QUERY OF THE WEEK
Over the weekend, I was on a quest to find photos of how stitchers store their hand-dyed, over-dyed, and/or silk threads. You know what? There is NOT much out there. I guess I was expecting to find something and think, "Oh! That would work great for me."
I did a post a while back that shows I how store all my floss: HERE. As you can see, my hand-dyed floss is stored in ziploc bags. It works okay, but doesn't make it easy if I'm looking for a particular color by name.
How do you store your hand-dyed floss?
STITCHY STUFF
The moon is shining and the cat is on the roof singing!
I was able to get a big chunk of stitching out of the way this week. I'm hoping the rest of it... the border, alphabet and flowers on the left side... goes quickly.
Again, I swapped colors... This time for the moon. I didn't have the called for GAST that contained hues of yellow and orange. I didn't really care for the orange streaks through the moon, anyway. For my moon, I used Six Strand Sweets Toffee, a DMC brown, and a DMC pale yellow. What do you think?
TREASURE HUNTING
Two weeks ago, I was on a mission to score some balls of yarn to try my hand at some cute crocheted owls. I didn't find yard, but did come home with those awesome spice carousels! I digress. Last week, I stopped by a thrift store in another city to see if they had yarn. I hit a mother lode! I'm gonna have to go back because I didn't get white and I need white.
Until Next Time,
45 comments:
I don't have any hand dyes thread/floss so I can't help you out there. To tell you the truth, I didn't know that people stored their hand dyed differently than regular (DMC type) floss.
Your Midnight Watch is coming along beautifully! Nice haul on the knitting supplies!
I store my overdyeds in something like this
http://yarntree.com/cross-stitch/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=7630
Your cat looks great and good luck on the owls!
The moon looks great, Meari--I like it even better than the original! You'll have a finish before you know it :)
I store my overdyed floss on a pegboard on the back of a closet door in an unused bedroom. Seems to work well for me...
Great find at the thrift store--I look forward to seeing your little owl creations :)
I love the moon. Might want to see how it would look if you extended the brown streaks into the sky, as if clouds were moving across the moon. otherwise, I think its perfect!
I keep my specialty threads, hand-dyed and silks, on rings, organized by manufactorer and alphabetized by color name. I have started an inventory, which I did for my fabrics, and it will be much easy to see what I have instead of looking for it in actuality. I leave them on their tags.Oh, the rings live in a box I got from IKEA. The stupid HDF spools and awefull tags live each in a zip lock baggy. My next project is to card them all and organize by color. Hmm..I shall be busy.
Oh, and excellent find on the yarn. It looks nice and clean and perfect for owelettes.
I've been storing my overdyed flosses in Floss-A-Way bags which I put on rings. Seems to be working well so far. Love those owls. Can't wait to see yours. Nice stitching too!
Cathy
CraftyCat
Great find at the thrift store! Can't wait to see how your owls turn out!
I keep my specialty threads in plastic inventory bags (you can find them online at various shipping/warehouse suppliers). Each bag has a hole at the top so I keep each brand on a metal ring. I created a spreadsheet for each brand and keep it updated with the colors I have of each brand, if it's for a particular design, etc.
Oh, I forgot -- love the changes you made to the moon! Looks great!
Your BBD looks great and I love your moon changes.
I store my over-dyed threads in floss baggies on a large ring in alphabetical order. Each cotton company has 2 rings and the silks have 1 or 2 rings. They hang from a wrought iron in my craft closet.
Robin in Virginia
Aww everything is so cute..I love them all so much..
Big hugs x
I don't have that many hand dyed threads but they are in ziplocks in a shoe box haha. Love your moon. Looks very moonish to me. Good luck with your owls. Those are adorable!!!
Meari,
The cat on the house is cute! I store my floss in zip lock bags and bags in baskets by number.
Patricia
Texas Hill Country
Meari,
my hand dye threads, put it in rings, by number or name, dmc floss, put in cardboard with holes, DMC cardboards 15 holes or 20 holes, by number, I`ve got all colours. this cardboards put in a fabric box (ikea)
Cristina
I use pressboard file boxes I buy from Staples. They are 5"w x 11.5"l x 4"h and are the perfect size to hold Floss-A-Way bags. There's a little metal window on the front of the box that allows you to put an insert in it so you can label the box, and a slider on the inside so you can tighten up the contents so the bags stay in order. I cut down an index card to make tabs that I label with the manufacturer and file the bag behind the tab, in order by either name or number, whichever makes it easier to fined. A friend suggested that I insert an index card in with the floss. She says this would be handy for two reasons. First, it would allow a place to make notes, like whether it's a full or partial skein, what it was purchased for, a dye lot number, etc. The second benefit would be it would help stiffen the bag so that it would be easier to keep them upright in the box. Both sound like good reasons, although I haven't tried it yet. The boxes stack, making things very easy to find. They are also light, even when full, so they are easy to handle.
