Organize Your Knitting Space

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Best Ideas To Organize Your Knitting Supplies

Do you search for a set of needles or a pattern that you know is someplace, but can't lay your hands on where it is? I know it how frustrating it gets when you lose your gauge or can't find one needle that you know you had a set of. It's time to get your knitting supplies organized, so you can enjoy crafting without the frustration. You can get this project done in just an hour or two. You will enjoy crafting a lot more once it's done, I promise

Getting your self organized has it's own rewards. First and formost for me, I found myself buying duplicate supplies. What a waste of money. Then I would find that I thought I had something and I would go to look for it and find that I did not have it. Next step a stop to the store. Ugh !

Getting my self and my knitting supplies organized gave me crafting peace and pleasure !

Decide the way that works best for you !

The first thing you need to consider is how you want to store your yarn stash, needles and supplies. Do you want to have your stash behind closed doors in a closet? Or do you like to be able to see them?

Ways to Sort Your Yarn

1. By Color- If you are inspired by color, this idea is for you. You may, like me think about specific projects and the wonderful colors you can use. It's the fastest way to organize your yarn.
2. By Type Of Fiber-If you love fibers and blends in yarn, this system is for you.
3. By Weight-If you are the type of knitter who thinks about projects and then digs for just the right yarn, you may want to store your yarn this way. You can combine this with the color system.
4. By Project-Some knitters buy yarn for a specific project. If this is for you,then this system will work well.

Look around your house to see what you may already have that can be re-purposed in this project

Getting Your Knitting Materials Organized - What You Will Need

1. Something to hold your knitting needles We have several options for you to chose from
2. Bins, boxes, or totes to hold your yarn
3. Two ring binder notebooks These will hold your patterns and your skein sleeves
4. Clear page protectors Used to hold patterns and skein wrappers
5. Binder page dividers Used to divide sections in your notebooks
6. Small notebook Used to list materials and suppiles already in your stash

Getting It All Together

Gather Your Supplies

It's time to gather up all your supplies and tools. Lay them all out and make three piles. One pile to keep, one to donate and one to toss. It's time to be honest with yourself and get rid of stuff that has accumulated and isn't of use. Make up a list of what you have in a little notebook, so that you can carry it with you the next time you are shopping. That way if you find a project you want to do, you will know if you have the needles and tools to get it done.

If you have some wool from a left over project, you should keep some for repairs

Step One-Get Your Needles Organized

If you are like me, either you are missing one needle of a set, or they are in a drawer someplace. Getting your needles organized is a rewarding great first step in this journey. You will always know what you have in your stash and you won't be spending money on needles you already own.

Here are some suggestions to store your knitting needles:

• Use A Paint Can- you can actually get unused paint cans at your local home improvement store
• Use Fabric Knitting Needle Rolls- they are readily available
• Use Crystal Light or Pringle containers-great way to recycle
• Use Two Gallon Ziplock Bags and place them in a duffel bag
• Use a Large Vase or a terra cotta pot
• Cardboard tubes on shelves-place the needles so that you can read the numbers on the ends of the needle
• Wine Rack-if you have a large collection this is a good answer to your needs
• Large Mason Jars- good for smaller collections
• Flatware Organizers-readily available and good to separate different sizes
• Oatmeal Boxes- decorate them with paper. Great recycle project

Make Your Own Knitting Organization Tools

• DIY Yarn Storage - All About Ami
  Make your own yarn storage unit
• We Can Make Anything: rollup needle case
  Neat rolled needle case
• Sponsored Tutorial: Yarn Swatch Book | The Chilly Dog
  Make a yarn swatch book of your stash so you always know what you have
• DIY Knitting Needle Storage Ideas | HGTV
  HGTV's Carol Duvall shares a few great ideas for storing knitting needles and crochet hooks.

Step Two-Locate All Your Unfinished Projects

We all have those unfinished projects that we have not gotten completed. It is time to gather them all up in one location. Search everywhere till you have located all of them.

1. Spread them out on a bed or a floor
2. Decide which projects you are going to keep and which to discard
3. Of those that you are discarding, salvage any wool that you can and set it aside.
4. Bag the projects that you are planning to keep and complete
5. Toss anything that has no value

Step Three-Sort Your Wool Supply

Take all of your skeins and bit of wool and place them on a place where you can sort them. Your option is to sort them by color or type of wool that it is. Decide the method you are going to use. Then you simply sort through them.

Now you will need to decide where to store them. Your decision should be based on the amount of wool that you have and the amount of space that you have available. There are many options available, depending on your stash.

Step Four-Organize Your Yarn - Tote And Go Project Bags

This totes are great to organize your yarn and/or take it with you on the road. I love to knit while I am sitting in my doctors office or while I am on a trip, and these bags are perfect to store my skeins and take them with me.

