Crochet tip for holding the tail of yarn to the yarn ball with small clip, Susan Carlson of Felted Button | Colorful Crochet Patterns

Holding Your Tail

I did it! I recently decided that it was time to clear out and clean up my stash! (It was seriously getting out of hand.) And the clutter was driving me crazy. I think the chaos was actually getting in the way of my creativity--but that's for another post.

I was smart enough not to take a picture of the before--or maybe I was a tad embarrassed--but it is looking soooo much better. Wanna see?

Felted Button (Colorful Crochet Patterns)--studio space organized!

Studio Organization (Felted Button--Colorful Crochet Patterns)

I think it was those partial skeins that were making me crazy--the ones with little yarn tails scattered about. You know what I'm talking about. The ones that are just too floppy to stack nicely with your fuller balls. The ones that are too long to wind around a clothes pin like this...

The ones that need to be wound into balls (I don't have a ball-winder yet to make nice little cakes.) But then there is the trouble of keeping those ends in place--and able to be found when you need the end.

Here are some suggestions from some folks on how to cope with them...

~wrap into center-pull balls (cakes)--brilliant, and keeps the balls from rolling around while working, but I don't yet have a ball winder and am admittedly lazy

~elastic bands around the ball

~sc around some of the final strands wrapped around the outside of the ball

~bread ties/clips

~stitch markers (admittedly I never figured out how to secure the ends with these)

~tuck the final tail under a few strands

Here is what I came up with...

These mini hair clips were perfect for me and here's why I like them...

Inexpensive

Easy to locate on the ball

Quickly clips in place

Secure

I found mine at Wal Mart, but I've seen them at the dollar store, too! And if you have girls in the house, you probably just need to check the sofa cushions or back of the bathroom drawers. ;)

Now I'm breathing much easier as my stash is all neatly organized and fastened in place.

Yarn Stash Organization--fastening yarn tails with mini hair clips

Oddly, the creativity is flowing better now, and I'm getting ready to release a new pattern. Let me know in the comments any creative ways you have come up with to keep those rascally tails in place.

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