Last week we discussed reading yarn labels and the importance of knowing a yarns weight. This week we will focus on Wraps per inch (WPI). Knowing the WPI of yarn weights helps you figure out stashed yarns which have lost their ball bands or hand spun yarns. It also helps you figure out what yarns you can mix and match to make your next project. 

To find the WPI, you can purchase a WPI Tool Kit or you could just as easily grab a ruler or yard stick you may already have. You will also need to use either the chart from last weeks blog or "The Knitter's Handy Guide to Yarn Requirements", available at Chix with Stix, and the yarn in question. All you need to do is take your yarn, wrap it around the ruler/tool until you have covered one full inch; making sure not to wind too tightly/loosely, overlap your yarn or have gaps between the wraps. Now count how many times the yarn wrapped around the ruler within that inch and match the number to the WPI portion of the chart. Now you will know the weight of your mystery yarn! 

See how simple that was?!? Take a little time and go through your stash and find the weights of your mystery yarns! 

You have found the perfect pattern, you look at the materials list and it calls for Aran weight yarn. You stop and ask yourself, "what is Aran weight?" As a Knitter/Crocheter you then think "I am supposed to know all of the names and terms for yarn!" Then you start thinking how embarrassing it is going to be to ask for help as you should already know this information. To be honest, we don't know what all of the symbols on the labels mean or all of the different names of the weights of yarn. Today's post is meant to help you learn the meaning of yarn weights and the names in which they go by. 

Why is yarn weight so important? The weight of a yarn refers to the thickness of the yarn. In order to achieve the correct tension and gauge you need to have the correct weight of yarn as well as the correct needle size. If you know the weight and which needle to use, you then will have the ability to make changes to the item you are making. The chart below is a guideline using the information from the Standard Yarn Weight System. Using the information provided in this chart will allow you to make informed decisions on your next yarn purchase. 

We've put seven full weeks of blood, sweat and tears into organizing our stash and we want to keep it looking great! It can be rather difficult to stay on top of your organization as time seems to fly by. If you keep the following simple tips in mind you should have no problems maintaining a beautiful,
functional fiber filled space! 

• Add all of your new purchases to your tracking system as soon as you bring them home. However you have chosen to track your stash whether it be a notebook, journal, note cards, Ravelry or some other digital format; take a picture, make notes, and sort downloads asap. This will cut down on your getting behind and needing to go through the full seven weeks again. If you find it hard or know you will not do these things as soon as you walk in with your new goodies, plan ahead. Plan for one day every week or month to sit down and add everything in all at once. This will help you stay on top of things and keep you on track with your organization. 
• Once you have added all of the info for your tracking purposes take a minute and put everything where it belongs. It is perfectly natural to want to spend a few days going through your new Interweave Magazine. Once you are finished reading it, follow your storage plan and either make your pattern notes and tabs then file it with the rest of your magazines or find it a new home. Did you buy a new skein of yarn? After filling out the tracking information, snapping a picture or getting a sample cutting then put the yarn in its new proper home. 
• As soon as you have finished a project take a little bit of time and take some detailed photos of the new item, make notes of any changes you have made to the pattern and what needle size you used so you can reproduce it in the future. It is best to do this as soon as the project is finished so that everything is fresh in your mind, if you wait you may forget crucial information. It is also nice to have a journal of your finished projects so you can look back and see what all you have accomplished over the year, you can show your fellow knitters/crocheters what you have done or even just as a reference for patterns you have in your library. 
• Plan a maintenance day. No matter how hard you work at staying on top of your stash it seems to need a little sprucing from time to time. How often to plan a "stash cleaning day" depends on how big your storage space is, how much of a stash you want on hand and how often you stock up on supplies. Some people may only need to go through their stash once a year, some once a quarter or with the changing of seasons and others once a month. Being honest and realistic with your de-stashing needs is the key to taking this cleaning from a seven week project to just one afternoon or weekend. Take a little time and decide how often you want to organize your stash, tools & patterns, set a calender reminder on your computer or smartphone and it will pop up and remind you when it is time. These posts will be here for you if you ever need a little help!

Good luck with your organizing and thank you for taking part in our little challenge! 

