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How to Store Your Yarn

August 26, 2014 by AllFreeCrochetAfghanPatterns 14 Comments

 From tangles to messes, yarn can really start to be a hassle. Keeping your yarn in good shape is the key to great crochet projects! From what I’ve learned over the years, yarn maintenance is all about the storage. Read about How to Store Your Yarn so that you can avoid any unwanted crochet mishaps!

How to Store Your Yarn

Keeping Your Yarn in Perfect Shape:

1. Wind it up?

For a lot of crocheters, sometimes yarn starts piling up faster than you can crochet. When your collection starts to grow, yarn care and storage become a vital part of the crochet process. Many people buy a hank of yarn and immediately start rolling it in a ball, which is understandable – balls of yarn are convenient and easy to store. However, this may not be the best option when it comes to preserving your yarn quality.  In a ball, the yarn on the inside is compressed by tension, but the outside yarn remains intact. You may find that your yarn has random stretched out pieces and thinner pieces because the fibers were squished.
Solution: Don’t wind your yarn into a ball until you are ready to start a project. Keep your hanks in a safe spot so that the yarn remains intact. When it comes time to make a ball, do it yourself using this tutorial:
How to Make a Center Pull Ball of Yarn

How to Make a Center Pull Ball of Yarn

Here’s a video showing how to wind a center pull ball of yarn without any special tools:

2. Tangled?

Keep Your Yarn Tangle Free

The bane of every crocheter’s existence is a pile of tangled yarn. There a million ways to keep your yarn from tangling, many of which can be done using things you already have at home! Take a look at some of these innovative ways people use to avoid an irritable mess of yarn.

Make an Easy Yarn De-tangler out of an old plastic container! It’s perfect for working a project with multiple colors.

If you’ve ever taken apart a project because you missed a stitch, or something just didn’t seem right, you’ve probably run into the problem of frogged yarn. Keep all that frogged yarn untangled and use it for something else with this nifty Frogged Yarn Trick.

These don’t strike your fancy? Check out way more ideas to keep your yarn untangled HERE!

3. Keep it Organized!

DIY Vertical Yarn Storage

Aside from keeping your yarn in good condition, it’s also good to keep it nice and neat. Sometimes you just have too much yarn to crochet, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a mess. I love these nifty organization tips because they not only keep things clean, but they also look cool!

Try out this cool “wall of yarn” storage idea: DIY Vertical Yarn Storage,
OR
Give the Wine Rack Yarn Storage method for an artsy, polished look.

These not for you? Check out a ton more yarn organization tips right HERE!

You may also like:

976d34559c1cbb9f0fa9abeb1d72b522

Free Crochet Basket Patterns

What’s your best yarn storage trick?

 

 

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AllFreeCrochetAfghanPatterns is dedicated to the best free crochet afghan patterns, tutorials, tips and articles on crochet. From easy crochet afghan patterns to complex Tunisian crochet patterns, we find and deliver the best free crochet patterns from all over the web. Plus, we feature free product reviews and giveaways of all the latest and greatest products including yarn, crochet books, totes, and more. AllFreeCrochetAfghanPatterns is a wonderful online resource for crocheters of all skill levels.
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Filed Under: Organization Tagged With: allfreecrochetafghanpatterns, crochet tips, Eleni Murphy, organization, yarn storage

Comments

  1. Char55 says

    August 26, 2014 at 8:58 am

    I use zippered, clear-front, hanging sweater storage bags and shoe storage bags. I have 4 of the sweater storage bags and 1 of the shoe storage bags. The sweater bags contain 6-8 shelves each, which in turn can store 6 to 8 skeins of yarn each. The shoe bag has 10 shelves. I can sort by brand, weight, color, etc. It’s easy to see at a glance how many skeins of each that I have, and it keeps the yarn clean and dust-free and away from my cats. The shoe storage bag is used for crochet threads, small quanitities of leftover yarn, and trims. I use foam hair rollers (48 to a pkg in 4 different sizes) for bobbins of small quantities of yarn. Remove the foam and wrap the yarn around the center post. If the center post is not free spinning, slide a piece of a drinking straw over the center post before wrapping and the yarn will unwind easily; while the roller clip keeps it neatly held in place.

