Keeping track of skeins of yarn in my stash is hard. I struggle with knowing what colors I have and the amounts left in each skein. Then there are all those partial skeins and balls of yarn that seem to spill out onto my desk and clutter up my life — do I even need to mention what happens when the yarn basket gets full? Maybe it’s just me, but I’m convinced those pesky balls of yarn unroll themselves and tangle up for no reason other than to spite me. Then I seem to forget what I have and where it is. It can really be frustrating!
Remember my Pegboard and how bare it looked? Well, I created these cool hanging organizers that will help in the Use Your Stash Challenge. I thought you might like to see what I’ve done, in case you need a little inspiration for your own organizational needs.
I’m a visual person. Having things stored in hanging organizers (out in the open instead of in cabinets or drawers) keeps things in front of my eyes. Seeing what’s available to use gives me inspiration, and helps me stay on track for using up my stash.
The following is just a quick tutorial keeping with the theme of using your stash.
Crafty women sometimes have a different idea of what Girls’ Night Out should look like. I recently visited a close friend who had just moved into her new (to her) house. The last few boxes to unpack were daunting for her as they housed her passion–one of her prime interests in life–her sewing. This has also been her business, and there it was, all boxed up, staring at her. She had so many boxes to go through and found it difficult to decide which one to sort through first. All the items in the boxes were quite daunting, too! Some needed to be kept, some needed to be given away, and some just needed to be trashed! I would like to think I helped, but I’m not positive. Much of the time I was there, I was thinking about my own studio organization and how much I really want to work on getting rid of some of my old stuff!
So, in honor of all our unorganized yarn/sewing/craft rooms, here are several organizers and room arrangements that I wish I had in my studio!
(I have no idea where the above photo is from, but it is a great storage idea for my studio which has a slanted ceiling. If you know the correct web address, so I can give credit to the designer of this space, please send me a message!)
Although this is showing toys and books for children, I can just imagine these bins holding skeins of yarn, scraps of fabric, and opened packages of batting and fleece.
Pegboard on the wall is a great idea, one which I have already made use of in my studio. Organization needs often change over time, though. I find I must change-up my pegboard every now and then to make it more useful. Honeybearlane.com has some great craft room ideas; I need to procrastinate research a bit more to see what new ideas I can come up with for my studio.
Pegboard Organization
Below is a photo of my downstairs pegboard. As you can see, I am just starting to populate it with hooks and miscellaneous things I need to store. (Notice the magnet board directly below it.) I’m working downstairs more these days because the light is so much better, but I share the space with Hubs, so I need to keep it more organized. I have some really great ideas for studio organization, but no time to implement them. One thing on my to-do list is to paint the pegboard, but for now, I’m thrilled just to have it on the wall.
Use Your Stash
Looking for ways to use up and get rid of your yarn stash? Do you have UFOs (unfinished objects), WIPs (works in progress), and PIGs (projects in grocery sacks) hiding around your home? Then you need to join the Use Your Stash Challenge 2017! Be watching this blog — details are coming next week!
December always seems to be the time when I take stock and check what I need to change and improve. It seems I mostly do this when I clean for family visits over the holidays. Are your December days like this, too? I guess it is the feeling of starting a new year, of new beginnings. I look forward to getting organized and setting up better systems for managing my life and planning for the future. Then I won’t have to struggle so much with cleaning/organizing in the New Year.
Three Areas I Struggle to Manage Well
My Time
Crochet Projects
Family/Work Balance
How I Manage My Biggest Stumbling Block
Managing my time has been a huge stumbling block for me. It seems that something is always in the way of doing what I want to do. I recently had a conversation with our adult daughter which really opened my eyes. I was listing everything I had to do and why it seemed like I never had any time. Along with the list was my chief complaint that I am tired all the time. We talked about it for awhile and, finally, she said, “It sounds like you need a day off.” She was right, but my schedule is too full and too busy with too much stuff going on.
I took a long look at my calendar and started canceling things that were not immediately necessary. Just because something is good doesn’t mean I need to participate. If you take the rock, pebbles and sand analogy too far you can see yourself coming and going. Then there is no time to just be, to just enjoy life. Family, art, and creativity take time; you just have to know how to spend that time. Otherwise, you miss the small minutes that can mean so much. It is possible to structure your time so heavily that you never have time to look at the rainbow. or the flowers. I catch myself not looking my kids “in the eye” and telling them I love them. And I forget: why I started this crafty business in the first place; to tell my husband I love him; to laugh and have fun with my family.
Wow, I forget a lot. It must be the doer/manager part of me that is so strong. If you forget the sweet things in life, then you really don’t have a life!
