Yarn storage.

A love of knitting almost always corresponds to an insane accumulation of yarn, which requires a creative storage solution. Yarn is usually pretty to look at, so it makes sense to find a way to put it out there where it can be admired.

My stash was stored in plastic containers in a closet that I refer to as the “craft closet,” mainly because it contains all of my craft-related supplies (and other crafty crap). It’s not very well-organized, despite my best intentions. I usually pull everything out of there once a year and put it back, but the amount of “stuff” in there has exceeded the closet’s capacity. Getting obsessed with sock knitting has helped somewhat–sock yarn takes up a lot less space than sweater quantities of yarn–but still, there’s no room for it, and I like to look at my sock yarn rather than discover it two years after I bought it, cowering in the back of the craft closet.

Tim and I were browsing at Target one weekend (about a year ago), probably looking at closet organization systems for one of the guest rooms, when we found the Itso line of furniture. Remember Multiples clothes from the 1980s, where you mixed and matched different pieces to create hundreds of outfits? Itso is kind of like that–you buy the pieces you want, then mix and match them to suit your needs. They’re not particularly deep, so they fit nicely along the back of the wall, and the furniture and accessories come in different colors so you can choose the ones that look best. Also, they are not very expensive, which always helps. I now have two sets.

Because I’m a cataloger, the yarn is organized by dyer and by club. Nerdy, eh?

Here’s some photos of my yarn storage:

I’ll probably need to buy another cubby for the shorter storage unit after I return from Sock Summit. I’ve been hoarding my money, so I plan on buying a lot of sock yarn!

Meanwhile, work continues on the Girasole, which I’m making as a Christmas gift for my mom. I’m almost to the end of Chart C, and the end of my first skein of yarn. The pics aren’t that great so far–it kind of looks like a poofy hat on the current needles–but you can check them out on Ravelry if you like. Once I get some better photos, I’ll post them here.

I’m also in the midst of two pair of socks: the Over the Rainbow socks, which are the first installment of the Woolgirl Oz Club, and the Tilting Cables Socks, which came with the Glinda the Good Witch kit from Woolgirl (Oz-themed, yes, but not part of the Oz Club proper). Over the Rainbow is a simple knit/purl pattern with garter-stitch heels and toes, and it’s been going quickly. I should be able to finish them by the end of the month so I can get my credit for Sock-a-Month. I just need to make some time to knit.

Tilting Cables–that’s another story. I usually try to finish one pair of socks before starting a new pair, but I bought a set of Signature Needle Arts DPNs with some of my birthday money, and I was aching to use them. One of my goals with the Woolgirl Oz Club has been to keep up with the kits, and since I was nearing the end of Over the Rainbow, I thought I’d back up to the Glinda kit. I’ve never cabled without a cable needle before, and I’m having some problems with it. It’s getting better now that I’ve been through the full pattern repeat once, but it’s still driving me nuts. Some of the cables look a little mangled. I haven’t taken a picture yet, partly because I’m embarrassed by my mangled cables, but the Madelinetosh sock yarn is pretty (a petal-pink with flecks of grey) and nobody is going to be looking all that closely at the cuff of my sock anyhow. I may switch from the Signature needles (which are very slippery) to one of my other sets of sock needles to see if that helps with the cabling. I probably just need practice, though.

I also have a lonely single Monkey that needs its companion. Once I’ve finished Over the Rainbow, I’ll probably cast on for the second sock. I probably should have knitted these consecutively, since I had the pattern pretty much memorized by the time I finished the first sock, but I was ready to move on to something else. This is in Madelinetosh sock (yet again), colorway Frida:

As far as knitting content goes, that’s all I’ve got–I’ll update with some reading content soon!