarn. You can get one for about 15-20 bucks too.

By: Theresa in Italy

Theresa in Italy — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 04:48:10 +0000

I love the way you’ve got your stash organized, Sheri! (At least what you’re letting us see of it!) I’d love to have some closet space to work with—what you’ve done with yours is inspiring—but they don’t have built-in closets over here. They rely on big wardrobes which, let me tell you, don’t really hold much of anything. So I also have my stash tucked away all over the house, in plastic tubs or ziploc bags. (As Liz said above, the good part is that no one else knows exactly how much stash you have…) Patterns are in notebooks and I can lay my hands on most of the book, but I really need to update the needle storage system since I can never find the right sized needles when I’m looking for them.

By: liz

liz — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:30:04 +0000

My house doesn’t have enough closet space for a Yarn Closet. However, we have a cedar trunk at the end of our bed that is crammed full of yarn and there are several shoebox sized bins in the linen closet. And two storage drawer things in my closet. And some bags of various yarns under various beds. And probably other yarn stored in other spots around the house. The bad part of this arrangement is that you can’t ever look at all your stash in one place. The good part about this arrangement is that no one else can figure out exactly how much stash you have!

By: Rasa

Rasa — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 01:17:49 +0000

I have an unused corner of my living toom that has become the stash location. It’s a small alcove above the steps and between the window. It’s a perfect spot because otherwise it is wasted space. I keep my yarn in plastic bins…although the bins seem to be multiplying…of course it’s not because I’m buying more yarn…not guilty…not guiilty…not guilty:)