Storing Your Yarn: How to Store Yarn

Virtually every knitter eventually acquires stash. Some knitters have small stash, some have stash of gigantic proportions. Regardless of size, stash needs to be...well, stashed. How do you store yarn?

Whatever container you use, if you like wool and have a lot of it, the most important thing is that it keeps out or repels moths. A moth infestation will ruin a wool stash. You can store your wool in plastic containers (such as Rubbermaid) with tight-fitting lids or in other containers along with cedar sachets, cedar balls or lavender sachets.

With other yarns, you don't need to be as careful, so here, the main consideration is how to store stash neatly and economically. Again, plastic tubs are good options. You can buy stackable systems to make the most of small spaces. You can either go with bins with lids or without. There are solid-color, opaque containers, but the see-through boxes are good options for being able to view what's available at a glance. Perusing your local craft store or general merchandise store will yield lots of options.

Baskets are only good choices if they are lined with a smooth fabric. If the basket's insides are rough, it can catch on your yarn. There are all kinds of baskets and they're available from yarn suppliers as well as your local craft store. If you purchase an unlined basket, you can always make your own lining with the fabric of your choice.

Canvas is another option. There are hanging storage units made for sweaters, but which would house a large amount of yarn at a decent price.

An old-fashioned cedar chest is good for storage, but not if you're the type of knitter who likes to see her yarns easily. The chest would require a certain amount of digging, especially when full.

Usually, the way knitters keep their stash is the way they tend to keep other areas of their lives. The knitter who's always losing or misplacing things may have to search for hours (even days) for a particular yarn she's looking for. The organized person may have a color-coded system or yarns divided by fiber content. As with most things in life, if you can have a system, it's easier to find things.

Whatever way you choose to keep your yarn, make sure it's a way that works for you. The less time you have to dig through piles of yarn, the more time you'll have to sit down and create something with it.