Organize your Yarn Stash In a Small Area

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We all love yarn, right? We love the way it feels and how it looks and all the wonderful colors that the dyers come up with. So, why does it usually end up stuffed in plastic grocery bags or piled in baskets and crates? We have a problem…a yarn mess problem. Let’s organize your yarn stash!

My Yarn Before

I am almost a little embarrassed to show these pictures, but the first step to getting better is admitting I have a problem! Now, you won’t hear me say that anyone has too much yarn. There really is no such thing. So, what I had was a problem of storage and organization. My other problem was space. I don’t have a whole room that I can devote to my yarn and I don’t have a huge cabinet that I can organize and make Instagram-worthy. I do have a small area in my master bedroom that I can devote to storing my yarn and tools.

Assess What You Have

The first step in organizing your yarn stash is to gather all your yarn, tools, and projects and put them in one space. This is important because you can see if there is anything you need more of or you might find a project that you haven’t finished yet! You can also sometimes find a hidden gem and think of a new project. It is also a good time to look at your tools and how you have them stored.

Organize Your Yarn and Tools in Piles

Once you have everything in one spot, go through and organize it. There are so many ways to organize your yarn. You need to pick the one that makes sense to you. I chose to organize my yarns by type of yarn first and then size. So, all my cotton yarns went into one pile. All my bulky yarns in another pile. Do the same with your tools.

Now, look at these piles and think about the space you have for yarn and ask yourself a few questions
Do I want it to be open so that I can see it?
Would I want it to be covered from dust or pet hair?
Do I want it to look cute or will it be in a closet or away and I really just need function?

Once you have determined these things, you can choose the storage options that are right for you. I wanted mine to be open storage where I could see it and I wasn’t worried about dust or pet hair. Since it was going to be visible in my bedroom, I wanted it to look cute, but not overwhelm the room. So, I took a look at how much yarn I had and what I needed and I started researching some options for this area.

What I Did

I ended up purchasing a cube organizer. It has 8 sections. I like these because they are not super expensive, they hold up well to light use, and they look good either open or with storage baskets. Then I decided to put my bulky yarns on the bottom row and my thinner yarns in the top row. This shelving unit has a nice top, so I was able to get a basket to hold my tools and put that on top. I put my blocking boards to the left side where they are not standing out. Then I put a WIP on the top of those, so it is still usable space. I put a lamp and some finished projects on the top of the shelf too. My project bags are off to the right.

Always changing….

So, after living with this for about a year, I decided to move my office and yarn down to our guest room and I was able to reuse the storage unit and some other storage options in the closet to make things more visible and focused.

For this area, I also purchased some over the door shoe hangers. I like using these to store my single skeins of yarn that I have hanging around, or yarn that I have wound. It is easy to keep them all together and easy to see what I have.

This has saved me time and money because I can see what I have and use it first before buying more!

However, I do still crochet in other parts of my house and I like to have tools and yarn nearby. So, I grabbed an awesome rolling cart from Ikea and that stays upstairs. I have tools and WIPs in the top level, other yarns and tools I don’t use as often in the second level, and then yarns for upcoming projects on the bottom level.

 

Virtual Stash

Okay, now that you have have your yarn stash organized, are you ready to go digital? Did you know that Ravelry.com has a great option to organize your stash online? Did you know there are apps to connect to Ravelry so that you can update your stash on the go?

Along with Ravelry, you can use a free app called Stash2Go Lite. There are several apps that integrate with Ravelry, but this one was the one that got the most reviews and seemed to work well with Ravelry. It is not fancy and the interface is pretty basic, but it works. You can also use it to upload pictures or check on your friends or forums. Until Ravelry comes out with their own app, this one works for me on my iPhone.

Here is a list of apps that are compatible with Ravelry. Pick one and organize your stash online too!

Do you use any of these apps?
Do you have a yarn mess too?
Have you organized your yarn stash?

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