i think you probably all know by now how much i love organizing stuff! i love cleaning out closets and finding more space where i didn’t think i had any! and when it comes to yarn and knitting spaces, i can use all the space I can get!

one of the benefits of owning a yarn shop was i had somewhat unlimited yarn storage! if you work outside the home, think about all the stuff that lives at our office and is really your personal stuff! what would you do if all that needed to come home?

when i decided that i was going to participate in the yarn crawl, i knew i needed to inventory my stash. ever buy the same book twice? well i’m that way with yarn (and books but that’s a different post). i’ve bought three skeins of tosh sock in the same color way from three yarn shop in three different states over the last few years. i obviously love that yarn and that color way!

so time to get organized!

organizing your stash

forever i organized my stash by fiber content in under-the-bed tubs. but we only have 2 beds in our house that we can actually store stuff under (excluding will’s room and my yarn is too precious to live in there). and unfortunately my stash couldn’t be contained under those beds! and do you really want to hide all that beautiful colorful fiber under a bed? NO you want to see it and see if often!

when i destashed last year, i switched to giant zipper bags. i’m talking about the one that sheets, quilts, and comforters come in! i got this trick from mary and it’s wonderful. great storage and i’m recycling. it’s a win win!

haven’t bought any new sheets or quilts lately? beg and borrow from friends and family! or you can buy then on eBay. and ziploc makes them and target selling them!

my yarn is now “hidden” in plain sight all over the house! open the closet in the master bedroom and where you might store shoes, i’ve got yarn! yep, there’s the fingering weight! go into the guestroom and next to the sheets, pillowcases and other linens stored in a build-in cabinet is sport weight, lace weight and worsted/aran!

and i don’t have it organized by fiber or color. instead i have each bag labeled with weight name. if i have more than one bag of a weight (hello, fingering) then i give it a number. did you know you can add a location to your stash yarn in ravelry?

speaking of ravelry! i’m all the time singing it’s praises but let me show you how wonderful it really is! my stash is an investment and if i don’t know what i have or where it is, then i can’t use it!

while i owned the shop, i was really lazy with my personal ravelry. i hardly ever added yarn to my ravelry stash. this is how i bought 3 skeins of the same yarn in the same color way from 3 different shops! but it’s all in ravelry now! so when i’m shopping i can just look on my phone and see what i have. no more repeat buying unless i want to. and if i’m searching ravelry for a new project, it will recommend yarn i have in my stash for the project i’m looking at! how cool is that?!?!?!?

here are my recommendations for the quick and dirty ravelry stashing.

• do it front of the tv with your iPad. it won’t feel like such a chore if you are entertained while doing data entry!
• do ONLY the following fields –
  • yarn name
  • company name
  • colorway (don’t have the tag, use the handy drop down to get the color recorded)
  • number of skeins

but make sure you do the photos! that’s why the iPad is so handy! snap them right there in ravelry! the photo doesn’t have to be professional. just clear and bright! most of mine are taken on my lap desk right on the keyboard.

now i’m ready to get knitting and use all this great yarn i’ve collected over the past few years!

wanna take a look at my stash on ravelry, then CLICK HERE to take a look!

happy knitting! (and stashing!)

h.