Free At Last!

Free
Now that's an interesting word, isn't it?  It can be "free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, I'm free at last"; it can be "candy, ice cream...all free today";  It can be "...if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed".
But today, for me, free is - free from the clutter and disorganization coming from scattered skeins, balls and piles of YARN. It also means I am finally realizing that, although this is not literally true because I've already paid for it, I just may have free yarn for the rest of my life! Yes, it is time for what they call on those reality shows - The Reveal!!! If you need a refresher on where this all started - here you go.

Welcome to my home yarn shop

We'll start our tour with a full view

From My Yarn Shop

Along the top are baskets with leftover bits of yarn, 

From My Yarn Shop

odds and ends, extra needles and hooks, etc.,

From My Yarn Shop

and the swift my dad made me. It's seasonal neighbor is the "yarn ball snowman" Brendyn gave me for Christmas which I totally adore!

From My Yarn Shop

All this sets on a selection of dresser scarves my Busia (grandmother) made which I gladly took from her house after she passed away. I'm still trying to decide if I should put my yarn ball winder up on top with the swift but I've been using it a lot lately so it's not an urgent question.

Now for the detail, the organizational part that I've struggled with for years. I was given some sage advice which, when I heard it, made the most perfect, logical sense and I grabbed onto it like it was one of the Dead Sea Scrolls. "Think of how you choose your yarn for a project. Is it by color? by weight? by fiber? Organize with the end in mind." Why hadn't I ever thought of that before? All my vain attempts at organizing had failed because of this tiny nugget of wisdom had eluded me. So with that in mind and having the storage solution in hand, the rest was easy. Since I have branched out beyond acrylic and cotton I realized weight then fiber type are usually my initial thoughts for a project. Here is a walkthru of the shop. . .

First, animal fibers (wool, alpaca, camel, etc.) and animal fiber blends; bulky and worsted on the top. . .

From My Yarn Shop

moving to sport and fingering/sock weight on the bottom

From My Yarn Shop

Next is plant fibers (cotton, rayon, bamboo, etc.) and plant fiber blends. Most of these are worsted weight so I didn't see a need for further categorization. On the far right is the man made fibers section. I couldn't get a good photo of this because of the window behind it but it also uses the "heavy to light weights" organization. You get a better view of it in the first picture.  You'll also notice books scattered in as well. No real organization to those yet except maybe by height ;-)

From My Yarn Shop

And finally, the yarn waiting to be re-born....sweaters! The top left silk and silk blends, next cashmere and cashmere blends. Wool and wool blends ranging from "really soft" (i.e. merino) to "kinda scratchy" (i.e. Shetland). At the bottom are the cotton and rayon blends that either feel really nice or have a cool color.

From My Yarn Shop

Well, that's the tour of the shop. I feel very good about it being done. And although the shop is done, there is still yarn in other parts of the house. I'm doing my best to find it good, loving homes. I have a few people who have offered to take most of it but I'm prayerfully considering where it goes. I would hate for someone else to end up in the same situation and have their hobby and joy become an anchor. My hope is that it will be divvied up within a month or so.

May God Bless Your Stitches,

nance