Wednesday 28 January 2015

2015 - The Year of Organizing

organizing dpns

After taking over the Weaving Studio at work, I have decided that my priority for this year is to organize the working space. I have begun with the small things in the hope that they will lead very shortly to the bigger things, and that by the end of 2015 there will be order in the momentary chaos that prevails.

I have started by organizing our tool shelf. Having 20 odd hands rummaging through our DPN container at any given time, it was continually a mess to say the least, and I found that you would need to spend a precious 15 minutes at the very least looking for a set of DPNs. If you were lucky you would find the same set of 5 needles, but that would take you an extra 10 to 15 minutes.

I started a "collect gift wrap rolls" campaign at work and managed to come across some very sturdy card roll, which I then had cut into 20cm pieces.

I then glued them all together.

Some of the DPNs are quite short so at a 20cm length, they still disappeared into the holes so I stuffed the back of each hole with some batting covered in cloth, glued on a backing (made of cardboard) and labeled the holes according to the sizes we most need and have on hand.

I think it looks kind of spiffy! And so clearly arranged!

What do you think?

organizing circulars

The next task on my list was the Circular needles - another nightmare all hidden in a knotted mess in a plastic bag!

I took some of our card weaving bobbins and cut them into 5cm lengths which I then glued all together.

I labeled them according to the sizes we need and then went about fixing and straightening the cables.

To do this I boiled some water and poured it into a container. 
Then I placed the strong-willed cable into the hot water for a couple of seconds. 
The cables relax almost immediately. At this point I removed them from the hot water and straightened them so that they would hang flat.

The next thing on my to-do-list is our Straights.
Join me next week when I will share my solution for them with you.

Do you have tips and tricks for organizing your crafting space?

Why not share them here with us all?

You can never have enough ideas on how to organize tools and work-space now can you? :)

Feel free to link up your organization tips and tricks below.
x



7 comments:

  1. What a great idea! I am a crocheter, so I don't think this would work for my hooks. I keep all of my hooks in a small container in the living room. I still tend to lose some around the house and down the sofa cushions. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Elissa,
      Down the Sofa is also a way of organizing. At least you know where to look for them :)
      Thanks for visiting.
      x

      Delete
  2. Great, great ideas! I just have them all in a plastic crate and it can take a while sometimes to find the right size.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jayne,
      Yes, this was our issue too and it was getting V E R Y frustrating, especially if you have a number of projects that need needles!
      x

      Delete
  3. Pringles chip canisters are great for organizing straights. I have two that I pained and covered with scrapbooking paper. Love them both

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi whendidibecomeaknitter,
      I love this idea! :) We have a lot of needles in our studio of varying size so I would like to have them a little more organized than just "contained" if you know what I mean, so I have opted for a bag of sorts, which I will share once it is completed.
      Thank you so much for your visit.
      x

      Delete

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