Yarn Storage
May 8, 2008 by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Filed under bags & scarf & mittens & hat
A constant question for yarn aholics yarn afficianado’s is: ‘ACK!!!!!!!! My stash has eaten my house! HELP? ‘ um…. ‘How do I store my yarn so it’s easy to get to but out of sight of cats, dogs, friends and relations?’
Here are a few pics of some of the ways that I deal with my stash of yarns and rovings:
Rule #1 for yarn storage: Any piece of furniture that is high enough to have yarn stored under it is fair game in our house.
This pic shows the old family tin picnic basket that is now used for storing yarn. (see pic below) You can also see the corner of a folding yarn bag. (Stuffed to overflowing with sock yarn. One year, I spent all my birthday and Christmas money on sock yarn. I will be knitting socks for many a year from that stash!) also see pic below….
One of my favorite storage solutions is the good old fashioned knitting bag:
picnic baskets that are great for yarn storage. (and roving and fleece).
another picnic basket and a wooden box that I got at the second hand store for a dollar or so.
I really like folding yarn bags. I even used this one in several puppet shows.
Here, you can see a whole bunch of my yarn storage solutions. The black and white boxes are tidy, cheap and cheerful. I bought them at my local fabric store for a couple of dollars each and they hide a multitude of sins store a LOT of yarn and fleece.
In the lower left hand of the pic is a really ugly white plastic 2 drawer thingie that I got at a garage sale. Ugly, but oh so handy for storing yarn!
Speaking of plastic, the clear plastic boxes that salad comes in are great for small project and yarn storage.
In the middle lower part of the pic are more ugly plastic baskets. Again…. ugly, but oh so handy.
And in the upper right hand is one of the folding knitting bags that I built last winter. Won’t be doing that for a long time! LOL! Those things are evil to build! So simple looking but nasty little tricksters. Good thing they hold a lot!
I’ll post pics of more of my yarn storage later.
So, how do you store your yarn?
Image Source: Noreen Crone-Findlay (Copyright)
Well, let’s see…..I keep a lot of it out on my many shelves in the studio – so that my students and I can see all the colors and textures and be inspired. Well – I would need a lot more shelves to put it all out…..
So I use the collapsible zip bags that are for laundry. Great idea (the collapsible part) except that they are always full!! LOL!!
I use canvas bags for current projects that are portable and always have a few of those around.
Then I also am very lucky to have some of Noreen’s wonderful bags – all full!
Happy Weaving (and knitting and crocheting and crafting and all)
Terri
Noreen, I spied the black and white boxes. are they cardboard? would they hold sewing patterns? (McCalls ect) in my twentys I worked for a fabric store for six years and they sold this type of box. now (just a few years later HaHa) I cant find them at any fabric store, or oline at these stores. Would I be able to access your fabric store by internet and purchas these boxes?? they look like just what I have been looking for Thanks for your great postings
Hi Terri
Ah! Yes! having yarn out on shelves is a powerful trigger for creativity! It gives us a chance to see the relationships between colors and textures. That is so inspiring!
I have a bunch of the ‘boy-yoy-yoing’ laundry hampers too. They work well for fabric storage, as well as yarn.
I’m glad that bags that I made for you are part of your studio, as are ones I have from you!
) It’s lovely to have symbols of friendship around us……
Hi Carolee
Here’s the link to them:
http://www.fabriclandwest.com/
I also googled for pattern storage boxes and one site came up that mentioned that Joann’s sells them.
This is what came up when I googled Joann’s:
http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat2739
Another came up with instructions on how to make them:
http://www.allthatwomenwant.com/fabricboxes.htm
Sorry that I didn’t find the exact info for you!
I have an old 5 drawer dresser that I use for yarn storage, a different weight in each drawer.
Hi Amy
That’s a really good way of organizing your stash! Well done and thanks!