How to Keep Your Crochet Projects Organized

I love to crochet, and too often have way too many projects on the hook, which leads my crochet organization utterly unorganized. Some of my projects NEVER get completed because of this lack of organization in my crochet hobby. And I’ll tell you why some projects never get completed in this post. Crochet is a yarn craft I’ll never stop loving and a hobby that is now life long, and since I’m passionate about crochet, I have a lot of crochet projects on the go. And I have a huge yarn stash. If you are book lover, you’ll understand when I say that collecting yarn is like collecting books. Both bring me the same joy, so I have lots of books, and lots of yarn. And with that comes the itch to start many projects. At least for me.

When this started to become overwhelming, I began organizing the projects into project bags or bins and even frogged (yarn crafters term for “unravelled”) some projects. I decluttered some yarn, and got my yarn all nicely organized into baskets on a nice shelf in a crochet nook of sorts. But over time, when I was yarn hunting, I began to realize that sometimes I had no idea which hook I’d used for a particular project, or sometimes even what pattern I had been working on.

All of this amounted to wasted time. And so I devised a way to begin to be even more organized when it came to my crochet. Having my yarn organized into baskets was all well and good, but I needed to up my game.

What is a Crochet Project Planner?

I am not sure how I stumbled on this idea, but I thought a planner for my crochet projects would be a good idea. A place where I could jot down the pattern, the hook and yarn I used in order to keep my projects organized and refer back down the road when I picked up a project again. It seemed like such a smart and obvious idea! And so did a lot of crochet bloggers because I found a few project planners online and even really liked some, but what I did not like about them was their size. Each printable I found was 8.5″ x 11″ and I wanted something smaller.

How and Why I Created My Own Planner

Why re-invent the wheel? There were already free printables from many well known crochet bloggers, so why would I go to the effort of creating my own? The same reason I as a teacher often tweak pre-prepared lessons or activity pages. Because they don’t quite fit what I want. So while there were really nice printables out there, I knew I needed to create my own. The main reason was that I wanted something smaller, to fit into my 5″ x 7″ journal. I wanted my planner to be pretty, and I certainly didn’t need it to be huge. So I set about creating my own. I also liked the idea of creating my own because I could align things as I liked, use graphics I thought were pretty and include areas to record things I needed, like where I had found the pattern and what hook I had used, etc. So that answers the why. Here is to the how: Canva.

Keeping Your Yarn and Projects Organized

Yarn Storage

As someone with a lot of yarn, I do have some tips on how to keep your yarn organized. Many people use bins. Some crafters have yarn rooms, but I don’t have the space for that. Plus, it does seem…extreme. Bins are great because you can see the colour of the yarn you have stored there, and they are easy to label. And stack, if necessary. I decided instead to get a shelf unit and some baskets to fit and stashed my yarn in there. It’s not quite as neat as when I first organized it all, as I’ve dug through multiple times now as well as stated even more yarn in the bins (yarn brings me joy) but it certainly works, and looks neat and tidy. This was the first step in my crochet organization project.

Hook Storage

Crochet hooks are easy to lose or misplace. I have some in project bags somewhere, but I also realized early on in my crocheting life that I needed to house these hooks in a place where I could easily locate them instead of just tossed into project bags. Otherwise, you end up buying the same hook size needlessly. So I purchased a wooden bath caddy, and I keep my hooks in there. You could keep them in a case but I found that didn’t really work for me. The caddy keeps them more organized and I don’t have to dig around to find them.

You’ll Also Like: 5 Best Yarns to Crochet with this Fall

Pattern Storage

I enjoy keeping my patterns digitally, downloaded to my iPad, but those I purchase off of Etsy or Ravelry I have also printed out and keep in a binder. The trouble is, they get bent and out of order at times and sometime patterns are several pages long so I am no longer printing out as many patterns as I used to. Binders are likely the ideal way to keep patterns organized if you do want a hard copy however. If you’d like to check out patterns I’ve designed, check out my Ravelry store.

Project Organization

Now, the trickiest thing for me in crochet proved to be keeping my WIP (works in progress) organized. Crochet project organization was something I needed to improve. I had too many project bags and projects were beginning to get tucked into my yarn storage bin as well. Not ideal, and something I hope I can retify. I also have a project basket now by my sofa, with the projects I am currently working in them. These are ones I’m determined to finish soon. Having only those projects near me helps me stay on task in this respect. I hope once these projects are finished I can return to even older projects and complete them as well. This is where the project planner comes into play because some of those I am not sure I know which pattern or hook size I was using.

Project Planner

I use my crochet project planner each time I start a new project. I write down the information and then decorate the page as best as I can. Because every planner should look pretty in my opinion. It’s really helped keep me organized and also gives me a reminder as to why I began the project in the first place–was it a gift? Was it for me? Was it one I intend to sell? I keep this planner on my desk so that I can quickly find it if I do need to refer to it, but you could keep it in your project bag. So I love that I found out about project planners, and I am so glad I decided to create one that fit my needs exactly.

In Conclusion

This is how I keep all my crochet projects organized and so far it is really working out nicely. I love that I have a little place where I can go and squish and admire my yarn. I love that I am totally aware now of what projects I am working on along with everything pertaining to them. Being organized is HUGE when it comes to anything in life–whether it’s your desk at home, your kitchen pantry or even your crochet projects. I hope you liked these tips and that they help you with your own crochet organization. Happy crocheting everyone!

Subscribe to the newsletter to grab the crochet project planner freebie in my freebie library!