Yarn Storage Do’s and Don’ts

Poor yarn storage leads to so many missed opportunities, and in the worse case scenario can even damage your yarn too!

The right yarn storage system can totally revolutionize how you experience crocheting as a hobby. Which sounds completely over the top, but stick with me for a moment.

Ever since I started thinking before I store my yarn rather than just chucking it wherever feels convenient in the moment, I’m not only having more of a fun and relaxed time crocheting, but I’m making much quicker and easier progress with my designs for new amigurumi projects too.

The DO’s

DO Have a system

Don’t just throw your yarn into whichever box, drawer or space on the floor is available. Have a firm, decisive system for how you are going to keep your stash under control.

DO Use your system

This subsection is basically the entire story of my life. I am great at making systems, but less adequate when it comes to actually using them. The floor is closer, am I right? But please do as I now try very hard to do as well as say, and use this system once it’s in place.

DO Make sure it’s big enough

Be realistic with yourself. We all love a big clear out and a downsize, but you want your yarn storage to actually fit all the yarn you are realistically going to be ramming into it

DO Use something easily accessible

If you make your storage solution too complicated, you won’t use it. Well, maye you will, but I know I won’t. I have to keep it simple in order for it to actually function. Over complicated storage that involves locks, little doors, perfect accessories for every part, might sound gorgeous. But will you use it? Unlikely.

DO Consider Shelving

After a decade of trying various ways to store my stash, I’m really sold on shelving. It’s so versatile, there are numerous options for different spaces and budgets. But it’s also just really easy to keep tidy and to actually use. You are unlikely to drop your ball of yarn onto the floor or shove it in a corner if all you have to do is pop it onto a shelf.

DO Label opened skeins

When you peel the paper off your new skein of yarn, make a quick note on a scrap of paper to say what the brand and color shades are, and ideally the dye lot too. Use a paper clip, safety pin or stitch marker to peg the note onto the skein so that you can keep track of what it is!

DO Sort by weight

I always sort my yarn by weight first, but it dictates the hook size and has the biggest bearing on what project I use it for. That’s why my yarn is primarily stored by the thickness of the strand before anything else.

THEN sort by fiber

The yarn fiber is my secondary consideration, because this again impacts on the projects I choose it for. I try to loosely keep my acrylics together and my cottons blends together, and this works well for me because I have a few go-to brands that I can keep in the same place.

THEN sort by color

Although I love the look of yarn stored entirely by color, it’s actually not practical to do so as a priority over the thickness and fiber. A gorgeous yarny rainbow is a fabulous thing, but it’s not going to help me put together my designs and that’s why this is a later consideration and not an earlier one despite the happy aesthetics.

DO Purge occasionally

We’ve all got skeins of yarn that realistically we know we’re never going to have a project for. If you’re anything like me you picked them because they looked beautiful or had the most amazing texture, but actually they are a weight or fiber that you just don’t use.

For me, it’s a hand dyed sock yarn issue. I never make anything with this very lightweight yarn, but every time I go to a yarn show I can’t help myself. To keep control of your storage solution, these accidentally on purpose purchases need rehoming from time to time.

DO Store scraps separately

Yarn scraps, in my view, shouldn’t be stored with the rest of your yarn.

By yarn scraps I mean small pieces of yarn that are big enough to make up extra filling in a toy or add a detail to an amigurumi face, but not large enough to make up a partial skein.

I keep my rather embarrassingly large collection of scraps in two big plastic boxes with closed lids. They come in handy a lot, but are never going to look pretty or store neatly on a shelf!

The DON’Ts

DON’T Keep yarn you won’t use

We’ve all bought, or been given, gorgeous skeins or yarn that we will absolutely never use. Either because they are not a yarn weight we have a project for, or they are a texture we don’t get along with. I also have some beautifully home dyed yarns that are gorgeous on the ball, but I have literally no idea what I’d make with. I am predominantly an amigurumi person, these stunning gradiented skeins just don’t fit with my plans.

I understand, and fall prey to, the inclination to keep these balls of yarn, but they take up space and create clutter unnecessarily. Try to donate or sell them, if you know in your heart you’re never going to use them.

DON’T Ignore your own storage system

Once you’ve got a system, then please do use it. Don’t be like me in the past, and slowly slide into ignoring it and dropping things wherever is convenient in the moment.

You’ve got this clever solution, it’s going to make your life easier if you just take an extra few moments to implement it.