Keeping track of the stash contents

[StainlessSteelCat]

I'm sure there's an obvious answer to this problem, but it's eluding me.

How do you keep track of partially used balls of yarn? I've got a large and growing bag of part used balls of wool that I have no idea what they are. Do you somehow keep the original band with the ball?

Am going to need a solution, have just bought some style craft special DK for a woolly hugs project and I want to make sure the wool doesn't get lost in the odds and ends pile after I've started!

Can you not make a list? Either on paper or Ravelry?

I listed all my yarn in Ravelry and keep the band with the ball. How about putting the small leftover balls in small ziplock bags that you can write the details on?

I did use Ravelry to keep details - it helped a lot, but I ended up with too many similar odds and ends that I can`t keep track of.

The small bag solution might well work :) I`ve tried keeping the band with the ball, but have too often gone back to a pile of bandless balls, so I was hoping for some way of keeping them together.

I bet I don't still have everything I have listed on ravelry, and I'm not sure I could track it all down!

I have a load of plastic boxes from Ikea. All the same type of yarn is together so it doesn't matter if I lose the ball bands.

The stuff I do have listed on Ravelry is numbered boxes in the loft so I can find it right away [smug]

The stuff that isn't on Ravelry.... [notsosmug]

Thank you all, been helpful hearing others solutions! And especially helpful that I'm not alone in having a pile of unidentified yarn.

I'll have an afternoon sorting out yarn: large bags by type, then individual balls in food bags. I might even try and match some leftovers to their ravelry entries, though that might be a step too far towards organisation

I cut a short length of yarn about 20cm long, punch a hole in the band and tie it on, then keep all the bands in a folder together and all the yarn is just in a box together.

I can then identify the sample of yarn attached to the band and therefore identify the ball.

Good luck!

I stuff the band into the center of the yarn. Or if it's too small, keep it and band in a plastic bag, like the bags for weighing fruit.
Ravelry is a great tool for keeping track of my stash too.