Every knitter knows how easy it is to accidentally let your yarn pile up until one day you suddenly look over your shoulder and realize that you’ve amassed a huge stash without even noticing! Once you’ve come to that realization, however, where can you put your yarn hoard? As usual, your DIY skills can save the day!
Check out these 15 DIY yarn storage ideas that will help you keep those fluffy balls and skeins contained no matter how big or small your living space is!
1. Shoe rack yarn storage
Do you have an old hanging show rack that you got too many shoes for and stopped using? Clear those shoes out and use it to store your yarn instead! Balls and skeins will both fit well and you can use any leftover compartments to store spare needles and knitting supplies, just like Everyday Originals did.
2. Cardboard magazine holders on shelves
If you have several balls in the same colour, kind, or dye lot, try store them in cardboard magazine organizers set on a wall of shelves. This will let you sort them alphabetically or by whatever category you like so you can reach for the next ball easily when you run out in the middle of a project. Get more details on Laughing Purple Goldfish.
3. Accordion wine rack
Do you try to only keep a few balls or skeins of yarn on hand in your home at a time? Try popping them into a hanging accordion wine rack instead of the bottles of wine! Consider placing a mason jar in the centre hole so you have a place to store your needles, just like IndieJane Photograpy.
4. Coffee can wall hanging storage
Do you love the idea of wall hangings but you just don’t have the money to buy shelving units or racks right now? Start saving up your empty coffee cans! Each can will hold at least one skein and it’ll look like an awesome rainbow once you’ve got a whole bunch hanging. Check it out on Leethal.
5. Stacking plastic cubes
Do you have more yarn than you even know what to do with, but nowhere to put it? Find the nearest blank wall (or clear one out) and pile steady plastic stacking crates on one another so the openings face outward away from the wall. Pile in as much yarn as you can (and it’ll probably be a lot), just like Lucy Hanks.
6. Painted storage tub with a lid
Mod Podge Rocks shows you how they made this adorably custom pear-covered storage bin with a lid! Including a lid, rather than just throwing all your tarn in a bin, stops kids and pets from getting into the balls and skeins and unraveling them or tangling them all over the room!
7. Vintage suitcase yarn storage
Do you have a vintage suitcase in the attic that you wish was being used in a more effective way than it is? Craft and Creativity suggests using it to store your spare knitting yarn! Whether it’s wound into balls or still wrapped in skeins, it’ll fit just the same into the suitcase. The whole idea will also give off a gorgeously vintage aesthetic.
8. Wire basket with handles
Do you like keeping things simple? Then just grab a basket! Caught on a Whim suggests one with handles so you can move it around easily when you’re looking for colours or starting a new project. If you feel like this idea isn’t crafty enough for you, try making or weaving a basket yourself!
9. Geometric wooden wine rack
Have you ever seen hanging wine racks with diagonally placed shelves throughout the middle of a wooden box? These make perfect yarn storage! Hang them on the wall and sort your yarns by colour or type in each diamond. We love the way Repeat Crafter Me‘s design looks like a rainbow!
10. Corrugated plastic shelf dividers
Do you love the way the previous idea looks but you can’t find that design? Try making a shelf in that diamond shape inside a wall alcove or simple square shelf using corrugated plastic dividers. All About Ami shows you how to make it!
11. Pegboard yarn organizer
The beauty of both yarn balls and yarn skeins is that they’re easy to hook onto shelves because there’s a hole at each end! Dwell Beautiful takes advantage of that hole by setting up a length of peg board, hooking retail style bars, and sliding your yarn right on.
12. Dollar store drinking cup yarn feeder
Is it just one ball of yarn that you’re looking to store while you knit so that it doesn’t become tangled in the middle of your project? Sew Licious Home Decor has an awesome and cheap solution figured out for you! Grab a drinking cup with a straw from the dollar store, remove the cup, and pop your ball of yarn inside. Feed the end of your yarn through the straw hole and close the lid. As you knit, the ball will spin inside the cup, feeding your yarn through without tangling it.
13. Stacked PVC pipes
Maggie’s Crochet Blog guides you through the process of cutting thick pieces of PVC pipe and stacking them on top of each other on a wooden base in order to make a circular shelving unit. Inside each piece of pipe, slide your balls of yarn!
14. Yarn bookshelf
Do you have an old bookshelf you’re not using? Perhaps you don’t have that but you do have an old dresser that has a complete board between the drawer holes when you remove the drawers. Use that frame as yarn storage, piling all your yarn in the shelves or drawer holes, just like Repeat Crafter Me did!
15. Branches yarn shelf from old drawers
Lusa Organics shows you how to transform some regular wooden wall shelves into yarn storage with a rustic twist. Fasten some stylishly weathered twigs across the front of the shelf to keep the balls in place and give the piece a rustic finish.
Do you know a fellow knitter who stores their yarn in a particularly innovative or unique way? Tell us all about it in the comments section!
