Distracted (in a good way)

I've been trying to think of something to make my kid for the holidays and her birthday (end of December) that isn't just sending her $$$. I'll do that, but it's tough being away from home at Christmas without any gifts under the tree. So now I'm seeing if I remember how to crochet a wrap with a V-stitch.

Since I've taken an interested in crochet again I'm kind of blown away by how many different yarns there are on the market. Lionbrand has these beautiful skeins of worsted-weight layered in colors, which is what I'm using for my practice piece. I invested in a few more to make some holiday gifts, and slippers for myself when JoAnn put them on sale for 40% off.

Chunky yarns had their own aisle at JoAnn when I went to look, mostly chenille (which I generally avoid because of the flying fluff) but some in other materials I've never seen. It's pretty cool to see how yarns have evolved over the last couple of years.

Comments

Maria Zannini said…

I've always heard food is very expensive on the islands. If she has any snacks she particularly likes that she can't find there, you can send her a care package. I know she would love it.

September 25, 2022 at 5:14 AM

nightsmusic said…

I love those colors! And if that's an 'on purpose' octopus sitting there, it's adorable.

September 25, 2022 at 5:48 AM

the author said…

I've heard the same thing from my partner. Good idea!

September 25, 2022 at 6:16 AM

the author said…

That's my emotional support octopus. :)

September 25, 2022 at 6:16 AM

Downsizing

This was my fabric stash once I sorted everything -- 22 full bins. I spent a day taking out and boxing up what I could part with, with the goal of trying to reduce it by half, so I'd have 11 bins. I was very strict with myself, and removed everything that for one reason or another I was sure I wouldn't be able to use. This is what I ended up with -- 12 bins of fabric that I'm keeping. It's not quite half, but close enough. Half of what I took out went to a local quilter friend, a school and Goodwill. These four tightly-packed bins will be going to the local quilting guild once I make arrangements with them for a drop-off place. I am relieved and a little sad and now determined to control my impulses to thrift more fabric. I don't want to do this again, so until I use up six bins, I can't for any reason bring any new fabric into the house.

In Progress

I promised myself I would show you the good, bad and ugly of my cleaning this year. This is what it looks like when you dump thirty years' worth of stashed fabric on the floor -- and oy, what a pain in the butt to pick up again! This is what it looks like after it's been sorted, folded and placed in containers, which took me about a week. Now the hard part is to downsize my stash by at least half, I think (that's my goal, anyway.) I've already e-mailed the president of the local quilting guild, a local friend who is a quilter, and a public school art teacher I know to see if I can donate some of the excess to them. The rest will go to Goodwill. Already I've reduced my vintage textiles from two bins to one, and my scraps from three bins to one. It's probably the hardest clean-out I've done, which is why I saved it until last. I know I have too much fabric, more than I can use in my lifetime -- but at the same time, I love it. So I have to

Other Stashes

Along with clearing out the spare bedroom and tidying my office and our guest bedroom, I decided to reorganize some of my stashes. This is all the yarn I have on hand, sorted by color. It looks like a lot, but lately I've been using up a minimum of half a bin every month, so this is approximately a year's supply. All of my solid color cotton perle thread. I go through a lot of this every year, too. I need a container in which I can fit all of it together, but I haven't found the right one yet. I won't show you all of my fabric -- I'm still reorganizing this stash -- but I went through everything and donated two bins of fabric I won't need to the local quilter's guild.

Valerean

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