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Molly C
Seriously Hooked
USA
884 Posts |
 Posted - 06/03/2004 : 2:33:08 PM
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My stash is very small yet, so I really don't have any trouble finding things. I've been storing my yarns by color in ziploc bags, but I'm beginning to think I should start storing by weight instead. . . sock weight, bulky weight, etc. etc.
What's your best method?
Molly
Knitting in Southern Connecticut
Is it spring yet? It is! It really is!! |
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Chequamegon
Chatty Knitter
231 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2004 : 4:26:50 PM
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I commend your organizational skills. I sort by project. I have two bags for baby yarns, a suitcase for afghan yarns, a bag of sweater yarns for me , I have one of those bin sorty deals with fun yarn (eyelash, novelity, etc), I basket for leftover skeins which I try to keep as wool. In the living room I have another basket full of recent purchases so I can admire them from time to time. Eventually they will be relocated to their proper project bag. I have a few boxes of specific project sweater yarns and they will have to stay that way for a while because I have run out of yarn stash bags. My stash bags are those blue bag give aways from Columbia House Video. |
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RoseByAny
Permanent Resident
USA
12598 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2004 : 4:38:11 PM
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I"M SUPPOSED TO SORT ALL THIS???????
Actually, I have my sock yarn almost all together, and beyond that it's by projects. Aside from sock yarn, which I buy when the color strikes me, I tend to buy yarn and immediately know what it's going to become.
I don't think anyone else on the planet (least of all my husband) would ever presume that it was sorted in anyway, shape, or form, but it's taking me long enough to get through things, that I don't think anyone's likely to challenge me anyway...
"Choose your friends by their character and your socks by their color. Choosing your socks by their character makes no sense, and choosing your friends by their color is unthinkable."
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XavierMusketeer
Chatty Knitter
USA
114 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2004 : 4:44:45 PM
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Mine is pretty much by fiber. The acrylic is together, the wool, the cotton, the sock yarn. Basically grouped together by project other than that. It's all in a cedar chest, I need to devise some sort of dividers to separate it!
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Visit keeping me in stitches..., my knitting blog |
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Gaile
New Pal
Canada
44 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2004 : 5:00:35 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by RoseByAny
I"M SUPPOSED TO SORT ALL THIS???????
I didn't know that either! If I sort at all, then it's by hiding place. Cuz to have it all in one room would mean Himself (the hubby) would know how bad the addiction was!
Actually, I do sort by weight with older yarns - but newer yarns are definitely by project. And I have a "leftovers" bin.
... a few projects in each room of the house that is! Spread over 3400 sq ft it almost looks manageable! 
Gaile
http://knit.eclecticpixels.com - CAST AWAY (my knitting blog)
http://planetgaile.com/slices/ - SLICES OF LIFE (yet another blog)
"I knit - therefore, I exist!" |
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Pinky Yarn
Permanent Resident
USA
1045 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2004 : 5:04:08 PM
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by fiber mos def, i have two under bed bins, one is the acrylics taht im trying to get through, the nicer ones are up front, then in the other bin is the cotton, and wool, and mohair, etc...
- Katie
"Say what you mean, and mean what you say"
The next generation of knitters :-)
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GFTC
Permanent Resident
USA
6331 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2004 : 5:09:48 PM
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I sort by brand. I'm thinking of creating kits - each bag would have a sock pattern, 2 skeins of sock yarn, and the appropriate needles.
What worries me is that I think I have a secret LYS in my closet. The problem is that only I know it's there and I am the buyer, retailer, and customer all rolled into one. I guess it's the only store in America where both the owner and the customer are always happy with the service, the selection, the hours, and the location.
I also enter the info on all yarn that I buy into KnitAble. This program on my PDA has been very helpful when I am shopping, either in stores or on the internet. It's so much easier to look up what I have, color&dye lot, amount, brand, than to go and look through everything and continually count skeins. I am diligent about entering new purchases and deducting what I have used. |
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RoseByAny
Permanent Resident
USA
12598 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2004 : 5:21:08 PM
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quote:
Himself (the hubby) would know how bad the addiction was
Mine's in different locations, too, and I've found one trick is to store it in the same color plastic bins that he keeps his old military stuff in. He doesn't know what he's got, let alone that there are four extra 30 gallon bins in there....
"Choose your friends by their character and your socks by their color. Choosing your socks by their character makes no sense, and choosing your friends by their color is unthinkable."
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anderknit
Permanent Resident
USA
2550 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2004 : 5:43:42 PM
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I have "project yarn" in one place, and the rest sorted by weight. I have a separate box for "remnants" of old projects. Oy!
"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.' " |
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mokey
Permanent Resident
15375 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2004 : 7:30:57 PM
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I just stick all the same brands in one area, but that's as much sorting as I do.
"There is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappiness." Gandhi |
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amber
Seriously Hooked
USA
758 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2004 : 9:46:44 PM
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I sort by project and kind of by yarn type. All the yarn for sweaters is kept together and I have a bin with novelty, sock, and scarf yarn as well. Then there is the ever growing bag of left over yarn. I've yet to love any of the suggestions for using this stuff up so I still have it all.
