I use shoe organizers. They work very well, they're made for closets, and it lets me see my yarn, too!

I have a few different methods. I have two pop up, mesh, laundry hampers with my "pretty" yarn in it. The fun stuff like eyelash, fluffy, wools, and lots of acrylic thrown in.

I also have a few boxes under my bed. 3 "Avon" boxes that I cut down so they'd fit, and one big gift box from Christmas that had clothing in it. The yarn I don't know what to do with goes there.

Third I have a mesh, hanging, underwear thing from Ikea. Still needing to be hung. ;)

And lastly I'm getting ready to make "sweater hangers" for my walls to put more in. People don't utilize wall space very often but it's there! They're the kind that look like shelves but you hang in your closet from the rod. Only I figure I can hang them on curtain rods on my wall. :)

I suffer from the yarn-acquisition illness myself though lately I have been on a yarn diet. I store most of my yarns in plastic, stackable 3 drawer rolling carts; I sort my yarns into different drawers i.e. homespun, fur, baby, bulky, etc. I label the drawers as well. When I am tempted by a new pattern I head to my yarn area first to see if I have available supply to prevent unnecessary repeats. My WIPs are in individual canvas totes (small projects) and picnic baskets (large projects) for easy grab and complete missions. And finished products are stored in various plastic zipper bags (like those you get when you buy curtains, comforters, and mega blocks) so I am ready for charity drop-offs and gift times. Hope that helps; good luck!

I too will never have 'enough' yarn because there's always something else that is so pretty, I'll just buy a little bit....

I use big plastic tubs stored along the wall in my bedroom, I have 4 x 3 tubs and have labelled them: 8 ply, hairy yarns, feather yarns, odds and ends, chairty, gifts, part done projects etc. I only did a big sort out last weekend and did this system. It's SO much easier now to find what I need for a project.

Oh and I also have a huge trunk in my loungeroom full of fun fur yarns that are just a couple of balls of this and that. This is lovely to just sit and 'play with' when I need inspiration!
Michelle

My Blog: http://au.360.yahoo.com/profile-TM5n0QA2aal3nxO81yjqdxzkVpoi

Some additional yarn storage ideas -- an article I wrote for fall Knitty:

http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall07/KSstashstorage.html

:)

Shannon Okey
knitgrrl.com | stitchcleveland.com

Hi
I will be watching this thread closely because I have way too much yarn. I need every trick I can find to figure out a way to organize it and display it so I can see what I have. I use the clear cube idea. But I have about 60 of them and they are the big ones. So you might find just about any thing one of them. I do have most of my TamSpun in only 3 of them but of course that doesn't help with all the commecial wools. If I was a drunk I would need an intervention. All ideas would help. I am off to read the articles.

Tamara at Tamspun

I knew that I could come here to get some good tips!!! Thanks to everyone for sharing with me their methods to their madness!!!

Hi NurseLaurel!

I have a tremendous yarn fetish and whenever I see yarn on clearance, like yourself, I get all goose-bumply (do geese get people-bumply?) over my back. It's a delightful feeling when I realize that there is an awesome skein (normally skeins) of yarn in my A.C. Moore bag.

Ah! Alas my dear lady, but what can one possible do with so much yarn?! So I have devised a simply devilish scheme to organize and allay my yarn storage woes.

First of all my couches are a veritable storage container. I actually unzip the cushions and remove the stuffing then replace it with some skeins or balls of yarn. I have to throw out the stuffing because I don't want my truly significant other to realize my true love.

Secondly I prescribe to stuffing notion that anything that is stuffed can be replaced with yarn! So pillow cases turn into wonderful caches of beautiful yarn. I love knowing when I fall asleep under the guise of "bedtime" that I can roll over, touch my lamp to life, and continue right on crocheting. I am such a fiend!

And finally, my truest of hiding places is to make things for friends. There is nothing I adore more than to crochet some fine hats, scarves, mittens, socks, and even underwear. That keeps my addiction under-hand. Or at least so they think...

Good luck NurseLaurel with your addiction. We will all be here to help.

Yours truly,
CountCrochet

Hi,
I keep all my yarn in a glass storage tower with a glass door. That way I can see all my lovelies on view (away from the sun, of course) and never lose track of how much I have of each one. I have sectioned it off into categories of pure wool (balls and skeins), synthetics, small special cones (pure wool), large cones (pure wool), and Icelandic roving. I have all my fleece for spinning in lidded hand woven baskets lined with calico to let the air circulate. It all sounds fabby-doo, but I still don't have enough room.....off to Ikea for another glass tower me-thinks...

I have just read back this comment and realise that I too, appear to be terminally addicted

Mhairi

Hi, I recently purchased a wall unit that consists of 20 cubby holes. I have separated all my yarn by colour and can see everything at a glance. It makes a plain wall look nice and I enjoy taking it all in whenever I pass by it.

I've been a fiber-holic for almost 40 years... I've tried totes, bins, baskets, boxes. You name it and I've tried it.

The most useful method I've found is to put up shelves (boards and shelf brackets), seperate my yarns by guage, and keep them in those small wicker laundry baskets. I line the basket with a bath towel & put the yarns in as neatly as possible. That way, I can look through just the guage I'm looking for, not all the reds (for example).

I too have a yarn adiction and when I see clearance or sale with a great price I just must buy. I have organized my yarn by type, then color, mostly in the plastic 3 drawer thingies and a few 4 drawer ones. I also have the large plastic tubs in my closet with the larger skiens of yarn on end organized by type (i.e. red heart acrylic, etc) then color coordinated. Higher-priced specialty yarns are in the under-the-bed plastic tub. Baby yarn, crochet thread and yarn are also kept separate. I love the large stackable baskets to use for works in progress (i have quite a few!) which helps keep things in order. I try to make a habit of putting the yarn away when done with that particular project so I don't have to spend a day reorganizing (just did that AGAIN a couple weeks ago). Hope this helps!

http://yoursandi.blogspot.com

I tried a combination of things that have already been mentioned. My favorite is plastic stackable bins and one mesh cubbyhole to hang in my closet for yarn scraps and odd skeins that I picked up at a yard sale or thrift shop.

The stackable bins makes me feel like I'm picking my yarn out at the store and yes I get goose bumps when I yarn shop.

If I can see it, I'm more likely to use it. And just thinking that top bin is collecting dust makes me want to start a new project.

I tried sorting by color. But mostly I sort by type of yarn now and that seems to work best for me.

Wow lots of wonderful tips on stashing the stash of yarn
I store my yarn as many do in the plastic tubs etc but I got some great new ideas from reading this section.
Thank you ladies for sharing the tips.

I'm printing this thread out and showing it to my husband. He thinks my one measly little basket of yarn is too much and doesn't understand why I buy more before I've used up what I have or why I browse through the yarn shelves at our craft stores when I don't even have a project in mind. :) It's obviously a sickness I share with hundreds of other crocheters.