If anyone has any suggestions, I’m happy to listen.
Here’s my plan, and I’m not totally sold on this plan but it seems to be the best I can come up with.
- Sort according to weight – for all the miscellaneous, especially single skeins, I’m putting them in tubs according to weight – fingering, sport, DK, etc.
- In those “sortedby weight tubs”, mostly it’s yarns that don’t have specific projects in mind.
- For yarn that’s planned for a project, I’m going to put that in “project” tubs, which are also sorted by weight.
There will be several tubs of fingering weight yarn, less of sport, even less of worsted because I buy lots of single skeins of fingering weight for socks, hats, shawls, etc. I rarely buy worsted weight yarn unless it’s for a project.
Say I have 8 skeins of Malabrigo Rios, which is a worsted weight yarn, which I had planned to use for a sweater, it goes into the tub 19-PW-1, which means it was sorted in 2019, it’s for a project, and it’s worsted weight and it’s in the first tub of worsted weight projects I sorted. Suppose I have 5 skeins of Madelinetosh Sock to make a sweater, that would go in 19-PF-1, which means it’s a tub sorted in 2019, it’s for a project, it’s fingering weight and it’s in the first tub of of fingering weight project yarn I sorted.
Then, suppose I make that fingering weight sweater . . that leaves a spot in that tub so if/when I buy fingering weight yarn for another sweater, I could put it back in that same tub.
This is basically the method I’ve been using but when I was buying lots of yarn, it was hard to keep a “flow” going. One thing I’ve learned is that I should not take out a bunch of yarn at once – some fingering, some worsted, some sport – to make a couple of projects, then just chunk it all together into an empty tub when I decide not to use any of what I pulled.
Another thing I’m planning to do is keep a “Projects” tote and in that tote, I’ll keep several projects – maybe yarn for a few pairs of plain vanilla socks, a few pairs of fancy socks, maybe an easy shawl and an easy sweater, and always a couple of skeins for hats.
I’ve been keeping a container in the car that has stitch markers, a tape measure, scissors, a darning needle, etc. I’ll make sure whatever patterns I plan to use are on the iPad. I just ordered two sets of interchangeable needles from Overstock and I’m going to keep one set of those in the car, along with sock needles.
When we start to go somewhere, whether it’s just to Abilene for the day, or a quick trip to Arkansas to look a house, I’d have my project ready to grab and take with me.
What matters to me with sorting the yarn:
- Being able to find a specific yarn when I need it.
- Being able to see how many yards I have of each yarn so that when I need to find yarn for a project, I can easily see which yarns will work for the project.
Again, any better suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Mary M says
I use a similar process but my tubs are smaller and I have almost no large volumes (meaning multiple skeins of the same yarn/color) to deal with. It works well for me.
Helen Burdette says
Organization is tricky. I like your thoughts
Wendy P says
I would have everything sort by weight. Keep projects in the same tub – but maybe in a bag or something to show that it is for a certain project. Then if you need a specific yarn that is set aside for a project – you can decide whether to leave with that project / remove and purchase a replacement one / abandon previous project.
Mary says
Adding the intended pattern in with bagged yarn for the project might help keep you on track. That’s how I sort my quilt projects and it seems to help.
Teri says
I also print the pattern and put it in a bag with the yarn for the project….otherwise I can’t remember what I wanted to knit with the yarn and if I am going somewhere I just grab that bag and grab the needles and go…..I also keep a bunch of markers, measuring tape, scissors etc. in the car….I have all the bags in a bin….listed as projects to go.
Mandy says
I don’t have enough yarn to sort into any system but I do have loads of scrap fabric for my quilting. I use large plastic zip lock bags sorted by size and colour. All the same size are kept in plastic tubs with a list of what’s in there on the front. Any fabric for a project is kept in it’s own bag with pattern included in a project tub again with a list on the front. Maybe something similar may help.
dezertsuz says
It sounds reasonable, Judy, but I’m wondering if it isn’t about to get completely out of hand, like my fabric stash. A lot of crazy time spent trying to find the one fabric I know is there, even with labels on the totes!
Nelle Coursey says
I think this is a great idea. I think you said you were putting the pattern on your spreadsheet, but why not put it with the yarn as well? You might want to do that in case your spreadsheet is not right there. You can always change your mind later and do something else with it, but you have the name of the pattern with the yarn as well as on paper?? But what do I know! LOL Mine is all in bags, sorted by colors and I have no idea why I have them or what I am going to do with them!! LOL
Ruth says
I wrote a long comment about ideas on how to sort, but it got so confusing I gave up and deleted it. The most important idea is that you continue to sort all the yarn and not stop until it is all in “sort by weight tubs” because by then you will have assigned tubs full of listed yarns and yarn projects. Then you can go back in and pull out whatever project you want to do, Or add in (dare I say it?) *ahem* “newly bought yarn”, knowing that you will be able to find it next year!
Mechelle says
I would love to come play with your yarn! Haha! I really only knit socks or occasional shall so mine is all fingering weight w/a few sport weights, so easy!
Betty Edwards says
What kind of interchangeable needles do you use? I am a new knitter, love it but continue to crochet which I also love. I am working on a crochet sweater right now, it’s a beginner and it’s going well. Just getting ready to start the sleeves. I also have a sweater to knit…first one in the wings.
Judy, I enjoy your site so much…thanks for sharing.
April Reeves says
Put a number on the bin and when you remove something from it, attach a little sticker with the number so when you decide not to use it, you know what bin to put it back in. Leave a sheet of stickers (circle garage sale ones) and a pen in the bin so you can add the number as you take it out.