Today’s going to be another day of bits and pieces, disjointed thoughts and rambling . . . I can just tell . . . so here goes:
The big knitting question of the day: Now that I’m living with The Baron and I have a huge closet in the guest room to play with, how do I get my yarn and knitting and crafty supplies organized? I’ve stored yarn in plastic bins up to now, but I’m thinking of moving one of the ratty old bookcases from my old apartment into the closet and just put tools and supplies on the shelves. I like the idea of hanging bins a la the Ikea laundry hamper as a hiding spot for yarn, but I also want to be able to plunge my hands in for tactile inspiration. Ideally things would all be arranged in a way that was not only tidy but also beautiful, but since I want the guest room to be useable as more than just a nest of crafty goodness, I think I’d better focus on getting it all hidden away in the closet rather than out on display.
A few other thoughts:
The Baron talks a lot about de-junking, and I think as I “unpack” my stuff into his life, it’s time for me to do the same. Goodbye, pants that haven’t fit in three years, goodbye, ratty old picture frames with nothing in them, goodbye knickknacks from high school that I just don’t care about anymore. There’s a lot less to clean and a lot less to (mentally) keep track of and maintain if you get rid of things you don’t need or want. Eventually, if you have too much stuff, you stop owning your stuff and your stuff starts to own you. I think it was a Rockefeller who said that . . . in any case, it’s very true.
Work was pretty lame today, so I decided to treat myself to some yarn purchases. As it happens, my stepmom took a look at a photo of the Peacock Feathers shawl and decided that what she’d really like is a sweater. Mom and Glamorous have both been asking for natural-wool fisherman-type sweaters. And thanks to the moral support and helpful advice Mick sent, I’m considering doing the Hourglass Sweater (knitalong here) from Last Minute Knitted Gifts for myself. So I went over to Sarah’s Yarns (where they are currently having a 20%-off-plus-free-shipping-sale – use the codes FREESHIPPING and SYPRIVATE) and I bought two cones of JaggerSpun Maine Line in cream and two in light blue. Then I bought enough grey Mission Falls 1842 Superwash Wool to make myself the hourglass. Once the yarn arrives I’ll start doing serious planning for what to make, but I think Starsky is high on the list, and maybe something that feels like a grown-up version of the Elizabeth Zimmerman February baby sweater from her Knitter’s Almanac.
This leads me back to something important about my stash: When I started knitting, I didn’t really know what I was doing and I made lots of impulse purchases of just a few balls of yarn – not even enough for a scarf in some cases. I also feel really invested in knitting – I’m spending so much time and energy on it that it’s worth it to me to be a yarn snob and work with really wonderful materials. The long and short of all this is that I think it’s time to get rid of some yarn – either by knitting it up into charity blanket squares, giving it away or selling it. I just don’t want to have “stash yarn” that is, for most intents and purposes, unusable.
Tune in tomorrow for more detritus from my brain.
If you’d like to decrease your stash and build up some good karma at the same time, check out this site.
Have you considering stowing your yarn in one of these? (In case the link goes wonky, it’s the Expedit bookcase from IKEA.) A friend of mine has used one to arrange her yarn (sorted by color), and it’s quite attractive. If you put it in the guest room, you could tell visitors that it’s an art installation!
I am not a yarn snob and would love to go through your stash yarn some time (whether to purchase or accept as gifts).
And if the weather warms up again, I still want to enjoy some pool time at the Baron’s—OH WAIT, at YOUR place! 
Yay for first sweaters! That will be so exciting. It’s going to look lovely!
Also, there’s a swap function on ravelry. I’ve never used it, but it could be worth looking into. One woman’s trash, etc. and so on.
I know what you mean about coveting. It get’s me in a lot of trouble. I have an umbrella swift and a portable folding swift, and I still want another smaller portable (my hubby makes them) because my umbrella is broken and dontcha need a backup. I’m also wanting those needles but I’m confused by the pricing on Knitpicks right now. And I ooohed and ahhed over the lexie barnes bag I finally scored on ebay – but I can get so caught up in the things I long for! It pays to look around on the swaps – you never know when something you’ve coveted is going to show up.
[...] October 9th, 2007 Knitting , Yarn Tags: baby gifts, goodyarnkarma.com, stash Finally, my yarn order from Sarah’s Yarns arrived! In Jaggerspun Maine Line, I got two cones of a French blue [...]