It's Done

The big yarn sort was finished this afternoon. 100 gallons of yarn has left the house. No, I did not count the skeins of yarn leaving. I need you to use your imagination to think how many skins of yarn that is. Everything has been rearranged by weight. Some empty project bags will also be leaving tomorrow. The project shelf space is full of things that I will knit. My closet has a lot more space so I am very pleased with the results.

My next project is to knit up a pattern that a friend has had to tink several times now. I started the pattern tonight and am keeping copious notes as I go. I am pretty sure that there is a problem with the pattern and will make corrections to give to my friend and the pattern designer.

After that I might do a small project or 2 before I tackle the next big deep cleaning project. I might even try to come up with a better system for my circular knitting needles. Any suggestions for circular knitting needle storage would be welcome.

Progress, Maybe?

I am hoping that it is a sign of progress that the items in the picture are no longer going to be needed for yarn storage. The cracked plastic items will be recycled tomorrow. I will offer the good roll away bin to one of Eric's aides, it is not a good container for yarn, if I can not see the yarn in the drawers with out opening them. I will also give some of the excess bags to the advocates in Eric's day program. I am sure that they will come in handy. I also filled another 13 gallon bag of yarn for Amber, it is leaving tomorrow.

I still ill have a few things to put away, but I am waiting for the glue to dry on 2 containers before I make my finial storage choices. I expect to be done by tomorrow night so that I can move on to my next project, which is hemming 5 skirts. The more inches I lose the longer the skirts have gotten.

John also got into the spirit of the de cluttering of the garage today by helping me get to the final yarn boxes. He also found a lot of boxes to cut down for recycling. Who knows by the end of the summer I might even have the garage finished. I am not as hopeful for the spare room, it I will give it a shot.

More Gone

I sent a 13 gallon bag of yarn home with a friend this afternoon. I also found a sweater that I want to knit that has been missing for a while. I am now a few sizes smaller than when I bought the kit, so it will be a little less knitting to do. A win win afternoon for both of us. So that I can do more de stashing today, John is bring home dinner. A win win for me. Deep cleaning has some great rewards.

I am also revising my storage system so that all the yarn and fiber will be in clear containers from now on. The better to see what I have. I am not quite ready to set up the inventory system that John has suggested. Maybe when I have the hard part done, if I am very, very brave I will let John set it up. Does anyone know of a good inventory control program?

Yarn Destash

Yesterday was my first day of yarn destash 2017. This is from the first round. This was mainly yarn that was given to me. By friends and a few miss buys. Yarn that I wanted to try, but was not talking to me telling me what it wanted to be. I have learned that if I don't have an idea in mind for the yarn not to buy it. This will be delivered to a new home today.

Delving Deeper - Less is Really More

Today I hit another level of deep cleaning. I started going through the note books that I started making 12 years ago as a new knitter. I tore out and saved everything the new knitter in me thought was important. Things like how to do certain stitch patterns. Patterns that I was going to knit. Patterns that other people thought that I should knit. To the very old knitting magazines that I just could not let go of. Things that were just plain neat to a brand new knitter.

Fast forward 12 years and the notebooks are a bit dusty. Some of the stitch patterns that I thought were so difficult that I knew I would need written instructions for if I was ever going to knit them. Now most of what got tossed I can do without thinking. They are also in knitting stitch dictionaries or on the web. Patterns for triangular shawls that were and still are so pretty, that do not look good on my body type, my shoulders are just too broad. Yes the boring rectangular shawls look much better on me.  To the very lacy patterns that 12 years later I can now knit, but do not fit into my knitting life style. To the hat and scarf patterns that I can knit while I am half asleep or busy talking, yes they got tossed too.

I still have piles of old knitting magazines to go through and decide which ones I want to keep. If there is an old or vintage knitting magazine you are looking for just let me know very soon. I might just have a copy.

I am keeping it very simple. I go through one notebook at a time or one pile of papers 6 to 12 inches in height. If I finish that and still have energy I go onto the next pile or notebook. Depending on the age of the notebook or pile of knitting magazines I toss between 30 to 70% of what I have. Now everything else can be condensed in an orderly fashion without having to buy or find more storage. This will be the third week in a row for an over full recycle bin too. I am going at my own pace, but I feel that some people want me to go faster and just toss without looking at everything. I am not quite able to do that yet. I know that in the end that I will have more room for fluff and yarn. That's not what my minions really want to hear, but I still have bins full of yarn and fluff in the garage that I would like to someday soon move back into the house.

So the short term plan is more tossing, gifting, knitting, weaving and spinning things in the house. The long term plan is to go through the things in the garage. So that in forty years or so whom ever is going to do the last cleaning of the house will not have to call yarn hoarder's anonymous to haul everything off to sell to other fiber people.