--
Debbie K. in Illinois
Meari, recently I had been mulling over the same query. My WDW, etc., are also in zip lock bags, but beginning to become a tangled mess. However, I think I have a solution. For a Christmas exchange in another group, Sharon S gave me a Yarnology floss organizer system which consists of 36 - 3 1/2" x 5" zip lock bags that fit between two 5 1/2' x 4 1/2" binder covers held together with 2 binder rings. Compact, easy to store and easy to flip through. I don't have many WDWs so this 36 bag system will work for me for now. I'm interested in hearing how others store theirs.
Your crocheted owls are so cute! Have fun with that project!
Marina
Afraid I store my hand dyed floss as you do. I'm open to suggestion, too.
Love your kitty. The moon turned out well. Looks like clouds misting though the moon moon!
Oh those owls are adorable!
Congrats on the yarn lode!
I'm not entirely happy with this method, but it's working so far:
I bought little 2" x 3" ziplock baggies at Hobby Lobby. Each hand-dyed goes into its own baggie with the tag.
I then also bought plastic business card organizer boxes (I think they were these: http://www.containerstore.com/shop/office/officeAccessories?productId=10011030&N=74530). I discarded the sorter tabs as being useless to me. The ziplock baggies fit in here nicely.
I have one box for Weeks Dye Works, one box for GAST, and one box for the random bits of other brands that I've picked up.
Those owls are cute!!! I love all the yarn colors. My hand dyed floss are in plastic containers....I never use them but I have them!
Meari, your stitching is wonderful! nice haul on the yarn and I love the owls. I don't have much over dyed floss so I can't help you out there, but you are a wiz~~you will think of something I am sure~hugs, and happy stitching, Queeny
I store my hand-dyed floss on rings, by maker, and then in either numerical or alphabetical order. they are still in plastic bags in a tote, but when I need them I can just flip to them on the ring.
Hi there! I store my overdyed threads in floss away bags also but I bought comic book boards (acid free) and had my hubby cut them down to fit in the floss away bags(with wiggle room). Phew works in spring shop so had access to an electric cutter...much easier than doing them by hand. I then store them in storage boxes from michaels separated by brand and in alphabetical order. I also have the alphabet index cards so I don't have to go through them all to get to the right letter.
Wanda
I think I had already told you I store my over-dyed yarns in clear plastic shoe boxes, on rings, in alphabetical order. It works okay for me.
I love those little owls!!! You sure did get lucky with your yarn find.
My favorite thrift store had a fire and is closed :(
Talk soon SD!
Love ya,
SM
Right now, I put my overdyes in a set of graduated decorative boxes that stack. All of one brand goes in a plastic baggie. But I like your new system and would like to try out something different. Maybe I can get some ideas from others too.
HUGS,
Dee in TN
Meari,
I think your moon looks awesome and I like the colours you chose. You really have made great progress on your piece.
As you know, I often switch out colours and suggested floss.
As for the specialty flosses, I too keep them in baggies sorted by type of floss. Then I have a box of overdyed and another for plain specialty floss like silk, rayons and metalics.
My stash of these is not that big that I would consider giving it more real estate. Also most of them are quite expensive and I try to keep mostly what I will be using for a project. Most of them were purchased at a garage sale at our guild.
Tara Kimberley Torme
I love your moon! Great job on the yarn stash. Would love to find items like that @ my local thrift store! Best of luck on the floss storage issue, I only use DMC so I don't have an "light bulb" ideas for that. Happy Stitching!
I see a lot of stitcher's use the floss bags but I like using a 3 ring binder. Check out one of my old blog postings.
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9219348353312545120#editor/target=post;postID=761836150383025918;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=29;src=postname. I hope you find a way that suit you and keeps you organized.
