Anna Hrachovec of Mochimochi Land makes the cutest knit toys and patterns which have frequently graced the pages of CRAFT, both in print and online. I got a chance to talk to Anna as she shares her craft space with all of us. (You won’t want to miss the photos of her organized yarn!)
Read on after the jump for more photos and a Q&A with Anna!
CRAFT: What kinds of crafts do you do?
Anna: I knit toys and do cross-stitch.
CRAFT: Where do you craft?
Anna: I do most of my crafting at my desk, which is at one end of my bedroom. Fortunately, the bedroom is spacious, so I don’t exactly feel like I’m crafting right next to my bed. I’m including before and after photos of my desk – the messy one (at top) is my natural tendency, and the organized one (above) is what had to happen when my husband and I got two yarn-crazy cats.
CRAFT: How do you keep all your craft supplies organized?
Anna: I use the drawers in my desk to organize the materials for projects that I’m currently working on – the left drawer is stuffed with polyester for easy access, and the right drawer contains the yarns and needles that I most frequently use. I also have some mesh drawers at the other end of the room in which I keep the rest of my yarn – organized by brand and color – and other supplies.
CRAFT: How do you motivate yourself to keep your space organized?
Anna: I have two big motivations, and their names are Soupy and Nipsey. If my cats see any unattended yarn, stuffing, or needles, their brains immediately go “toytoytoy!” (They have plenty of their own knitted toys, by the way.) So when it’s not being used, everything must be securely tucked away, or else I have hours of untangling to look forward to!
CRAFT: What’s one organization tip/tool/trick you swear by?
Anna: This isn’t a very glamorous system, but I’ve been doing a lot of miniature knitting lately, and I have found it really convenient to separate projects out into plastic Ziploc bags. They’re easy to label and easy to access, and my cats haven’t yet found a way into them!
CRAFT: How do you feel when your space is organized? Unorganized?
Anna: I’m really a centrist when it comes to the organization/chaos debate. If left to my own devices, I’ll get very unorganized, but since I’ve had to become organized out of necessity, I’ve found that I can concentrate on one thing a little better without all the other projects distracting me.
CRAFT: Describe your dream workspace.
Anna: I’m actually very happy with my setup right now, though I could always use more drawers, and maybe some very high shelves where I could display more of my finished projects without little paws getting at them. But my real dream workspace right now would be a shared studio that is separate, but not too far from, my apartment. I hope to make that happen sometime in the not-too-distant future.
CRAFT: How does the way your craft space is organized affect your crafting/creativity?
Anna: My mesh drawers let me see the colors of the yarn inside them without opening them, and that lets me sometimes take a step back and get inspired by a color instead of deciding on a color first, then hunting around for it.
CRAFT: How do you organize your craft space to allow for quick pick-up-and-go crafting? (Possibly for workshop teaching?)
Anna: I keep a tote bag looped around one of the drawer pulls on my desk, so that I can easily fill it with supplies and go.
CRAFT: When you have to craft on-the-go (while you’re traveling, in the carpool lane, at family activities) how do you organize your craft supplies?
Anna: I keep my smaller tools in a little zipped pouch (made for me by Kristen Rask of Schmancy), and that goes in the tote, along with larger supplies, including my camera.
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