How to Organize Yarn Labels

One of the biggest mistakes I made when starting to crochet was not keeping my yarn labels.

I would be making something and run out of yarn halfway through a project. I would then take my half-finished mitten (or whatever it was) into the yarn store and hold it up to every skein on the self in an attempt to try to find the same yarn. When there’s about 100 different kinds of white yarns, it’s a near impossible task!

You can read more about the mistakes I made when I started to crochet here:

10 Crochet Tips I Wish I Had Known When Learning Crochet

So…to solve this problem of not knowing what yarn I was using, I started keeping my yarn labels. Every time I got a new skein, I would take a strand of yarn and tape it to the back of the yarn label.

That worked for the first few skeins. I kept them all in a ziplock bag.

But… as I added more and more yarn labels to my little ziplock bag, the more time I was spending going through the bag…dumping it out, turning over each of the labels to find the strand of yarn I was looking for. Sometimes the strand of yarn would fall off or other strands of yarn would get caught in the tape.

Before I knew it, my brilliant plan of attaching strands of yarn to the back of yarn labels looked like this….

Something had to change! After a lot of thought, it dawned on me…

You ready for it?

Coin envelopes!!!

I used #1 Coin Envelopes that are 2 1/4″ x 3 1/2″. I cut slits in the sides, wrapped my strand of yarn around the envelope and inserted the label inside.

Let me tell you, they have been such a life saver! In addition to easily storing your yarn labels, you can store notes with the labels to help you remember things related to that particular yarn.

I purchased a pack of 50 of these #1 Coin Envelopes (2 1/4″ x 3 1/2″) for about $15 and only went through about half organizing years worth of yarn labels.

Here I’ll walk through how I use these coin envelopes to organize my yarn labels.

1. Gather Materials

You’ll need a new skein of yarn, scissors, scotch tape and coin envelopes (I used #1 Coin Envelopes (2 1/4″ x 3 1/2″))

For these pictures I’ll be showing my favorite Red Heart Soft Essentials Yarn, which is the yarn I used to make my Paw Print Pillow Cover Crochet Pattern.

2. Cut Label

Cut off any part of the label you don’t want to keep. If I’m not going to refer to the pattern on the label, I remove everything but the essential information such as brand, yarn name, weight, color, and any special instructions.

3. Cut Slits in the Coin Envelope

Cut a centimetre long slit on both sides of the envelope in the middle.

4. Wrap Yarn

• Cut a strand of yarn (you don’t need very much – about half a foot).
• Wrap your yarn around the envelope twice.
• Put a piece of scotch tape on the back to keep the ends in place.

5. Insert Your Labels & Notes

Fold up your label and put it into the envelope. I like to fold it so that the color of the yarn is the first thing you see when you open the envelope. You can also put in any notes if there are things you want to remember about that particular yarn.

The note in the picture above says:

• “Used for my Paw Print Pillow Cover
• Used a K/10.5 hook to obtain gauge
• My favorite yarn!”

To close the envelope, tuck the flap into the envelope (do not seal). By tucking vs sealing you can easily open the envelope and refer to the label at any time.

And now you have an awesomely organized yarn label system!

---

---