Organizing and Keeping Track of Your Stash

This is the part of talking about stash that I’m really not equipped to talk to you about, because I’m really bad at storing my stash in any rational way. Every year or so I will decide I’m going to put everything on Ravelry (I’ve even written about how to organize your knitting life on Ravelry, though I’ve never actually done it) and then I realize what I giant pain that would be to actually do and don’t actually do it.

Some of my yarn is pretty well organized. I have a giant bin of basic acrylics, for one thing, and all my sock yarn is in one bin. I have a door organizer full of Cascade 220 and another giant bin of basic cottons.

But the rest of it is here, there, everywhere. I couldn’t tell you what’s there or how much of it I have in a lot of cases.

So I’m opening this one up to you: how do you organize your stash and keep track of what’s in it? Maybe your brilliant ideas will help motivate me to figure out what I have and where it’s hiding!

4 Comments so far

1. Ellie on January 30, 2014 5:36 am

   I was keeping it in two totes and two buckets, with some here and there, too. Yesterday I pulled it all out, and am trying to resort and restore!I did conquer the circs first.

2. Ann Devine on January 30, 2014 9:22 am

   So far, I have 2 large & 2 smaller Sterlite crates full of yarns that must be kept away from moths. Most of my sock yarn is in one of the large crates, most of my laceweights are in the other. However, most of the worsted & heavier weights are simply in ziplocs inside large totes — I’ve run out of places for the crates!

3. Becky PS on January 30, 2014 2:17 pm

   My small collection is on/in a bookcase so I can see what I have. Arranged by color. Trying not to buy (hoard) more til I use what I have!!! But we know how that goes…

4. Lesley W on March 14, 2014 1:55 am

   Hello,
   I kept mine in plastic bins and those giant zip lock bags. Mainly because I do not want mice to get in them. Recently I sorted my yarn by project. Like the fuzzy yarn like Cha-cha yarn together for scarves. Baby yarn for baby projects and etc.

   The giant Ziploc bags are for little squares. If I have small balls of yarn, I’ll knit little squares out of them and later it would become a blanket.

   I also have a notebook which I keep details notes of which yarn is in what bin for the sake of my sanity and my back.