Yarn Wrangling & the Dangers of Yarn Hoarding

I remember the first time my boyfriend opened his forgotten suitcase and discovered my dirty little secret: I hoard yarn. After a trip to Galena this past fall, Matt had left his travel bag at my house and, when he still hadn't taken it home a month later, I decided to put it to good use.

At least I'm set for vacation knitting?

 You see, when you have other space-consuming hobbies (book collecting), there isn't really much room for anything else. I still live at home and whenever I received a yarn order, about every week, my mother rolls her eyes at me and throws the package on my bed. Because there is just too much yarn and not enough space, which means you need to get creative...especially when underneath the bed/the closet/project bags from your LYS are all full. Which they are (not pictured).

Wine Bar Yarn Storing

I bought this wine bar at World Market, my other place of employment, at a crazy low markdown. It retails for over $500, but I think I paid $60 for it after my discount/coupons/etc. And it's great! But sometimes the shelving pin falls out of the second shelf, which makes me a bit apprehensive about placing wine glasses on it. So why not use it for yarn?

My straight needles

I'm still working on needle storage. Right now, my straights are all housed in a jar on my computer desk. All others, including my interchangeable circular needle sets and notions, are stored in cute little Halloween tupperware I bought on clearance at JoAnn last year. As dorky as it sounds, this is actually a pretty good storage unit for me and, when I think of a better solution, I can use them for cookies :)

I know it won't always be like this. Working at Wool & Company has definitely shown me what some pretty fantastic yarn storage can look like. Considering I'm in charge of maintaining tidiness over all our yarn 20-25 hours each week, I thought I should share some inspiration for how things might look...someday.

Our store is pretty large, meaning there is a constant need for creative organization. The first picture is of an old card catalogy thing full of Koigu. It's my favorite storage unit in the store and I would love to have a real, legit card catalog for my own yarn someday. Except mine will have drawers. The second photo is of our Malabrigo Lace yarn. We have a few of these "trees" throughout the store and, while they take up minimal amounts of space, they can still hold a lot of product. The final photo is out Rowan Purelife collection. Kate set this one up last week and I love the idea of using an old box for yarn storage. I would love to use wine crates someday or hat boxes, as Ysolda does. But that, dear readers, will not be for a long while.

Until then, I will continue to shove yarn into every nook and cranny. And, once those are full, I guess there is always the trunk of my car. Oh, wait...

Remember, friends don't let friends hoard yarn...alone.