Happy Stitching
Denise
Your Halloween stitch is looking great. I like the color changes you've made...it makes the moon "pop", especially on your beautiful fabric.
Please let us know your solution for your specialty threads. Right now, mine are grouped by colors. It works, but doesn't feel "organized".
great yarn haul - those little owls are adorable!!!
Hi, Meari,
I think your moon looks great! I love the colors, even better than the original. Great find with the yarn (and the cool spice racks from last week). I don't have any good "thrift" stores near me. When I lived in GA, they had great thrift and resale shops. I got lots of great deals.
The little owls are adorable. Where did you get the pattern? Years ago, I crocheted so many little animals. Two where my favorites - I made a duck for my son. It was about 5" tall and I crocheted an old fashioned sailor hat and a sailor type "bib" in blue and white- adorable. I did a lion for my niece - about 7" tall - using brown yarn. I did a looped mane using a variegated brown/tan/gray yarn. I made a gold crown and a purple robe with white fur trim - from felt. So cute.
I enjoy your blog, Meari.
Nancy V in TN
:-)
Hi Meari,
So true, there is little information about storing the dye silks. They come in those hanging tabs, plus they are SILK which is not recommended to wrap in those bobbins like DMC or Darice.
Some make own tabs with a huge hole and hang the threads. In my case, it would be cumbersome and not efficient way. The only way is to keep in those zip lock bags with original tags. Keep them according to the manufacturer and alpha or numeric order according to the preference... keep those bags inside a box, with divider for each manufacturer.
Happy organizing!!
Vilma
Those little owls are so cute! I would love o know where the pattern is from...
My hand dyed threads are stored in photo boxes...I have one for GAST, one for Weeks, one for Crescent Colours and one for Carrie's Threads. Then they are alphabetical by name in each box (in little snack baggies). I keep miscellaneous threads in a canister, and Vicki's silks in small boxes.
I like what you did for the moon!
Stitching is looking beautiful, very good progess.
I don' t have much handdyed threads, what i have are all in a small curver box.
I store my overdyeds in floss away bags and they are in alphabetical order in photo boxes. Then when I need them for a project I pull them out and put them on a ring for that project.
Can't wait to see your owls.
I do not a lot of over dyed flos and just store them in bags and put them in a plastic shoe box.
Your stitching looks very nice.
Marl
Meari,
Those owls are soooo stinkin cute!
I don't have enough non-DMC floss to really organize yet, so they are "tied" together with a twist tie through the top of the hole on one end.
Thank you for sharing!
Katie
(draggie6938)
Thank you for your update Meari I am looking forward to seeing a good method of organisation for speciality threads
Denise
From Sunny Saudi Arabia
The Midnight Watch piece looks wonderful, Meari. And I'm going to have to try that crockpot lasagne recipe.
Warren
Love your moon. Would like to know where to find the owl pattern as I have several GD that love owls. I need to find a better way to store my different flosses, too!
I just store my overdyed & hand dyed floss in ziploc bags like you do. If you find a better way let me know. I like what you did with the moon. Looking forward to seeing your crocheted owls when done.
Betty in AZ
Hello Meari,
I have my floss in plastic containers. I posted it to my blog.
http://www.takingonestitchatatime.com
I love your moon. It shines brightly.
What cute Owls and I think the colors you found will work out perfectly.
Your moon is beautiful. And the owls are so cute! Can't wait to see yours!
Eek! those owls are precious, Meari! I really don't have a ton of overdyed threads, and they are actually stored like yours!
When I did my craft room, I purchased metal peg boards (purple!) and hooks and they are all hanging by color groups on the board. That way I can just view them all and pick the right shade of dyed color for the project. I found it difficult to swap colors in bags or any other way. Love them hanging on my board for all to see. Hope you're doing well in 2015.
Not going to be much help on the floss, my specialty ones are stored the same way you have pictured, and I have to dig to find one too. Will be interesting to see if you find a really good way to store it otherwise. Your WIP of Midnight looks great, love the moon. Been awhile since I've seen the original picture of how that moon looked, but I think yours looks awesome.
The owls are adorable, looking forward to seeing how yours turn out. Where did you see a pattern for them. Although in my house if I made them somehow I can see the cats running off with them thinking they are new cat toys, and I'd soooooo not be happy with them.
Sue
Meari -
Love the cat on the roof. Your moon looks wonderful! Love the owls! I am sure that yours will turn out just as good.
Marge
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