Something I have struggled with over time that I think is common to many crafters is stash management. Once your crafting supplies exceeds a certain amount, you kind of need a way to organize them and know how to get to what you have.
For a long time I used Ravelry’s stash feature. It is a pretty handy tool. You can reference your stash when you are looking at patterns, so you can see what you already have that would work. Ravelry’s yarn database is pretty good as well, so by entering your stash, you have all the info on that yarn. And you can sort and filter several different ways. Nifty!
However, I’m not entirely comfortable keeping all the documentation somewhere I don’t really have any control over, so I decided to figure something out for myself. I tried a couple of different things, but settled on a spreadsheet. The way I have it organized now, I have different tabs for kits, miniskeins, and just regular skeins.
While it’s not quite as nifty as Ravelry’s stash function, it can be searched and sorted, and is pretty easy to keep up to date. I do miss having the pictures, but otherwise it does pretty well.
Do you track your craft supplies? If so, how do you do it?
Quite A Yarn 
I use Ravelry for recording my stash, I have a separate spreadsheet for tracking incoming and outgoing yarn each year. Which reminds me I am behind with that.
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I keep thinking about tracking incoming and outgoing, but it is a daunting task! Do you feel like it helps you keep a handle on that?
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Yes, if I hadn’t started that I think I’d have way more yarn. It’s made me more conscious.
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Yes, I use a spreadsheet as well. My main challenge is to record the incoming yarn!
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Me too! I am trying to make a habit of putting incoming yarn on my desk until it is listed, then I can put it away. It sort of works 🙂
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I have heard people talk about systems like this before and it makes me wonder if anyone else in the world has what I have. Which is an exhaustive, exhausting, completely involuntary mental catalogue of everything I own. I dream of the day I find something I forgot I had.
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Wow! That is interesting! But I can see where that would get to be a lot mentally.
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When I was an active gardener, I kept a spreadsheet on plants, shrubs and trees with purchase dates, botanical names, cost, and notes on growth. It was very helpful. If you don’t track stuff you forget you already bought something. Yep, I did that too! 🙂
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LOL! Yes, I have absolutely done that. That sounds like a great system for tracking your plants!
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For whatever reason, I am able to keep my yarn stash small enough that nearly all skeins are visible at a glance in the cubby hole shelf unit my husband built. I sort them by weight.
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That’s a good way to organize them! You do have a lot of stashbuster projects, which I’m sure helps you keep your stash tidy 🙂
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Indeed.
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I don’t really track my craft supplies, but I did recently purchase as armoire at a great discount so now I have my different yarns and fabrics divided up by type. I should give excel a try!
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Ooooo! Armoires are great places to store craft supplies!
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Ooh I didn’t think of different tabs for different types of skein, mine are just all on one sheet. I might tweak it over Christmas
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Mine is a constant work in progress!
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Yarn database sounds like an awesome idea! I do not track my craft supplies but I try to keep them as organized as I can and as easy to see as possible because out of sight means out of mind 🙂
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That is very true! Every year I try to do what I call “The Touching of the Skeins”. I go through my yarn, sometimes to re-sort and see if there’s anything I want to get rid of. But mainly really to remind myself of what’s in the stash. There’s a lot in there, and some of it falls off my radar.
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I love it! “Touching of the Skeins”! I bet the skeins get excited to get attention and not just be gathering dust, ha!
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I think they do! I’m certainly excited to see them 🙂
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I imagine all the skeins quietly whispering among themselves: “she coming over to see us!” 😉
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LOL! I visit them a lot 🙂
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