With Kerin & Hannah's recent posts on organizing their stash, I decided to work on my craft corner last weekend!
When I lived in Massachusetts, my significant other & I had a 3 bedroom house, which was great! I took the tiny room for my craft area, where I could keep all my yarny things, plus my sewing machine, books, a comfy chair and anything else I wanted in my own private sanctuary. It was a very small dark room but I liked having a place of my own.
The other larger room was our office and a place for the SO to keep his guitars, as well as a place we could turn into a guest room if needed. But moving back to Oregon was a problem as our house here is only a 2 bedroom. The SO stayed in Massachusetts for an additional year & half so I did still have a craft room to myself. Now that we have to share the (small) spare room, we needed to organize!
As you can see, in Massachusetts I had all my yarn out on shelves. It was semi organized by yarn, with sock yarn on the top shelf.
Well that wasn't going to work here - we now have a very curious young kitty who would love to play with it & knock it all down. So to save my sanity, I decided that having it in drawers would be a better fit.
The shelf & bins came from Ikea - I don't live very far away from one so it was the easiest & least expensive shelving to get. I organized each drawer in my own system - sock yarns, partial wool scraps, cotton, and a drawer of "special yarn". I also put all the yarn I had for big projects, like sweaters, in one drawer.
I also made a separate drawer of my growing collection of Palette!
With the way I set the shelf on the side, I now I had a work area for my craft projects. I mainly use it to wind yarn or cut out fabric.
That's my unusual swift by the way - the SO gave it to me several years ago. It looks like a Ferris Wheel!
We're still working on organizing the room so we can peacefully coexist together in there but it's coming together much better now! How do you have your yarn stash organized? Do you use the drawer method or do you keep your yarn out in the open?
Feb 29, 2012 at 8:26 AM I am soooo jealous! What a yarn collection! I love knitpick yarn, most of all Shine Sport. Can you put me in your will ;) ?
Feb 27, 2012 at 2:00 PM Ikea Has ALL Kinds of GR8 Organizational Ideas for Everyone In the Tightest of Spots!!! For Any1 Who either Doesn't Have a 2nd Room or Is In a Very Tight Crafting Space..Hanging Sweater & Shoe Cubbys Are FaBuLouS for Small Tight Places!!! Even Apartment Dwellers Can Get Organized Quickly!!! And Stay Organized! Need Help.."Pinterest's" PerF!!! 1 Week of Pinterest & My Cleaning gal & I Were Truly Inspired!!! LoTs of GR8 Organizing Ideas On PINTEREST!!!
Feb 25, 2012 at 2:27 PM I use hanging sweater organizers (I got mine at Joann's). They hang on a rod and hold quite a lot! I love them because I can see my pretty yarn. Sometimes I just stand in my yarn-room and stare at it!!
Feb 25, 2012 at 1:14 PM My hubby made me a beautiful, wonderful, perfect yarn cubby, just like ones you see at yarn stores. Love it, can you tell? I am lucky to have a large room all to myself, with lots of natural light. Room for my office/computer, spinning, yarn stash, TV, reading, and knitting corner, and even 2 delightful finches who keep me company with their happy chirping. And 2 dogs on my lap.....
Feb 25, 2012 at 1:00 PM I use big, plastic, see through boxes to store my yarn.
Feb 25, 2012 at 1:02 AM Wow Stacey that is awesome! I just showed the pics to hubby, hehe mainly to prove my yarn collection pales in comparison, but also as a suggestion of what we could do with one of the spare rooms now all the kids have left home.
Feb 24, 2012 at 7:08 PM I turn my dinner room to my studio.I built a big table,use my old chest and dresser to store my yarn. So far, I am not done finish done finishing my studio yet.
Feb 24, 2012 at 5:46 PM Can you share the names of the pieces from IKEA? I love how that looks and would love to try and get that for my little space!
Feb 24, 2012 at 5:43 PM I have a project basket next the couch where I keep my WIPs and tools. I have a large plastic tote to store my yarn in the closet. I'd love to have a whole room where I could keep my sewing and knitting stuff together. But that won't happen until the kid's move out.
Feb 24, 2012 at 5:26 PM I also have that Ikea shelf and bins! We have a dog who'd yank the yarn right out of the cubbies if he could, so drawers are a must. The shelf is very sturdy, especially considering it's Ikea, and my bins are a pale bluish color that you can sort of see through. I really like it.
Feb 24, 2012 at 4:49 PM I did the same thing with an ikea shelf on the side! I didn't use drawers though.. I might have to change that! I always seem to need the skeins at the bottom of the stack.. grr, and I ran out of room to store my cotton addiction yarn.. the drawers might help with that too!! But it just looks so darn pretty when you look over and see all those colors stacked in each cubby! It also reminds me I need to knit MORE! I also organized by weight.. but left a shelf for books. Sadly, the top is too thick for my regular swift though :(
Feb 24, 2012 at 4:46 PM I am so lucky my husband built me a studio in our ample basement. I have a hunch it was his way of forcing me to keep all my yarn, looms, books, spinning wheel and sewing machine out of the living room! Nevertheless, I have kitchen cupboards and drawers lining one 12 foot wall and tables along the other with bookshelves at the end. More than enough storage and yet I still find I need those giant rubbermaid bins under each desk for the yarn stash overflow. I wouldn't give my marriage more than a few months if we had to share a spare bedroom! :)
Feb 24, 2012 at 4:34 PM I have an old trunk that my grandpa brought over from the "old country" and keep a lot of yarn in there.
Feb 24, 2012 at 4:25 PM I keep my yarn stash in large clear totes in a closet upstairs. I've put cedar blocks in the totes just in case some yarn loving critter finds its way in there. I think there are about 9 or 10 totes in there and I keep telling myself not to buy anymore but I have this sickness called yarnaholism...you may have heard of it.
Feb 24, 2012 at 2:21 PM My yarn all happens to abide in my closet. One of the handiest things that I have ever found to contain it are those plastic zip bags that sheet sets and comforters come in. They kind of form a cube when filled, so they can be stacked. They are great and generally keep the evil moths (shudder) out of my stash.
Feb 23, 2012 at 10:31 PM I generally keep myself to a pretty strict rule of yarn accumulation. I have three small, plastic bins that slide under my bed, and that's where I keep my yarn. Anytime my bins are full and I want to buy more yarn, I instead force myself to use up part of what I already have. This keeps both my yarn stash from overflowing, and I from being bored!
Feb 23, 2012 at 8:35 AM Organizing my grown son's old room is my current 'project in progress'. I have got to try to contain my stash in one centralized place, so it doesn't creep out from behind all the furniture in the public parts of the house!
Feb 23, 2012 at 8:32 AM Hi Haleyknitz! My SO got it here: http://www.woolery.com/store/pc/Schacht-Goko-Metal-Swift-p1315.htm He was very excited about it because he got to put it all together for me. And Barb, I had mine all in bins too for a very long time :)
Feb 23, 2012 at 8:21 AM To answer your question, Stacey, my third bedroom is a combination of craft items, workout equipment and some of the book shelves I have around. The yarn (and crochet cotton and kits for things) are in Rubbermaid bins -- about 9 of them all together, stacked all around. And I probably need go get into the bins are rearrange again. Constantly plundering for something specific doesn't help the organization. :)
Feb 23, 2012 at 8:12 AM AWESOME swift....where on earth can i get one??