If you’re like me and most of the yarn lovers I know, you have a bigger stash than you have projects planned! Keeping your stash organized is a great way to enjoy your yarn collection to its fullest - and Ravelry is a great tool for doing that.

Using Ravelry’s stash feature makes it easy to sort and search through your collection of yarn; if you’re diligent about regularly adding your new yarn purchases to your Ravelry database, you can check if you already have something in your collection without having to dig through your shelves and boxes.

Ravelry’s system ties into the other features on the site, so when you search for patterns you can search based on what’s currently in your stash. Perfect for if you’re trying to use some of the yarn already in your collection! They also have a convenient function for selling or trading yarn, making it easy to spring clean your stash.

Ready to get started?

Add your stash!

I recommend starting by sorting your collection and snapping pictures of all of the yarns in your stash. You don’t need to do anything fancy, simple iPhone photos will suffice.

On the top menu, click on the “My Notebook” tab and choose the “Stash” submenu. This will take you to your stash - if you’ve never added anything, this page will be empty. To start adding yarns, click the “add new yarn” button near the left side of the screen.

You’ll have the option of adding a variety of information about each listing, including images, name, quantity, and colours. You can even add information about where you’ve stored it!

Put your stash to use!

Once you’ve added all of your yarns, you can return to your stash page at any time to search through your collection. Beside the “add new yarn” button, you’ll find sorting options (such as the date added, the yarn weight, and fibre type) to make perusing your collection easier.

If you’re looking for a pattern to use with yarns in your stash, you can use the pattern tab and select the “pattern browser & advanced search” link. This function provides many different criteria for limiting your search but in this case you’ll want to restrict your pattern search to yarns that match your stash. To do this, scroll down to the “My Notebook” header and click on the “Yarns in My Stash” option - you’ll see all of the patterns matching the yarns in your stash.

If you track your projects on Ravelry, ensure that you select the “use stash yarn” option on the project page - this will automatically update the stash listing for your yarn and adds details about your yarn to your project.

Spring clean your stash!

If you’re looking to make your stash a bit smaller, you can edit the listing for the yarn you’re willing to sell or trade. On the right side of the listing page, click on the “stash tab” dropdown and select the “will trade or sell” option.