Three Simple Things for Managing My Life
Delegating
I have been delegating more house chores to family members–the kids need the experience and practice, plus the knowledge that cleaning should happen every week. Whenever I can have someone else do a chore, then I do. Delegating to the kids to do their own laundry and “hiring” their help around the house has freed up some of my time and keeps the cleaning chores down to a dull roar for me.
Set Office Hours
I posted my office hours for my online sales venues. This helps customers know that I am not ignoring their comments on the weekend. I am truly off work. I also am trying learning to schedule work time around family/date night/me time. I’m getting better at it. When you work in your living room, your work can become your life.
Work Ahead
In an effort to reduce stress, I am trying to work ahead. From freezer cooking to errands to crochet patterns, I am attempting to work in advance of when it is due. This gives me a little spare time to fight off that cold or welcome the new Grandkids that arrive unexpectedly.
Now if I can just get my Christmas/Birthday shopping and card buying done early too!
You notice I did not say one word about crocheting, organizing yarn, or using my stash yarns. That’s because my focus this month is on using my stash yarn. Be watching for a post next week when I tell you all about the Use Your Stash Challenge because we must, after all…
Shop Our Stash First!
Already, I am getting so excited about it–I can’t wait to get started! I want to see all of your projects and ideas, and I can’t wait to feel the excitement as we all work through our stash and WIP’s (works in progress).
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Sometimes, when you get new ideas for future crochet projects, you aren’t ready to start working on them right away. You need time to think about them — to refine and perfect them — until you’re ready to begin the project. So, how do you keep those new ideas stored and organized until you are ready to start working on them? I have several things which I do that help me keep new ideas in mind.
(This post has Amazon affiliate links)
1. Take a Photo with My Phone
I will take pictures of things that inspire me or trigger ideas in my mind. My phone is usually always with me and a photo is worth 1,000 words. The thin and thick stripes in this wrapping paper would make a great crochet blanket, scarf or sweater.
And here’s an example of a striped fabric that caught my eye. I like the colors in this, although they do seem a bit dark. The widths of the various stripes and the color sequence would lend themselves easily to being repeated in an afghan.
This blanket was inspired by the yarns within it since they inspired me to see the Autumn landscape of Oklahoma: the browns of the plowed fields; the golds and rusts of the trees; the blue from the sky and lakes; and the green of the old dried grasses in the pastures.
2. Pin It to My Secret Pinterest Inspiration Board
Yes, I do have several secret boards. (Doesn’t everyone?) If it is online, I will pin it to my secret inspiration board which no one else has access to. When you choose to create something based on what someone else has created, you need to be very careful about claiming too much of their work as your own. You can use it as a springboard to a new idea, but downright copying and passing it off as yours is piracy. Â While I do have a secret Pinterest board, it isn’t filled with just other’s work — it has photos of color mood boards, stitches that I want to try, and other things that I think will make beautiful projects.
3. Go “Old School” (Paper and Pencil) and Write the New Ideas Down
(Affiliate links are included for the products I use. I will receive a small percentage of any item you purchase, but it will not affect your pricing.)
Often, I will draw out new ideas or write them down. I find this method increasingly hard to manage, though, as papers tend to get shuffled and lost. Here’s an example of a couple of my composition books (link) (which I love!) full of ideas and crochet patterns.
I also love the post-it note brand of tabs (link) and Post it note file folder labels (link). I use them to mark the beginning of each pattern or idea that I put in the composition book. It helps keep the patterns organized and easy to find.
Another thing I use all the time is a legal pad (Link) and clipboard (link). I write the pattern and notes furiously and then flip the pages. You can even see the paper sometimes in the background of my photos. Nearly every pattern I write has its beginnings on paper in some form. I always try to date and take progress photos as I work. This helps me keep track of how I put it together as well as document my thought processes. This all translates to detailed patterns, with photos, for you!
4. Pin It to a Real Life Bulletin Board or Magnet Board
Check out more cool bulletin boards here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/165564215
Sometimes I’ll see a photo in a magazine I own, or maybe the colors in fabric or yarn in my stash will catch my eye. When that happens, I will actually pin the photo or the materials to a bulletin board. I haven’t been doing this as often as I have been taping them into the composition book. The book is working better for me at this time, since I don’t have a dedicated working space. I often find myself in my chair, at the dining table…basically, working all over the house.
How Do You Save Your New Ideas?
Now that you’ve read about the methods that I am using right now, I’d love to know what you do to keep your ideas organized. Leave a comment below to start the conversation! Follow my blog with Bloglovin
The past several weeks have passed in a blur of activity. I really feel this Lord of the Rings meme is accurate because I want to say…
This is really how I usually feel around this time of year. Christmas is looming, and those of us who have small retail businesses are run right off our feet.
