well, it _looks_ more organized.
and now for what i did today: tackle the junkroom.
my shopping today was a bit more successful in locating storage things - got two little three-drawer plastic jobbies, which come with wheels, but i have left them without, so they would stack. and then i started hauling stuff out of the room.
i have, in addition to all the assorted bags of yarn, boxes of pottery, boxes of books, boxes of fabric (!) and boxes of who-knows-what - all of which had achieved a quite remarkable degree of haphazardness in their stacking. i did compel myself to throw out a box of old magazines, and a stack of newletters that i was absolutely going to read (except not really). the boxes of pottery are now stacked in the hall, where they will hopefully inspire me to go throw them, and finally divide them into a) pots by me that could be sold; b) pots by me that really ought to be thrown away and c) pots by other people that i need to display or give away or _something_. i can, at least, finally approach the bookcases that line the walls - probably the first time i've been able to do that since i put them up. i once again failed to do anything with all the boxes of photographs - these being all the snapshots i have taken over the years, still in the little bags they came back from the drugstore in, with the little strips of negatives, and no other identifying information. this, i think, is the great joy of digital photography - one's accumulation of old photographs pile up, almost unnoticed, on the computer, rather than taking up space all over the house. well, one more thing on my list of things to do, when i get time.
the yarn, at least, is much more organized. all of the loose needles, crochet hooks, stitch holders, cable needles and other miscellanea are in one drawer (rather in a heap, but at least all in one place). one drawer has all the tag ends of balls of yarn, another three have unused skeins of varying weights, the ones collected because it seemed like a good idea at the time. all the yarn that is either in the process of becoming somethi needles in oneng, or for which i have firm plans, is organized in various baskets and bags, ready for each project to be done (we won't mention just how many projects that is).
got some pleasant surprises - i finally pulled apart a shawl i had started in what was clearly too heavy a yarn, and discovered that it is some natural alpaca i bought years ago, and that i have three good-sized balls of it - so need to think of something appropriate to do with it. i also found the makings for a pair of striped knee-high socks. i finished one sock years ago, and thought i had never even started the second, but discovered that not only is it started, it is complete to the ankle, and since the completed sock is in with it, i can even recreate the pattern of stripes. i even know where the book that has the pattern is! the sock was on stitch holders, but i had included a note on the needles i had used ("size 7 (gold)") - and thanks to my accumulating all the needles in one place, i was able to find them (i knew they were there, because i had found them, one by one, in various other projects, as cable needles or stitchholders, or apparently just pinning the work around the yarn skein. so that one can be completed right quick.
so now i am relaxing from my labors, listening to a "bertha's kitty boutique" skit, featuring a highly-trained cat, on PHC, and trying to type around fred, who is pacing around on my laptop and rubbing against my face...which actually should make me happy, i guess - i tripped over him enough times today that he actually started fleeing at the sight of me. why is it that cats, faced with a human whose arms are loaded with stuff, feel that the most appropriate thing to do is pace, slowly and magesterialy, before said human (but at about 1/4 speed)? you would think they would learn that this does not work out well....
anyway - i am also doing a bit more grilling tonight, and i had better get to that, since i spent so long typing my first batch of charcoal all burned down, and i had to add new.
oh - the yarn for the leggings, that started all this activity? it was quite clear, after i had hauled everything out, that it had not fallen behind or into anything, which was quite discouraging. as i stood in the middle of the room, stretching my back, my eye chanced to fall on a bag on top of the bookcase, right next to the door...you know, the sort of perfectly obvious, sure-not-to-get-lost sort of place one puts that sort of thing....
my shopping today was a bit more successful in locating storage things - got two little three-drawer plastic jobbies, which come with wheels, but i have left them without, so they would stack. and then i started hauling stuff out of the room.
i have, in addition to all the assorted bags of yarn, boxes of pottery, boxes of books, boxes of fabric (!) and boxes of who-knows-what - all of which had achieved a quite remarkable degree of haphazardness in their stacking. i did compel myself to throw out a box of old magazines, and a stack of newletters that i was absolutely going to read (except not really). the boxes of pottery are now stacked in the hall, where they will hopefully inspire me to go throw them, and finally divide them into a) pots by me that could be sold; b) pots by me that really ought to be thrown away and c) pots by other people that i need to display or give away or _something_. i can, at least, finally approach the bookcases that line the walls - probably the first time i've been able to do that since i put them up. i once again failed to do anything with all the boxes of photographs - these being all the snapshots i have taken over the years, still in the little bags they came back from the drugstore in, with the little strips of negatives, and no other identifying information. this, i think, is the great joy of digital photography - one's accumulation of old photographs pile up, almost unnoticed, on the computer, rather than taking up space all over the house. well, one more thing on my list of things to do, when i get time.
the yarn, at least, is much more organized. all of the loose needles, crochet hooks, stitch holders, cable needles and other miscellanea are in one drawer (rather in a heap, but at least all in one place). one drawer has all the tag ends of balls of yarn, another three have unused skeins of varying weights, the ones collected because it seemed like a good idea at the time. all the yarn that is either in the process of becoming somethi needles in oneng, or for which i have firm plans, is organized in various baskets and bags, ready for each project to be done (we won't mention just how many projects that is).
got some pleasant surprises - i finally pulled apart a shawl i had started in what was clearly too heavy a yarn, and discovered that it is some natural alpaca i bought years ago, and that i have three good-sized balls of it - so need to think of something appropriate to do with it. i also found the makings for a pair of striped knee-high socks. i finished one sock years ago, and thought i had never even started the second, but discovered that not only is it started, it is complete to the ankle, and since the completed sock is in with it, i can even recreate the pattern of stripes. i even know where the book that has the pattern is! the sock was on stitch holders, but i had included a note on the needles i had used ("size 7 (gold)") - and thanks to my accumulating all the needles in one place, i was able to find them (i knew they were there, because i had found them, one by one, in various other projects, as cable needles or stitchholders, or apparently just pinning the work around the yarn skein. so that one can be completed right quick.
so now i am relaxing from my labors, listening to a "bertha's kitty boutique" skit, featuring a highly-trained cat, on PHC, and trying to type around fred, who is pacing around on my laptop and rubbing against my face...which actually should make me happy, i guess - i tripped over him enough times today that he actually started fleeing at the sight of me. why is it that cats, faced with a human whose arms are loaded with stuff, feel that the most appropriate thing to do is pace, slowly and magesterialy, before said human (but at about 1/4 speed)? you would think they would learn that this does not work out well....
anyway - i am also doing a bit more grilling tonight, and i had better get to that, since i spent so long typing my first batch of charcoal all burned down, and i had to add new.
oh - the yarn for the leggings, that started all this activity? it was quite clear, after i had hauled everything out, that it had not fallen behind or into anything, which was quite discouraging. as i stood in the middle of the room, stretching my back, my eye chanced to fall on a bag on top of the bookcase, right next to the door...you know, the sort of perfectly obvious, sure-not-to-get-lost sort of place one puts that sort of thing....