The Crocheter’s Guide to Moving

Oh, hello there. I’m back. It’s really been a while since I’ve posted, hasn’t it? Well, the truth is, I haven’t really crocheted much lately. But only because I was right in the middle of moving with my family to Illinois. It’s not permanent or anything, but we’ll be here for about five months while my dad’s on sabbatical.

We passed through Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri. We spent three days in a van with sugar-high juveniles, who were horsing around and whacking each other with fly swatters in the back seat (I, of course, would NEVER do a thing like that, hehehe…). But we made it in one piece, and here we are!

So anyway, it’s been a crazy couple of weeks. However, I have learned some valuable lessons in the way of crochet. And here’s the thing: As valuable as these lessons were, I didn’t want you guys to learn them the hard way (like me). So this week, instead of posting a new pattern, I compiled everything I learned about moving my crochet studio halfway across the country. You might not be able to use all of it, but I hope it at least relieves you of some of the stress involved in packing. Because it’s a lot. I get that.

And by the way, never give your children fly swatters in the car. Trust me, the flies are a better problem to have.

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The Crocheter’s Guide to Moving: Steps to Follow

Step 1: Taking Inventory

The first thing to do is take an inventory of all your crocheting supplies. This includes yarn, hooks, needles, buttons, and anything else you use in your crocheting.

Step 2: Sorting

The sad thing about moving is that you can’t keep everything. Now, while this may cause some initial sorrow for all of us yarn hoarders, it’s also a great opportunity to purge your closet and finally get organized.

When deciding what yarn to keep and what to toss, it’s a good idea to try and plan some of your projects, so you know what yarn you’ll be using in the near future. It doesn’t have to be super organized. I like to do it this way: Pick up a random ball of yarn and ask, “What would I use you for?” If an image automatically comes to mind of a project you would like to make with it, then keep it. If you struggle for a while to think of a possible project, or if you don’t like the look/feel of the yarn, then toss it.

And then the patterns. Being a crochet designer, you wouldn’t think I’d have many printed patterns sitting around. Well, think again. You wouldn’t believe the things I found in my closet this last month. Binders full of printed patterns I’d gotten from who-knows-where. Paperback books with step-by-step afgan instructions from the eighties (they must have been free at the library). It was an admirable collection, my friends. But it had to go. All I had to do was ask myself, “Would I ever make this and then love it so much that I’d make it again?” Unfortunately, not many afgan patterns fell into that category.

As far as hooks go, I’d sort them out into their different sizes, so you know what you have, and then I’d just keep all of them. It’s always good to have extra hooks, in case of an emergency. Same with needles, buttons, plastic eyes, whatever. It’s usually helpful to have a large selection when it comes to those things.

Step 3: Organizing

After sorting, it’s time to organize the remnant of your collection. Yarn has the irritating property of entangling anything it comes into contact with. Thus, it would be advisable to have a special box for yarn and nothing else. But to prevent the individual balls from getting all squished and tangled together, I would recommend this awesome trick.

For the patterns you decide to keep, I would recommend getting some sort of binder or folder for them. Just so you can keep them all together.

With all the other supplies (hooks, needles, stitch markers, etc.), well, I just used bunch of ziplock bags. But if you want to look super professional and organized, I suppose you could get those cute little plastic jars with the screw-on lids.

Well, I guess that’s pretty much it. At least from my experience. If you think of something else you’d like to add, feel free to leave a comment!