We have made it to the final week of our challenge! Can you believe seven weeks have gone by? Do you feel as though your stash is a little more under control? This week we will focus on putting our yarn away in a neat orderly fashion and have the ability to know what we have on hand at a glance. 

There are hundreds if not thousands of ways to store yarn and supplies. The method you choose will be based on your available space, your budget, and the size of your stash. What works for some will not work for all, so take some time to find the right solution for you. 

• Find your storage solution. We have pinned several images of great ways to store yarn, I strongly urge you to take some time and peek at what people have done on Pinterest. It is a wealth of ideas! There is truly no end to the ways you store your yarn from having a craft closet, storing it under the bed, on a book shelf or even have an entire room dedicated to yarn. The key is to make sure it is accessible. I have found these handy carousel closet organizers at Wal-Mart for just under $15. Unlike normal closet organizers they have side pockets and the hook is on a swivel so it can spin around making it easy to access all of your stored items. Target has these great under bed organizers with dividers for $11. You can choose to store your yarn in anything from plastic drawers to reused vinyl packaging from your sheets and pillow cases. If you choose to use cube style shelves, you can purchase them from both Wal-Mart and Target for a good price, but I have found that IKEA's Expedit shelves are great quality, very sturdy, versatile & attractive. Take your time in choosing an idea you like most and go for it (make sure it will contain all of your yarn before you go and buy anything)!
• Sorting your yarn. Now that you know where to store your yarn think of the best way to sort it. Will you have it sorted by color, fiber content, yarn weight, by project, etc.? Is your yarn going to be out on a shelf in your room, if so you may want to think about how it looks as well. Will you have it displayed in a rainbow or by contrasting colors? Here is a great article on how to choose to sort your yarn. (Side note: the link was part of the inspiration behind our little challenge.) 
• Track your yarn. Wouldn't it be nice to have the ability to not only know what yarn you have on hand, but be able to locate it in no time at all? Before you begin putting your beautifully sorted yarn into it's new (or re-organized) home take the following steps and you will be able to do just that! 

1. Decide on a tracking system. Non-techies: Handwritten- Journal, notebook or note cards.  Semi-techies: Spreadsheets such as Excel or Google Drive. Full on techies: Ravelry is awesome for tracking yarn, there are also a ton of apps available for smart devices. 
2. What to track? You should keep it simple by tracking: Brand Name, color name and number & dye lot, amount including weight and yardage, type of fiber, recommended hook or needle size, stitches per inch, care instructions, where you have it stored, when/where you purchased it and how much you paid, take a picture or small clipping and attach to the document as well. 
3. Back up your information. Every once in a while you should make back up copies of your electronic files. You never know when your hard drive will give out or you have a crazy power surge hit your house and everything is gone. 

• Put yarn away. As you put your yarn away take pictures and make notes of where you have stored each skein for your tracking system. This is not the most exciting thing, but you will be so glad when it is all finished!
• Take an After picture. Now you have made it! Your yarn is nice, neat and where it belongs! Take a picture and email both the before and after photo to us so we can begin figuring out who our winner is! As I've said before, if you wish your stash to stay anonymous please let us know in the email and we will make sure no one knows who that stash pic belongs to. 

How do you feel now that the challenge is complete? Do you feel better about your stash? Now the trick is keeping it this way! I'll do a post next week on tips to keeping your yarn, patterns and tools all as organized as they are now.

In the comments, let us know which storage method you will be using and how you plan on sorting your yarn.  

Well my friends, we've finally made it to the yarn portion of our challenge! This is going to be quite time consuming and possibly difficult, maybe even painful at times. However, space is too precious to be wasted on yarn we no longer need or love. When this challenge is over I want you too look at your yarn and have it inspire you and fill you with joy! Are you ready to get your stash in shape?!? 

To start this weeks challenge bring out ALL of your yarn (not including WIP's), think of all of the places it might be hiding: Yarn/project bags, closets, under your bed, by the couch, in your car...  Gather your yarn in a place where you can leave a mess, this challenge will take all week if not a little longer. This project definitely falls under the "it gets worse before it gets better" category, but in the end your are going to be glad you did it! 