-Amber
A friend will help you move..
A really good friend will help you move a body. |
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celia
Permanent Resident
Australia
2454 Posts |
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Tam
Permanent Resident
Australia
2810 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2004 : 01:54:26 AM
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I just chuck it all in one box and there are a couple of bags that the wool came home in and never came out of yet.....it is certainly not sorted!!!
Happy Knitting,
Tam in Melbourne
http://photos.yahoo.com/lillysmum2002
2004 Stats: 13 FOs, 2 WIPs, 1 frog
Women are like tea bags - you don't know how strong they are until they are in hot water. |
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anderknit
Permanent Resident
USA
2550 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2004 : 05:16:49 AM
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Oh yah, and I forgot to mention the Lantern Moon basket with my "about to be tackled" project yarn... And my leather box (from TJ Maxx - what a bargain!) for my "needs to be seamed/ends woven in" projects...
"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.' " |
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Licensed2Cook
Permanent Resident
USA
3554 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2004 : 05:21:09 AM
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Being that I am still messing with this again today. I decided to leave all my sock yarns together in their "private" knitting basket. All my "bags o'yarn" for larger projects are together discussing whether they'll be "born" or not. All my wools are hanging out in the same bin, all my otherwise worsteds are partying together, my quick projects are in ziplocks and are mingling with one another and my "I'm going to make this soon" stuff is together as well. The bins are all clear so I can do a 360 of each bin to see what's available.
My hubby asked me what my plans for "longer term storage" are and that made me feel like he thought I'd never get to all this yarn so I am so serious about my stash reduction efforts and the moritorium on future yarn purchases. Midwest Stitches isn't going to be as fun as I'd planned but after separating the yarn I still see that I have the Midwest Stitches yarn from last year. Perhaps I'll just bring it with me in August to make me feel like I've shopped the "Market".
Dee
~Licensed2Knit |
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jade
Permanent Resident
USA
1543 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2004 : 07:13:31 AM
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"sort"??? You expect yarn to be sorted? Mine is stuffed on shelves and in closets and on tops of tables, countertops and anything that won't fit is in boxes on the floor. I think the yarn breeds when no-one is looking. My stash is on the large side.
Cheryl |
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fmarrs
Guardian angel
USA
9776 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2004 : 07:13:55 AM
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I have 3 basic ways of storing yarn. Projects in zip loc bags. A giant box full of coned yarn, and the largest rubbermaid container made that if full of odds and ends. I store the skeins on end in this box so all I have to do is remove the few project bags that are on top and I can see the ends of everything that I have without digging through it. If it gets too full, I force myself to knit up some multicolored proects but it works rather well because there are only so many different colors you can handle. Space is at a premium here. We have 9 people (plus an extra 3 for the summer) sharing 5 closets, 2 of which are in my room, so I moved my yarn off the shelves and out of the closets. I hope to improve things if we ever find the larger home we are looking for.
fran |
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carpe diem
Permanent Resident
1158 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2004 : 12:03:59 PM
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Great topic Molly! and amusing responses too 
Fortunately the majority of my stash are all projects, but I will need to sort the leftovers. I've been leaning towards weight and after reading the replies, consider fiber although it's either wool or cotton, with very few novelties. What I need to do now is to transfer the stash in plastic, some are, most aren't.
~ Lisa, Seattle |
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cats
Gabber Extraordinaire
USA
503 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2004 : 12:53:03 PM
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| My stash really isn't sorted too well but it's generally done by the type of yarn. Not too much by color except by default. It's just in way too many places around my one bedroom apartment that has the teeniest closets known to man. |
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anderknit
Permanent Resident
USA
2550 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2004 : 6:34:04 PM
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I thought I'd add this. I once read that yarn should not be stored in plastic long-term because it had to "breathe." So, I took out a bunch of old pillow cases and starting storing yarn that way. Then one weekend we had a whole lot of company and I needed the pillow cases. It was quite embarrassing, to say the least. As soon as I could, I went to Linens 'N Things and bought the biggest plastic bins I could find. So, is the "breathing" thing true? (For natural fibers, anyway?)
"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.' " |
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Molly C
Seriously Hooked
USA
884 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2004 : 8:09:09 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by anderknit
I thought I'd add this. I once read that yarn should not be stored in plastic long-term because it had to "breathe." So, I took out a bunch of old pillow cases and starting storing yarn that way. Then one weekend we had a whole lot of company and I needed the pillow cases. It was quite embarrassing, to say the least. As soon as I could, I went to Linens 'N Things and bought the biggest plastic bins I could find. So, is the "breathing" thing true? (For natural fibers, anyway?)
"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.' "
There is some validity to that, but I don't think any of us should have much concern. I would gather that the vast majority, if not all, are in and out of plastic bins or bags on a somewhat regular basis - say twice a year at a bare minimum for a little used color/fiber. I think that is sufficient.
If you were leaving things untouched for years on end with no air circulation, that would be a different story. I think you are fine. Personally, I don't really lock my ziplocks within the bin, and the bin is certainly not entirely airlight, so I'm not overly concerned.
Molly
Knitting in Southern Connecticut
Is it spring yet? It is! It really is!! |
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