KonMari and Your Yarn Stash

No this doesn’t mean clearing out your stash

In the past few posts, we’ve been spring cleaning and KonMari-ing our knitting tools and supplies. I’ve been sharing my tips with you, and I’d love to know how it’s going. In today’s post, we’re going to look at how to apply Mari Kondo’s popular principles to your precious yarn. This is KonMari and Your Yarn Stash on Knitting in the Park.

View the intro here.
Learn how to KonMari your needles and notions here.
And how to apply these methods to your patterns here.

Knitters store their stashes in all different methods. From plastic bins, to wooden dressers, and just about every place you can think of in between, knitters are squirreling away their skeins. Overtime, it can be difficult to remember what you have and how much of it is in your stash. Some projects will leave us with one or less skeins, and we just can’t bring ourselves to toss it out. So we save it for that one project…which might never come.

In this post, to KonMari and Your Yarn, I’m not going to tell you to chuck, donate, pitch, or anything else to your yarn. Instead, let’s take a look at what we have, evaluate whether our storage solution is working, and make some plans for some of these left over skeins.

Step 1 on KonMari and Your Yarn: Yarn Mountain!

Just like Mari Kondo does with the mountains of clothing people accumulate, it’s nice to pull out our yarn stash and actually take a look at it. When I did this, I found yarn from when I was just getting started. Bringing all of my yarn into one place helped me to remember what I have and what I don’t have. Yes, it actually helped spark some ideas for more yarn – see I told you this wasn’t all about getting rid of your yarn!

If undoing any organization that you have is a terrifying thought, you don’t necessarily have to pile it all up. You can group it or leave it in its container so long as you can get the big picture of what you have.

I did identify a few skeins that I’ve set aside for testing, or tutorial videos. This is generally yarn that I either don’t have very much of or it’s a lower quality yarn that I bought on a budget.

Step 2 on KonMari and Your Yarn: Evaluate

I hate to admit it, but I have this compulsion to never be without a knitting project. For example, if we go to visit my parents for the weekend, I’ll bring a solid, oh two months worth of knitting…just in case, you know…

I’m finding out that there might be some tweaks that I need to make to my yarn storage. I have an antique dresser that was filled to the gills and there was still overflow. Working on some projects that will knit through a good bit of the yarn that has been sitting around for a while, will help it all to fit into my intended/allotted storage area, plus or minus a bin, basket, and crate. (Because a dresser just isn’t enough room).

I have also realized in using the KonMari method throughout my house that I like to see things. I tend to forget them if they’re tucked away. To be able to pull out a drawer and see all the yarn in that drawer/category, is going to be a really big help for me in tracking my yarn.

What is your yarn storage? Let’s share in the comments and maybe we can inspire each other to live as more organized fiber hoarders…I mean knitters.

Are there better ways that we can organize it – maybe we had done it by color and organizing it by weight would be better?

In my dresser, at first I laid all of the skeins flat. But after my next shopping trip, by necessity, I realized that if I stood them up in the drawer, I’d have more room. Typically I’ll store my yarn by weight or type of project, and then by brand or manufacturer.

Step three on KonMari and Your Yarn Stash: Project Planning

This is a great time to take stock of your year. Look at the birthdays, christenings, anniversaries, weddings, house warming parties, holiday parties, etc. I like to use the warmer months as prep time for the rest of the year. This is when I knit birthday presents and wedding gifts. I plan some holiday decorations so that I have time to make them. While your stash is fresh in your mind, or still right in front of you, this becomes even easier!

In the next week or two, you can knock out a few quick projects that will eliminate some of those half skeins and outliers. For example, that Christmas red left over from last year’s ornament covers, could be this Springs flower bouquet.

What ever your next project, having a little staging area can a nice way of displaying some of your yarn while also keeping a project “on deck”. It’s a nice transition, especially if you have a lot of creative energy like me. While I’m working on one pattern, I’ll have an idea for three more. This helps me keep that pattern in my mind so I don’t forget it.