Now that all of your yarn is in one place, take a picture. In order to be considered a participant in our challenge and possibly win the prize you must have a before and after picture. If you don't want anyone to know who the stash belongs to, we will make sure it remains anonymous. 
As you pull out your yarn start thinking about:

• Which yarn you get excited about and still love vs. the yarn you are not so crazy about anymore.
• How do you wish to store your yarn: In a closet, on a shelf or in a cabinet, by color, fiber and/or weight (check out our Pintirest Board for ideas)
• Is a particular yarn earmarked for a specific project, pattern or person?

Why is it important to have all of your yarn out?

• It is hard to organize what you can't see. 
• Seeing all of your yarn laid out in front of you may inspire you to start choosing a new color pallet or fiber content. 
• You may realize you have more or less than you thought you did.
•  You may also find some hidden gems you have forgotten all about.

As we did with our WIP's, patterns and tools, we will start deciding which yarn to keep, which to give away and which to throw out. You will need at least 3 bins (Keep, give away & toss). You may decide to divide your keep pile further: will use- have a pattern, will use- no pattern, for donation projects, etc. You may also do the same with the give away pile: Yarn swap or donate. 

Destashing is very hard, you start thinking about how much money went into your stash, you got some of the yarn as a gift or even that there is the perfect pattern out there just waiting to be found. But think about how it would feel to look at your prized stash and know you love each and every skein, you can find what you need with ease and you have regained space in your house (not to mention getting you're husband/family to stop teasing you ...even if it's just for a little while). 

Keep: You should keep any yarn that:

• You really like and that brings you joy
• You have at pattern picked out or a person that the yarn is intended for
• You are inspired by the yarn
• You know you will use (be honest with yourself!)
• It brings a happy memories
• You would like to use in donation projects

The point of having a stash is not only to have yarn on hand for a pattern you have found, but I would say more importantly it brings you pleasure. I have quite a bit of my grandmother's crochet thread that I have displayed in my house. I will never use this thread, but it brings me great happiness when I look at. You will also notice yarn for donation projects, at Chix with Stix, we often have Community Care Projects in which we ask you to help by making miscellaneous items. It is always good to keep a few skeins on hand for these types of projects; this yarn would also be great for lifelines & provisional cast-on's and yarn bombings. 

Give away: You may have fallen out of love with some of your yarn, but it may be perfect for someone else.  Place these types of yarn in the "give away" pile. Grab a bag, box or bin and put these along with your patterns, tools and WIP's that you are wanting to trade and set aside for our swap. 
Let it go if:

• You really liked it when you bought it, but now you're just not liking it anymore. 
• You went through a phase (sock, lace, color, etc.) and have burned yourself out working with that type of yarn. 
• You have left overs from a finished project and you can't see yourself using it.
• You've realized you don't enjoy working with a particular weight, fiber or color, it may even split too much for your liking.
• It was a gift from someone. Yarn is a very personal thing, it is sweet that someone thought of you, but realistically they don't know your fiber preferences, the weight of yarns you like and now that yarn is taking up valuable space. Not to mention you feel a little guilty when you look at the unused yarn setting on the shelf. Let someone who will love this yarn have it, the best thing is that the gift will be used and enjoyed by someone.
• Do you have yarn from your last move that you were uncertain you wanted to keep and it's still sitting in your stash? It's time to let it go!
• You purchased yarn for a particular pattern only to realize you didn't get enough. Try to find the remaining yarn, if you can't either find a project for it or swap it. 
• Possibly set a time limit: I've had this yarn (x) years unused, will I actually use it? 

Toss: Yes, I said it, actually throw away yarn!!! 

• If you have small bits left overs not big enough to make anything, put them in the trash. Alternatively, you could use natural fibers in cake style bird feeders so birds & squirrels can use them in their nests. 
• Toss yarn that has matted, felted or knotted. If you have a tangled mess that is impossible to unwind, there is no since in leaving it hanging around, it is unusable. 
  

We have our work cut out for us this week! Next week we will focus on organizing and putting away the yarn we do keep.  Let me know if you need help deciding whether or not to keep a yarn. 

Let us know in the comments below your criteria for keeping, giving and tossing your yarn.