Who has two thumbs, hundreds of skeins and a fancy new yarn organization wall?! THIS GIRL!! I’ve tried just about everything for yarn organization over the years. I’ve left the skeins intact and in totes, I’ve used the closet of our guest room (literally the entire closet), I’ve used crates stacked on top of one another, I’ve caked them with my yarn ball winder, I’ve used color coordinated bags… the list goes on and on. But my dream has always been to have a “yarn wall” and today, my friends, I present to you: MY FREAKIN’ YARN WALL!!!
Yarn Wall DIY
Let me start by saying that the vast majority of the yarn in my collection was gifted to me. My sister Meadow, an avid knitter and yarn enthusiast herself, de-stashed and sent me home with bags full of yarn during one of my recent solo trips. Then my friend Barb gifted me three entire Rubbermaid totes of yarn after her grandmother passed away. Then my step-sister Athena gifted me another entire Rubbermaid tote full of yarn as well. (Thank you again, ladies!) You get the point; I just feel I need to justify my yarn stash.
While I am a yarn-head, I am not made of money and I am fabulously frugal. How does building a yarn organization wall fit in with being frugal you ask? I cannot tell you how many times I have purchased new yarn when I had a perfectly good skein (of the correct OR SAME weight/color) already in my stash. How could this happen? Because I had no idea what I had, that’s how!
To start, I selected a wall in our home that Paul and I could agree on. This wall is in our basement entertainment area, across from the bar and in between the shuffleboard table and pool table. Paul wasn’t thrilled with the location, but this is how I like to have fun and my fun counts too! Plus, this is art, no? I, for one, like to stare at it:
Yarn organization walls can be made using cubbies like these. I would need at least 20 – 24 cubbies and that would get expensive fast. A yarn wall can also be made using pegboard and hooks. I chose to use pegboard for my yarn wall because the cost was more justifiable.
For the past week or so, I have been “caking” my yarn and organizing them according to color. You don’t have to use a fancy electric yarn winder, this is the exact one I own and have used for years. It did all of the cakes on my wall.
Paul picked up a 4’ x 8’ section of pegboard at Lowes for about $13. Crazy good price, right? While there, he priced the pegboard hooks.
Those buggers are expensive! We also don’t need them to be 6” long so I hopped online and found these 4” hooks in 50-packs for less than HALF that price per piece (just 33¢ per hook this way!) with free 2-day Prime shipping. SOLD! I bought three boxes (and yes, I had to order more lol).
We cut the pegboard to fit (to make it 4’ x 7.5’). We then hung the pegboard, making sure to use spacers to distance it from the actual wall – so that the hooks could be inserted/moved without causing damage to the wall itself.
Paul placed spacers in the middle of the board as well, so that the middle wouldn’t cave. It’s all smooooooth sailing after this!
After winding all of your skeins into cakes, choose which color way you’d like to rock. All mixed together, or pink with pink, green with green, blue with blue etc. I laid the cakes out on the pool table and with my friend Jamie’s help tried my hardest to create a nice gradient scale. And then I kinda gave up and called it “art”. LOL
What I love the most about this yarn organization method is that I can see almost all of my yarn at once (yes I have more tote fulls in the “yarn closet” that are incomplete skeins, bulky or funky colors). What shade of purple do I need? Hold on, let me check MY YARN WALL!
I decided not to cake my bulky (size 5) weight or larger yarn. The winder might not have been able to handle all that jazz, and I think they look pretty in my cute little basket next to my cute little chair with my cute little crochet mason jar pallet project.
All I need now is a crocheted floor pouf to use as a foot stool and I’ll be golden! Watch for a pattern for that floor pouf when I get it finished – right here on Heart Hook Home. 😀
More fun with yarn before you go:
Creative Ways to Use Yarn Ends (Instead of Tossing Them Out)
Yarn Hacks Every Crocheter and Knitter Needs to Know
How to Weave in Yarn Ends {So They Don’t Come Out}
How to Size Crochet Beanies + Master Beanie Pattern
Felting Tutorial: How to Felt Wool (with or without a washing machine)
Different Methods of Making Pom Poms
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