Thanksgiving means family gatherings and creating good food–tonsof good food. The past four years have seen an influx of people to my home as my brother and his family come down to visit, and my college-age daughter’s friends come to stay for the weekend (they are too far away to go home for the weekend). Toss in Black Friday, managing an Etsy shop with after-Thanksgiving sales, cold weather, house cleaning, and cooking for everyone and life just gets really busy and really interesting.
Who am I kidding? It’s not just me — we are all run off our feet with time commitments: school, church, family, friends, decorating, grocery shopping, gift buying. I have to work hard at staying organized; I have forgotten about people during Christmas: family, small children in my home, {gasp!} my dear daughter. It was awful! I stayed up until after 3 AM sewing and beading a small denim dress for her “Santa gift” and scrounging through my stash of cool mini-gifts that I kept at the time. I decided then-and-there that I will never again forget anyone — and then I did it again. Twice. So now I work really hard to make lists, and I make sure my family sends me emails with their gift lists.
This year is no different. I am procrastinating instead of getting the housework  (or anything) done. Instead, I’m thinking of post-Thanksgiving when I will get to sit around and crochet. I’m also thinking about how some of you may be just like me. So, I created a couple of organizers to help you keep your crochet organized. These worksheets are my Christmas gift to you. They are yours free when you join my email list. If you are already a member don’t worry about it, they are coming to you in the next newsletter!
The first one helps you figure out if you have enough yarn in your stash for your next project. The second one helps you create a shopping list for what you still need to buy after shopping your stash.
I finally put down on paper what I do when I plan an afghan using my stash yarn! I wish I had started doing this years ago. This worksheet will be an incredible help as you plan out your future projects.
Today’s tutorial is brought to you by breakfast cereal! Really, I love to use these magazine holder style fabric bins to help me store and sort my fabric. If I put my fabric away in boxes I can’t see what I have and tend to buy more. Since I am trying to stay in my budget. I decided to store my fabric out in the open on shelves. so that I can actually see what I have. I am pretty visual and I need a constant reminder of what I have. The problem with shelves is that the fabric stacks get sloppy and tend to fall over.
I needed to find a way to store my fabric that would keep it in sight and keep it neat. I have open shelves or I would have rolled all the fabric on little bolts. So I needed to find another way to store my fabric. I had an old magazine holder that I had cut from a larger cereal box and decided that I would try that. It works perfectly. Now I can see my fabric and keep it neater. Â I can pull the whole bin down from the shelf. The sides keep the fabric from toppling over. It keeps the stacks of fabric neat and contained. I can also see what I have so I don’t over buy. Fat quarters fit perfectly into each bin or I can fold larger amounts of fabric smaller and file them away into these fabric bins.
We recently went through two of the large boxes of cereal from Sam’s. I am going to show you how I make these bins instead of buying them from the shop. I would rather spend my money on supplies rather than  craft organizers.
Tape the boxes shut with packing tape.
Measure down three inches from the each long end. You can see the brown mark I made.
You can see both of the marks that I made above. Join them with a diagonal line between the two marks.
Do the same on the back.
Join the diagonal marks with a line straight across the edge of the box on both sides.
Then cut on the line. You will end up with something that looks like a magazine holder when you are done.
I ended up with 4 magazine holder style boxes. Now you can paint them, or cover them in craft paper or decoupage them with paper or fabric. Put them on your shelf and fill them with nicely folded fabric. Perfect fabric organizers for free or at least the cost of the cereal.
Yes, these count for the Use Your Supplies Challenge- 2015
I am working on my to do list and all the WIPs that I have accumulated over the year. I am getting quite a bit completed but nothing new or earth shattering. Thisneverending list of to dos just has to get slimmed down by a bunch of work. Here is the list so far.
Yarny things:
Crochet shawl
 I love the colors in the scarf/shawl. It will be big enough to be a shawl  and yet small enough to wear with a coat. It matches my winter coat and most of my clothes so when I take off the coat I can still wear it.
blue and white Stripe
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I have added four white rows and will probably take it tomorrow to work on while I wait for classes to be finished.
multicolor granny stripe
I haven’t touched this one yet. I love the colors and it is only a matter of time.
Sewn things:
Various cup cozies – I have made 2 batman cup cozies
coffee press cozies
hot pads or pot holders
2-3 aprons
a quilt that needs the machine quilting I have worked on the quilt and just lack the long sides and bias binding in order to finish this up.