You can store your yarn in hanks or balls. But remember, if you store your yarn in balls for a long period of time, the yarn may stretch and you will have problems when you go to use it.

Organize Your Yarn Stash

Glass Or Acrylic Jars Or Plastic Bins

As knitters, we like to be able to store our wool, but we also like to see what we have. Glass or acrylic jars are perfect. They are decorative and visual too. Group by color and type of wool to make it easy to find what you need. You can use things like glass cookie jars. These can be found almost anywhere. Try looking in your local thrift shop . You will be surprised at what you can find reasonably.

The second alternative is plastic bins. These are perfect for all those small little balls you have been saving. You can stack these bins in a corner or in a closet. You can store them by weight, color, manufacturer or type of yarn. Use whatever will fit your space.

Like me, you may have some wool that is in a ball and unlabeled. You may want to use it, but are not sure what the yarn weight is. Here is a tool. in a tutorial to determine the weight of a yarn.

More Ways To Store Your Yarn

• Cube Storage System - really popular way to store your yarn in bins
• Netting Produce Bags-make sure there is no veggie remains
• Large 2 Gallon Zip Locks- organize them by color and put them into a large 35 gallon tote box.
• Baskets-keep small amounts of yarn or projects you are working on in decorative baskets
• Plastic Boxes- they come in all kinds of sizes to fit the amount of yarn that you have. They stack easily.
• Plastic Bins and Storage Unit- it's great to be able to see what you have. There are several options in your local home improvement store
• Shoe and Sweater Storage- can be used in a closet or behind a door.
• Dressers -use an old dresser to organize your yarn
• Wooden Crates- An excellent storage system with the crates on their sides and stacked up against a wall.

Step Three-Organize Your Patterns

Using A Binder To Hold Your Yarn Patterns

Gather all your loose patterns. It's time to get them organized. Place each pattern into a clear plastic paper holder. Organize them by category -sweaters, scarves, hats, ect. Place dividers for each section . Viola ! You are organized !

File Boxes Or Magazine Holders

The alternative would be to use a file box or a desk drawer with hanging folders. Improvise with what you have and the space available.

If you have knitting magazines, place them in magazine holders or use paper decorated cereal boxes to hold them on a desk or bookcase

Step Four-Organize Your Tools

It's time to get your tools organized. This is the easy and fun part. You simply chose one of these organizers and place your items in them.

One Bag Knitting Storage - Keep All Your Knitting Supplies Together

I knit in my special chair, usually watching TV, so this one bag storage system in essential to me. Keeps my supplies from being all over the place and everything is at my fingertips. It is well worth the price. This bag is perfect to store all of your knitting supplies

Keep A Knitting Journal Or Scrapbook

This is my newest project and I am really thrilled to get started with it. It may seem like some extra work, but once you get started , you will find the information will be priceless. There is no right way or wrong way to do this, just your way

What you need

A spiral notebook or a scrapbook album

Some notepaper

Some page protectors

Some double sided tape or glue

Some markers and scrapbook paper

Create a first page for your scrapbook. Make it as artsy as you would like

Add pages for each project that you are working on.

You can include a copy of the pattern, the band around the skein of yarn, a swatch of the yarn plus any notes that you would like to include. My plan is to include a picture of the person that I made it for with their project

DIY Yarn Knitting Organization Projects - DIY Knitting Ideas

I love recycling and making organization projects for all my craft spaces. I can personalize my stash and hopefully reuse something to get organized

• Yarns Organizing Idea
  With a dollar store bin, and a few supplies, you can create a neat yarn organizer
• Knitting Needle Case
  Knitting needle case that you can make
• Curvy Pouch
  Knitting pouch for your needles
• Organize Your Yarn Stash – Look At What I Made
  Have you got a million ball bands lying around? Would you like to organize your yarn stash? Have a look at how I keep track of my yarns.
• Yarn Storage Box
  A yarn storage box that you can decoupage in your own colors and patterns

What About Those Scraps?

If you have three yards or less of wool, then it's wise to dispose of it. However, if you are like me, I hate to throw anything away !

I have a box with several little balls of assorted wool sitting in my closet and taking space. If you are like me, here are some good suggestions what do with your wool scraps

Read More About Organizing Your Knitting

• Knitting Needle Storage ideas
  HGTV article written by Carol Duvall

Do you have a knitting organization tip or idea that you would like to share? Stop by and say hello. Either way, we'd love to hear from you !

© 2014 Linda F Correa

How Do You Keep Your Knitting Organized - We'd love to hear your tips and ideas

Linda F Correa (author) from Spring Hill Florida on October 22, 2014:

Thanks for the comment. Keeping my knitting stash organized was a goal for this year. Just saves lots of time when I want to get a project done

Jenn Dixon from PA on October 21, 2014:

I actually have one of those ArtBins, and love it. It keeps my knitting under control my living room. This hub is full of great ideas, too!