Thursday, November 17, 2011

Meet My Yarn Condo.....

The Yarn Condo was an organizing project that started a couple of years ago when 2 silly yarn friends went to Ikea. They went with a purpose (of course) and ended up with oh so much more!
I think (I think!) they went to purchase a table for crafts, some bookshelves, and something to store yarn, but what ended up in their carts was this........
!Yarn Condo!
Four stackable ANTONIOUS frames (hey! They aren't that expensive!) some ANTONIOUS
wire baskets, some nifty ANTONIOUS plastic bins and wa-la! The Yarn Condo was born!!!
Totally out of necessity.... of course......
The silly girls put together the frames and the wire baskets...... oh no! Some of the small stuff falls through! Silly girl! Can't have that! Now another trip to that IKEA store near Seattle was required!  It was only (only) an hour drive.........but some buckets were needed! Let's get some fabric baskets and maybe some nifty little organizer thingys to put inside those buckets and baskets! How about a couple of tops! Yes! Lids were definitely needed!
Phew! Disaster averted! Storage complete!!!

The 'yarn condo' holds a plethera of supplies! Ribbon & fabric, paint and glue .......

Ribbon - held in place with a small bin inside the bigger one!

By adding a storage bin inside the wire basket... nothing falls through!

Ooooh fabric... just another nasty habit of mine!







Sock yarn basking in their bin!






and ........ Yarn!!!! 
Remember? This all started out as a storage system for yarn ...............yeah...........
Right now the baskets and frames are stacked 2x2 (two on top of the other two!).   The configuration can be changed - yarn on top, fabric on bottom........ all four frames beside each other and not stacked... three stacked and one beside...... the possibilities are endless!  Believe me! I've tried a bunch!

The condo can even be easily packed up by movers (who aren't always so diligent in how they pack) and transported to the next place! The bins & buckets don't even have to be unloaded - they just get wrapped with paper (things still inside), placed in a box, one on top of the other.... and they make it all in one piece!! Move and mover proof!

The 'yarn condo' makes me soooo happy! I can have my yarn sorted by color (if I want), by texture (if I wanted that too!) or by type! I have a bin for wool, one for baby yarn, one for (gasp!) acrylic, and one for cotton! I have almost all of my stuff nearly in one spot! Almost! Nearly!!
I either have too much stuff, or just need more storage!
I really think........... I just need some help!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Organizing

For those of us with a need to organize....... oh... okay... a compulsion, obsession ~whatever! This post is for you!!
I've spent the past few days re- organizing my junk! My stuff! AND my favorite thing of all......... my yarn stash!!
I admit.. it's been pretty organized (always) but now it's a little, well..... over the top?



The "yarn condo" aka storage towers in my sewing/craft room are organized by type! One whole bin for sock yarn - yumm!


As I was digging around in my craft closet - which is of course attached to the craft room! I found my scrapbook travel bag! Hmmm..... haven't used that stuff in a while! I found a new home for all the scrapbook stuff and am turning this baby into a 
travelling knitting bag! Go me!!

 I even made a little corner in the dining room for............ yep! You guessed it! More yarn!
It's all hidden in cool baskets, dark boxes and tucked into a corner so even the kid doesn't roll his eyes at me and say.. "gee Mom? Got enough yarn?" -yeah .. um no... Mr. Smarty.  At least I can sit here quietly and knit while the kid is doing homework at the table!

I didn't stop there! I figured I was on a roll............
Might as well take some time & make sure all the little stuff is all put together!
This is some of my older organization........
I made this needle roll almost 4 years ago and it's still holding up! Hard to believe that all my needles fit in here at one time... wow...

Probably my most favorite thing I've done with my needles is this cheap, easy, zip lock bag idea!  I don't even remember when I came up with this but I think it's cool and it works so well!
I put my dpn's into zip lock bags, wrote the # on the front; used a paper punch to make a hole in one corner and stuck them all on a metal ring!
I usually hang it on the yarn condo but now that I'm using the scrapbooking bag..... it may move!~






Not to leave my circulars without a home....I bought this Namaste needle case because it has little "pockets" for each size! AND honestly,  I just had to have it! Had to!  I love how I can leave my circular needles in their wrappers (no naked needles!) and they still all fit and can be organized by size! Even without their packages, I am still able to find a #6, 24 inch in a hurry!   Hmm.... I may need to get one of these cases for each length.... 16 inch, 24 inch.... oh my.........
Even the crochet hooks now have a home! A recycled tin with an easy printable sticker! I really need to step this up a notch huh?

Welcome to the Yarn Condo!

I bought some (all right... 4) of these stacking storage frames and a lot of baskets & bins. I've had them in all different configurations but stacking them up seems to work the best!  My friend V started calling this the 'yarn condo' right after we stacked them all up! (You can look HERE to see how much everything costs & where to purchase.)  The whole thing wasn't extremely expensive and I like how I can sort my yarn into different categories just by putting them into separate bins!
A little OCD anyone? Anyone?

There is still a lot of work to do, I'm not feeling that I'm done! I'm having fun organizing everything but I'm a little worried that I might (just maybe) have to take a trip down 95 to that big blue & yellow store for some more storage ideas!! ~Shhhhh....... do NOT tell Big!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

How Much Does a Mile of Yarn Cost?

I was looking at the blog today and couldn't come up with anything interesting, funny, snarky or knitty to tell you about.......... talk about being stuck huh? This is really weird! I don't usually get this stuck for this long and I most always can find something to talk about!
To get inspired (time wasting) I started rearranging the blog page and adding little gadgets (widgets?). I changed some settings and during one of my thousand previews, I looked over at the right hand side and ..... woah! I've knit how far this year?  That can't be right.
Remember the squirrel under the oak tree....... after a windstorm............ yep!! Squirrel!!!!
See that little pink & white box?  Over on the right side of the blog?  Yep. That one! The KnitMeter.
It's a cool little widget that you can pick up over at www.knitmeter.com *just click*
This little doo-dad keeps track of  (and lets me show off ) how much I've knitted this year! I can even add how much I've spun ~IF I ever get that far!
You can keep track and show others how much you have knit, crocheted, and spun with your very own KnitMeter too! ~How's that for a sales pitch huh?  No sales though... it's....... best price ever!..... FREE!! You can even add one to your face book settings! AND it's not just for knitting! It's for crocheting and spinning too!!
 It's a little dorky, but...... hey! I've tried keeping track of the projects I've made by taking pictures and putting them into a little album, but somehow... I always fall short! There seems to be a few (just a couple) empty slots in the little album, but when I go to my blog.... Ta-DA! There it is! 6.25 miles of yarn knitted for 2011! 
I admit..............
I've been a little short here too. I haven't kept up by adding every project I've done this year so I went ahead this morning and added some of the things I did!  This bumped me from 5 miles to over 6! Woohoo! AND I added even more while I was working on the blog....... so now look how many miles I've made!  Kinda looks like I don't do anything else.... geez....... I do! Honest!
Now..... I just gotta add everything I've made this year & see how many total miles I've knitted. Which brings me to.......... hmmm.......... how much does a mile of yarn cost?
If I put the miles into context of how much each skein cost............................. oh wow.  Just exactly how much (yikes) did one of those seven miles (AND still counting)  cost?  Just one of those miles was a verrry expensive mile ~I remember buying a skein of something that made Big sigh (loudly) but some couldn't have been that much..... right?
That was not helpful. Not at all.
Hopefully Big NEVER sees my KnitMeter!  If he does... let's just hope he doesn't look at it with dollar signs in his eyes..........I may be in trouble..........