I have been cutting and sewing some satin that has been sitting in the studio since 2013. I am glad that I am finally sewing on it. I am still in the process of drafting a workable pattern so I have some prototypes. I am probably going to take them with me tomorrow and see how they work on real life kids. Since I am lacking little kids in my house any more.
As far as being organized.
I have made a menu for the week
I am planning to make some jelly this weekend
I have checked my appointments to make sure that I am missing nothing.
I read this great blog post by Michael Hyatt and I am breaking my tasks down to smaller pieces. This will help me be more organized. I am also going to set a time and date for myself to go and sit at the sewing machine to sew. I am also going to decide which project to work while I wait for kids at various activities. Cooking dinner and the clean up that goes with it add all kinds of stress to my day. I am making a menu and then setting an alarm to remind me to start dinner at a certain time every day. I tend to work up until the last minute and then dinner is unhealthy (no vegetables or salad), sandwiches, or fast food. All of which are bad for the budget, and add stress.
Things I am going to work on to whittle my neverending list of to dos down to a manageable size.
Finish the quilt (there is probably only 2-3 more hours of work.)
Sew 3 coffee press cozies
Sew 20 coffee cup sleeves
sew 3 bibs (already cut just need to be sewn)
sew up 5 flannel blankets (already cut just need to be sewn)
sew 10 more paper pieced quilt squares
Finish the crochet consignment pieces
Finish the crochet scarf shawl ( I think I am only lacking 6 more rows and then a picot border)
I gave myself a stern talking to; this week. I am spending the day cleaning up my studio and doing some paperwork for the business. It has been ages/months maybe even years since I last sat down and really worked in here. I have been gifted with a bunch of fabric from friends and family. Some I will use or did use in the 100 items in 100 days Challenge but some I won’t use, ever!
Isn’t it awful!
I am making progress. I can see the top of the cutting table. I have decided to give the yards of felt in strange colors, like lime green and black to charity. I have no idea what I would use it for as I am not that fond of working with felt. I could make thousands of brooches and Christmas ornaments with the huge amount of felt that I am not giving keeping. I am getting rid of items that I made five years ago that didn’t sell. Like these pincushions. I have 10+ pincushions and if you know of someone that needs or wants one. I will ship it to them for the cost of the shipping! Just send me a message or leave a comment and I will get in touch with you.
Hubs is getting some organizing items for me from Wal-mart. I am super excited.
You know how you start to look for an important piece of paper and it isn’t to be found, ANYWHERE. I have had that problem three times in the last four months. I have been been putting off working on our files since we moved to Iowa. There is so much that we just dumped in a drawer or cabinet when we moved back. I have been letting things like filing and organizing slide around here. I am an artist/packrat type person, my husband is the Engineer/keep it we might need it one day person, and together we have children that are a wonderful combination of our two personalities. We have been drowning in clutter. I would really like to say that I had planned organizing today several weeks ago and as it came up on my planner I got right to work. HA! Really, I am procrastinating doing something else.
Here is the before photo. I hate to share it but we are real people around here.
Umm, the toilet paper is for noses and dog ears.
This is the top of the dining table and my drafting table height desk, which I love but I had given to hubs to use when we moved back in. We have a spare door that belongs on the laundry room door but doesn’t work when you actually have a washer and dryer in the laundry room. So, it has been stored in the house in another room and was just waiting for this use.Â
Here is the door on top of the filing cabinets, which are full of paper, which is the reason I started this anyway. The other reason I started this was to do this with our common everyday papers.
Isn’t it beautiful! I love how organized she is. So, I set out to do something along the same lines without running to the store. I have set a challenge for myself for the year to do as much as I can without buying new organizing things. I love her color coordinated notebooks, and it would look so much more put together but, I have a busy, busy life, and I won’t get it all together and keep it together long enough to do this.
This is my take on her organization method. I also added a front piece on each binder because, and there are two of us using these, and it would help to have directions. The perfectionist in me wants to rip that label out that is cut crooked and fix it. I am NOT going to obsess about this. IF this system works then I might revamp it later and pretty it up.
Here are some after photos of my desk and his desk. I am working on the files on his desk, so it is more cluttered than mine. I also wasn’t sure where he wanted his white board hung.
The green and red box is for paper to shred, which should open up some room in the file drawers. My Mom sent me this great link about which papers to keep and which to shred.
To keep it all real, here is the photo of the table that I am still decluttering. Why does organizing always make things look worse before it looks better?
I am excited to have a landing pad for my laptop. I am determined to spend less time on the screen and more time with my family. So, I am going to try to treat my laptop as a desktop. We are also washing the dog beds and dogs. We did sweep and mopped thoroughly. The floor had been in bad condition since it had been raining, and the dogs have had access to this room only.
