Tip Tuesday - It's all about the labeling

And the note taking and the remembering.  A fiber friend ask me at knit group a few weeks ago,  "How do you remember what the fiber is after you bring it home?"  My witty answer, "I don't."  The sad thing is I don't.  If I have a little bit I can keep track by what's in my stash on Ravelry.  If I have more than two undyed fibers I am likely to get confused which one is which.  Add dyed at fiber into the mix and I get doubly confused.  Since I don't like being confused I've been pondering how to keep track of it all.

I came across this nifty idea of using landscape tape.



Landscape flag tape is easy to break off or cut then write on with a permanent marker.   You can get this at your local hardware store for about $2.50.  I like this over paper as it doesn't get torn easily as paper or fall apart when wet.  So I can use it for dyeing and spinning samples as I can write information on it with a permanent marker and it doesn't wash off.



Things I like to take notes on when spinning: fiber, colorway, fiber prep, ratio, take up, drafting method, plies, how it was plied, yards, yards per pound, and angle of twist.

I also use tags cut up from old milk jugs.  I punch a hole in a corner and add a long piece of string that I double over and tie.  Then I loop that through the hole then loop the tag and string over the fiber.  I like this method as I can reuse it over and over again.




How to keep track of the leftover bits of yarn?  Do it like my mother did.



Wrap a bit of bandaging tape around a free end with the name, colorway of the yarn and weight. I think my mom left off the yarn weight on this one.

Now these are all great methods but only if you do it!