    Reply
  2. Mireille says

    August 26, 2014 at 4:13 pm

    Hi,
    I use the clear zippered packaging that sheets and comforters are sold in. They are also a perfect size to fit any ongoing project that you have. Since they are see through, you can stack then in a cupboard and always see exactly what is in them.

    Reply
  3. Deborah Hale says

    August 26, 2014 at 4:43 pm

    Back when I had a separate craft room I had 2 4′ bookcases in my walk-in closet for my yarn. I stacked them according to color so that I could see one end of the skein. Incomplete skeins were rolled into balls (I use a prescription bottle to wind the yarn around, I put one end inside the bottle and fasten the cap, then wind the yarn. When I’m done I remove the cap, then pop the ball off – perfect center-pull ball! NOT my original idea, got it from Vickie Howell when she was on Knitty Gritty!) and put in a box to await the scrap-buster projects.

    Reply
    • prayermama says

      August 27, 2014 at 11:14 am

      lovely idea – i am going to give it a try!

      Reply
  4. Sandra Troup says

    August 26, 2014 at 6:15 pm

    I’m O.C.D. and I have to ball my yarn as soon as possible ( I’ve even been known to on the way home.) My “tip” to keep it neat and tidy is using rubber bands. It keeps it from unraveling and its to find the end, because its right by the rubber band 🙂

    Reply
  5. Carol Kuntz says

    August 27, 2014 at 6:55 am

    I have stack of milk crates and plastic produce crates to store my yarn, and those are stacked inside a small closet, and on the shelf above them. they are somewhat sorted by type/fiber and colour.

    Reply
  6. SherryG. says

    September 2, 2014 at 2:01 am

    I keep my stash in Space Saver Bags. When I decide what yarn to use for a project I put the pattern and yarn into a clear plastic zippered bag that sheets come in with the pattern showing through the front. That way I can just pick the next project and know I have the correct yarn and the correct amount of yarn.

    Reply
    • RebaT. says

      September 2, 2014 at 8:05 am

      Sherry,
      Do you vacuum our all the air from the bag or do you leave a little air in the bag so the yarn can “breathe”?

      Reply
  7. RebaT. says

    September 2, 2014 at 8:11 am

    When I am working a Fair Isle pattern, I put my yarns in empty plastic ice cream cartons and make a good sized hole through I threat the strand. These protect the individual skeins and make me pay attention to strands being crossed over. I also put current and near-future projects in clear plastic bags so that yarn, instructions, and notions unique to the project are all together.

    Reply
  8. RebaT. says

    September 2, 2014 at 8:11 am

    When I am working a Fair Isle pattern, I put my yarns in empty plastic ice cream cartons and make a good sized hole through I threat the strand. These protect the individual skeins and make me pay attention to strands being crossed over. I also put current and near-future projects in clear plastic bags so that yarn, instructions, and notions unique to the project are all together.

    Reply
  9. Amanda says

    July 13, 2015 at 11:41 am

    I have stacks of labeled 18g bins, and use Ravelry’s notebook to log my yarn and know which bin any particular yarn is in so I don’t have to go searching for hours. 🙂 I use cheap ziploc bags to keep partially used skeins tangle free inside the bins.

    Reply
  10. DJTX says

    July 13, 2015 at 8:25 pm

    When I’m carrying balls of yarn in a tote bag to work on projects while waiting at music lessons, etc., I put them in Ziploc bags and snip a tiny piece out of one of the bottom corners to allow yarn to be pulled through to crochet with. The yarn stays clean, doesn’t unwind all over inside the bag, and doesn’t tangle. Yay!

    Reply
  11. Elaine Beedle says

    July 14, 2015 at 4:38 am

    I store my yarn in a 3 drawer file cabinet. I stand yarn on end so it doesn’t get mashed, it stays clean. and I can easily see what colors I have. Plus I have room for my crochet needles!!!!

    Reply
  12. Linda Praprotnik says

    July 11, 2016 at 7:23 pm

    I live in an apartment and have a lot of yarn. I bought hanging sweater or even shoe bags that wrap around a pole/closet rod. Since I do not use the bathtub in my second bathroom, I put up a tension rod and hung the bags with the yarn in them. I have about 4 or 5 bags. You don’t see them as I pull the shower curtain closed and then when I need yarn it is readily available.

    Reply

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