Tools Day: Yarn Record Book

Would you like to keep track of every type of thread and yarn you use? You need something you can refer back to for fiber content, color numbers, sett information, and where you purchased the yarn. I have a simple yarn record system that accomplishes that. Because it is easy to do, I update the records every time I start a new tube of thread or skein of yarn that is not already represented. I call it my Yarn Record Book.

How to Create a Yarn Record Book

1. Gather supplies:

  • Three-ring binder
  • 8 1/2 x 11″ white cardstock
  • Paper cutter or scissors
  • Three-ring hole punch or single-hole punch
  • Small color wheel and other color tools
  • Black fine point Sharpee
  • Pocket pages
  • New spectacular yarn and thread in colors and sizes you have never tried before!

Make a Yarn Record Book Tutorial

2. Cut cardstock. Cut a sheet of white cardstock lengthwise in half.

Making pages for yarn record book.

3. Punch holes. Punch three holes on one long side of the cut cardstock to coincide with three-ring binder, and punch five holes on the opposite side.

Preparing pages for yarn record book. Tutorial.

4. Insert color tools. Place color wheel and other color tools in front inside pocket.

Yarn Record Book Tutorial

Color tools in yarn record book.

5. Add yarn label information. Write information on front of prepared card:

  • Fiber type and size/plies; e.g., Cotton 8/2
  • Brand name
  • Fiber content
  • Where purchased
  • Length and weight

Making Yarn Record Book. How to.

6. Add yarn sample. Cut one meter of the new thread or yarn. (My loom bench, conveniently a meter in width, is my quick measuring guide.) Fold the length in half, in half again, and in half one more time. Push the loop at the fold of the yarn through a hole on the five-hole side of the card and pull the other end of the yarn through. Write the color number above the hole.

Adding yarn to yarn record book.

7. Insert yarn card into notebook. On the back of the card write the date the yarn is added. Include information about how the yarn is to be used, and the intended sett. (Later, if your plans change, or you determine the sett needs adjusting, come back and make notes here to reflect that.) Insert the card in the Yarn Record Book. I arrange fibers in alphabetical order, e.g., alpaca, cotton, linen, wool; and, within each fiber, by size of yarn from finest to coarsest.

Adding project info to yarn record book.

8. Add color cards. Put purchased yarn sample color cards in pocket pages at the end of the notebook.

Yarn samples in yarn record book.

9. Expand. When you accumulate so many types and colors of threads and yarns that your notebook is overflowing, get a bigger notebook!

Yarn Record Book. Karen Isenhower

May you make progress in putting things in order.

Happy Organizing,
Karen

Quiet Friday: Just a Little More Yarn, Please

Cotton, linen, wool. Thick, thin, slick, rough, smooth, bumpy. Yarn comes in so many shapes and sizes. But, oh, it’s the colors that draw me in. I love a wall of yarn! I don’t need to have it all, I just want to look at it. Thread on tubes looks spectacular, piled up in cubbies. Yarn in skeins looks inviting. Yarn, thread, fiber… Whatever you want to call it, may I have just a little more, please?

Wall of Thread at Vävstuga!
I love the circles of colors and the “O’s” of the tubes! It’s as if they all have their little mouths open.
Working with colors at Vävstuga.
Class time at Vävstuga often means playing with colors.
Tubes of Linen Thread at Vävstuga.
Decisions, decisions… Which linen color would you choose?
Dahlia on the Bridge of Flowers, Shelburne, MA
Dahlia on the Bridge of Flowers, just outside the Vävstuga weaving studio.
Wall of Thread at Vävstuga! Isn't it pretty?
Cotton, anyone? This is a fun wall of color! It is the backdrop to the table where we wind our quills at Vävstuga.
Bridge of Flowers at Shelburne Falls, MA
Another Dahlia that caught my attention! I like the raggedy edges. Imagine blending yarn in these colors.
Skeins of Wool at Vävstuga
Yarn on skeins will be wound into balls to be prepared for weaving.
More Thread Tubes at Vävstuga!
What can I say? I never get tired of seeing the thread color circles!

Please come back next week for the lively conversation I had with Swedish weaving expert and founder of Vävstuga Weaving School, Becky Ashenden, in her living room. Find out what makes her tick!

May your days be filled with color!

Just a little more yarn, pretty please,

Karen