Mark Twain

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Sunday, July 7, 2013

One last yarn-y stash post: a question!

Picture credit: www.galenfrysinger.com

No, this is not my yarn stash!  

But this is what my yarn stash feels like and resembles on occasion.  And this is what I spent time trying to fixing this week.

My current organizational system is not even as systematic as this picture, but I do try to get it all to fit in one full size closet.  When new yarn comes into the house, it gets stacked on a card table until it can be logged in Ravelry and I have time to problem solve where it will go. The card table is just a temporary option.  You see I share that room with my husband who visits daily to work on his computer.  When he enters the room everything usually looks, well ... normal.  The yarn stash is mostly not visible.  

He knows better than to open the closet (he did that only once and quickly slammed it closed before he lost control of the contents and needed to send out an SOS!)  As long as my hobby stays safely contained in a confined space that is seldom viewed, he can claim plausible deniability.  His wife is still normal and may need to (on occasion) buy more yarn.  :-)

Really ... he is mentally just fine, but "out-of-sight, out-of-mind" plays big in our house.

It is a method that works for us!

But back to the storage issues:  I did manage to get all my cotton yarn together (gosh I have a lot of cotton yarn,) all my weaving yarn together (ditto on the weaving yarn), and all my wool fiber together.  Oh, that's right.  I haven't talked about my wool fiber stash! Once I am spinning will be  ... wait for it ... yarn! (See why I didn't talk about it?)

All the other skeins are stored wherever there is a space in the closet plastic drawers or in plastic bags squeezed in spaces between the drawers.  I try to make sure I use bags that you can see through - so I don't have to dig too far to find stuff. Plastic may save me from the horrors of a stray moth setting up housekeeping in my collection. (Dread beyond measure!)

But as a "Collector" of yarn, this storage system seems chaotic and disrespectful to my stash.

I would love to hear how you manage your storage of anything - we all store stuff, we all have our methods, even if you aren't a yarn hoarder collector like me.  How do you do it?  What are the challenges you have and what have you done to overcome it?

6 comments:

Lynne said...

Plastic bins, stacked in my closet, my method. No way do I have your "inventory" but the see through bins work for me.

Laura said...

I have found that see through bins work best for collections that need to be seen to be used. :)

Cat said...

I agree with the bins. I have my yarn organized by weight, and how much... That is, if I have "orphan" skeins, they go in one pile, er, group, and if there is several, i.e., for a blanket, or sweater, some such, it goes in a separate section. Other than that, meh, I dig until I find something I like.

Cat

Una said...

I sort mine by ply....4 ply, dk and Aran. Then I just put them into carrier bags and shove them into the bottom of my wardrobe. Every now and then, I get out the bags and remind myself of what I have. I just love looking at it all.

Linda said...

I have found the bigger the stash - the harder organization is - My Yarn stash isn't too much of an issue. I have it stored in tubs and drawers in catagories that work for me - sweater lots, handspun, single skeins, sock yarn, and cotton/other than wool. I have a quilting fabric stash stored in tubs by color group - that is a static stash since I haven't quilted in years so stopped purchasing but "I might quilt again" so I hold on to it. My fiber stash is another story - started out stashing in tubs by color group but since the majority is hand painted - that has gotten difficult. My tub of "does not fit in one color group" is bursting at the seams and I belong to a few club so have at least 3 - 4 oz. bundles coming in every month. I do have a few catorgies - undyed fiber, scoured but not processed fleece and unscoured fleece. LOL - then there are the stray 4 oz. bumps floating around in my house - potential project containers, in my travel wheel bag - in a "want to spin soon" container. As I am writing I am thinking - too many not see through containers and get all the fiber in one room!

Marianne (Mare) Baker Ball said...

I'm a bin girl, too. That and baskets, which I love. I mainly try to keep the clutter to a minimum, though. That's my first goal. ;-) I donate stuff I don't need too. I'm trying to simplify my life!