| A Walk Down Memory Lane by Margaret Fraleigh |
| I was looking for a specific colour of yarn the other day. Most of my yarn is in plastic drawers and some in bins. It was stored as it was boughten or used and in no particular order. What a task trying to find the yarn. So I took a day where I sorted the yarn and put each colour in a separate area. Not the best solution yet, but better than it was. I was going through previous newsletters and came across an article that had been submitted by Angel Best. She had a column called "Ask Angela". The second half of her article dealt with storage. I found it quite interesting and thought I would share her column with everyone. The first part of her column dealt with "gauge". There has been discussion lately on this subject. Hope this blast from the past, is helpful to someone. 1. I'm having a problem maintaining my gauge. What should I do? I have one word for that question, PRACTICE. The term gauge relates to the number of stitches and rows needed to produce a piece of crocheting of a certain size. Usually the gauge is stated at the beginning of the crocheting directions. Maintaining gauge or tension is very important in my opinion, careful attention must be given to this if the piece or garment being produced is to be of correct or stated size. The best way I know how to maintain gauge is to relax and keep on crocheting. The anxiety of starting something new can sometimes be stressful to some, so a crocheter may tense and it will show in her/his work. Some people relax by crocheting, and others have to relax to crochet. At the risk of sounding redundant or repetitive, crocheters grab your hooks, on your mark, get ready, CROCHET! 2. How should I store my crocheted items? (both thread and yarn). Ah yes, the storage question. The reason for storage has many answers, and so does how to do it. Let's start with how, this depends on the individual and amount or lack of space. Some of you lucky people have an extra room which has become a craft room with shelves built especially for storage of yarn and your equipment. To you I say I am insanely jealous, to the other unfortunates like myself we have to make due. There are many containers and totes on the market for those who have very little space. These come in a variety of sizes ranging from under the bed sweater and blanket storage totes to the big truck bed totes. Creative storage is the key. Darling, need a new end table in the TV room? Big tote, tablecloth, and voila end table, and all your WIPs (work in progress) are hidden from the kiddies and the kitties. If you are lucky enough to have a large walk-in closets, have shelves built into the top half, then you can store your yarn or thread in the clear bags, this makes it easier to find. Small totes can be kept for some of the shiny threads that come on spools etc, these also help the yarn stay upright from toppling over if you do not have enough to fill a shelf, YET!! Reasons for storage: a) First and foremost, to keep your sanity. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to find that yarn you got on sale at Wal-mart last year and finally figured out what to do with it and can't find it. b) When things are neater, you can find space to put more! (And as you know we all need more crochet materials!) c) Well stored is also well hidden, if things are always neat, how will (s)he know when you have bought more when you weren't supposed to. Seriously though, being well organized makes life a lot easier. |