How do you keep track of your stash?

[bijouxmaster]

I am completely OCD & as my stash grows I am losing track of projects that I planned with the yarn I grab up.  Do you have a spreadsheet or something similar that you use?  I looked at software but I use a mac & very few software programs are Mac friendly......

Just wondering if anyone else keeps up with what they have....

[dancingbarefoot]

There's a nice, ready-made Excel spreadsheet with all the bells and whistles at katydidknits (in the right sidebar).

[bijouxmaster]

Whoa.  wow.  It's not just me.   

[starlight1221]

heh, well, if excel isn't up your alley, you could do what I do and use notecards or loose-leaf.  Just make a "project" column and a "yarn for project" column. 

Just don't lose it.  Like I do.  A lot. 

When I first started knitting, I'd take a piece of paper off a small notepad, write down the project name and possibly where I could find the pattern if I was afraid of forgetting, and then safety pin it to the skein of yarn.  But as soon as I lost my willpower and started randomly buying pretty yarn for no reason except to fondle, that strategy went right out the window. 

[zombienerd]

oh my god, that is amazing!  i'm trying to get rid of my stash right now, and i am forever thinking of cool projects for particular yarns and then forgetting whatever brilliant idea i had!  thanks for this.

[m*babylon]

or, if technology is too much of a hassle, you can do what i do and stalk & pet your stash like a creepy yarn pervert. =]

[Ember77]

Those big ziploc freezer bags are my best friend. I stick the yarn and a copy of the pattern into the bag and then zip it up for later.  I always threaten my boyfriend that one day he'll wake up and find the freezer full of yarn (for no particular reason).

When I'm ready to start knitting, I usually leave the yarn in the bag and cut a hole in the corner to thread the yarn out while I knit.  This keeps my yarn ball from rolling around too much.

[dancingbarefoot]

As nice as the Excel spreadsheet is, I have to admit that I don't end up using it.  Don't have the patience to sit down and inventory it all, basically. I should, though. As fun as digging through the stash can be, it'd be nice to know at a glance what I have.

[amey]

I did an excel spreadsheet.  I did one last year and redid it this year.  This time I didn't use the kitchen scale to weight each and every ball, so my numbers are a little less accurate (and I have to say it was nice to NOT have that final gram total at the bottom of the page).  I found, tho, that I have 1500g of sock yarn.  That's all in 100g skeins, so it was easier to count.

My biggest problem is that I have ALOT of single, 4 ounce, worsted weight skeins, wool skeins.  I need to find uses for all of that.  And to stop looking at for sale lists.

Back on the yarnaholics unanoymous bandwagon.

~amey

[BrightEyes_PR]

I have several of those clear plastic boxes with everything categorized and labeled with masking tape.  And I mean everything from yarns, to brushes to paint, to laces, to trims.....uuuuh.... you get the picture.  At the moment, since I sometimes wanna do a certain project and don't remember what I have exactly, I'm entering everything I have in this internet program called CraftMemo.  Honestly, it's great.  The only bad thing is that it's online.  I wish it was possible to get it on a CD .  Anyways, from there when I enter my projects that I think I'll be doing I jot down in a small notebook I keep in here--> (href="http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=16097.msg1009030#msg1009030") .  Since that's always in my purse, whenever I'm at the store I know what I need.  I have a problem of always forgetting as soon as I enter the crafts section.  I think my mind automatically goes in a million directions once it realizes it's in crafts.