Yarn Savers!!

Why am I so excited about this package of 300 alligator hair clips I received this week??

Ever found one of these little yarn monsters hiding in your yarn bin??

Me either.  But this one was making himself at home in my kids’ yarn stash!  Too many little hands digging through the piles of yarn + 4 plastic knitting looms with half-finished projects all living in the same plastic tote = the perfect breeding ground for hairy yarn monsters.  My kids get my yarn cast-offs.  The tiny balls of various colors left over from larger projects, the hand-me-down yarns I have received, but will never use as well as some yarn they have stolen from my own collection and a few balls they have purchased themselves are all tossed together into one bin that we keep in their arts and crafts room.

Today my son wanted to start a new crochet project, but couldn’t even find a ball of yarn that hadn’t been devoured by the yarn monster in the bin so we set to work cleaning up the mess.  Half an hour later, one yarn monster is set free and our little alligator clips have come into play.  We wrapped the ends of the yarn tightly and used one clip per ball to lock them in place.  Presto – a nice organized yarn bin and no more yarn being wasted feeding hungry monsters!

(Note: this isn’t their entire yarn stash… there are still more balls of yarn hiding around their arts and crafts room that we will need to clip and add to this pile!)

I use these clips on my own yarn as well so I don’t have to deal with untangling messes or rewinding escaped yarn ends when I’m in a hurry.  They work great AND they double as a stitch marker and/or a stitch holder when I’m using the yarn!  Can’t beat that!  And if my stash were ever to decrease significantly (highly unlikely, I know!), I could always turn them into cute little hair clips.  :)  It’s a win/win!

I hope you found this helpful and would love to hear your ideas for yarn storage and organization.  Leave a comment with any useful tips you might have!

P.S. The clips I used were purchased HERE.  You can purchase smaller quantities from the same shop, or a variety of other Etsy sellers.  Or if you just need a few clips, check out your local dollar store or hair supplies seller.

Happy Crocheting!