The Stash Storage Dilemma!

We all experience it. We all try to find workable solutions for it. We all pull our hair out trying to solve it. Yes, it’s the stash storage dilemma! How to store your ever-growing stash in such a way so you can find what you want, when you want.

My dilemma has just doubled as I have now spread my stash over two spare rooms in order to be able to seek and locate everything I own!! So, if you’re a friend of mine and you wish to bunk down at my place one night, you’re going to have to bring your own fold-up bed! And be prepared to sleep in the lounge room so you’re not classed as a ‘missing person’ the next day because my stash has devoured you 🙂

Here are some photos I’ve taken to show you. Stash room # 1. This is the top of the single bed. Each bag/container has a different ply yarn stored in it and the plastic bag contains a beautiful alpaca fleece.

This is the floor – full of fold-up laundry containers with different types of wool.

Plus plastic storage boxes on top of two bookcases. The plastic is great to see what yarn is contained within each box.

Bookcase shelves filled to the brim!

Alpaca fleece in the pillow slips and boxes of zip lock bags ready for more yarn! Plus more knitting paraphernalia in the drawers including zip lock bags that contain all my longer circular needles.

The three cardboard boxes are filled with sock yarn and a bag filled with Cleckheaton yarn. Some wool tops in the pink bag. And a vacant space so you can actually walk into the room!!

My project bags hanging on a coat/hat stand.

And hiding behind are four plastic storage boxes filled with my small stash of acrylic.

Stash room # 2 – I have recently sold and/or donated hundreds of my books to make room for my stash. A couple of empty plastic boxes just waiting to be used!

Notebooks, orange folders containing patterns, straight needles in the yellow box, dpns and small circular needles in the two small plastic boxes, knitting books, orange project baskets and knitting/spinning magazines.

More patterns in the orange folders,knitting books and knitting/spinning magazines.

Patterns waiting to be housed in their orange folders. The 2013 Knitting calendar with lots of useful patterns in it. My son gave me the 2015 for Christmas so I have lots more patterns to look forward to!

Lots of baby yarn stored in this room.

More baby yarn…Bella Baby Superwash 4ply merino and only $1.50 a ball!! As you can see I bought heaps at that price.

More baby yarn. Can you tell I’d love to be a Grandma!!

Love my stash of Cascade Superwash 220 and Lana Gatto Super Soft.

And inside the wardrobe are just some of the scarves, shawls and cowls I’ve made over the last couple of years. I must find a better way to store them so I know what I have.

Any stash storage suggestions would be very gratefully received. 🙂 I’d love to hear how you store your stash as I’m always after better and more efficient ways to store mine so I can find my yarn when I need it.

To finish, I’d like to show you my latest yarn acquisition from Zen Yarn Garden via Yarn Glorious Yarn in Brisbane of course.

This is the twelfth offering in the new ART WALK Series and features a painting by Claude Monet entitled “Study of Olive Trees”. Inspired by Monet, Zen Yarn Garden’s dyer has successfully captured some of the emotion and colour in Monet’s masterpiece.

Claude Monet (1840 – 1925), the founder of Impressionism, was one of the most influential landscape painters in the history of art. Born in Paris, Monet met fellow Impressionists Renoir, Sisley and Bazille while enrolled in the studio of Glenyre. Monet painted outdoors to convey the fleeting effects of atmosphere, time of day, and season upon color and light. He represented natural color like a prism, breaking it down into its individual components. He often painted a series of the exact same view under different light and weather conditions. [quoted from Art.com]

I bought two skeins of this Serenity 20 which is a 70% superwash merino / 20% cashmere / 10% nylon. Each skein contains 400 yds / 100g  and is a fingering / 4ply yarn.

I hope you have had a wonderful Christmas break and managed to sneak in lots of knitting too!

Yesterday, I started this lovely scarf which uses lots of small scraps of my my 4ply yarn.

I can’t wait to show you the finished scarf. It’s looking fabulous.

Until next time…

Melanie