The Good News

 It was 107f today so I spent it going through more yarn boxes.  More yarn is leaving than staying.  I only have 7 more boxes to go through this weekend. I have more shelves to purge too. If it sounds like a seek and de clutter mission, you are absolutely correct.  

My pile of to go yarn was getting too overwhelming for me to look at until it is gone.  So John decided to hide the bags behind the couch where I can’t see them. He even carried most of the bags out for me.  As you can see from the picture below, which does not include all the bags there was a fairly large pile of bags.  

The even better news is that I found a couple of projects that I want to knit for myself. That will have to wait a few days right now I am using all my spoons cleaning and de cluttering the house. It has literally taken me 25 years to accumulate this much yarn so spending a week to purge a lot of what I don’t need anymore will take a few days more. Then it will be time to reorganize the areas that were cleaned out. Alas, I am getting ahead of myself. I need to finish one task before I start the next task. No cutting corners here. 

All of this yarn and more will be available for sale at the Old Pueblo Knitting Guild fundraiser in January. The details will follow.  If you are nearby or a couple of hour’s drive from Tucson this will be a great opportunity to add to your stash.  

4 Hours

 Between last night, this morning and afternoon I spent 4 hours beginning to organize my knitting room.  I went through every basket, plastic box and drawer on 2 sides of the room.  The net result so far is 5, yes five kitchen size trash bags full of yarn.  These will go with a friend up to Northern Arizona when she visits her family next time.  

The knitting room is down one rolling cart which will be for sale at the next Old Pueblo Knitting Guild meeting which is themed Christmas in July.  If you are in Tucson this coming Wednesday July 17th join us at St. Phillips Church at the corner of River Road and Campbell Avenue at 9:30am.  I will also have some of my hand spun yarn packed into kits that will include the yarn, a pattern and stitch markers.  I will price the yarn at hand dyed prices, instead of hand spun prices.  Now I have to spend the weekend pricing everything. 

I have also come to the realization that I have about 20 years worth of shawls for me to knit.  While I was busy clothing the community with winter hats and scarfs, I totally forgot about my needs.  I also have a few sweaters that will be knit after I make a dent in the shawls.  I have also come up with a brilliant idea for a lot of little skeins of sock yarn.  I will set up that bag after I finish all the pricing.  

So I have been talking about what is leaving the knitting room today.  Here is a visual for you.  

The Next Round of De Stash

 The next round of fiber de stashing has started.  In just two 15 minute sessions I filled 2 kitchen trash bags 1/2 full.  One bag is filled with commercially made yarn. The other bag has smaller skeins on my hand spun yarn.  They will be filled up shortly.  Especially since every where I turn, I seem to be finding more yarn stashed away in the odd corner or nook.

This has come about because I can spin yarn faster than I can knit or weave it into finished objects. I am also slowing down due to my on going health issues.  I also don’t want to be one of those fiber artists who leave a house literally full of yarn and crafting supplies.  

In this way I can control where the yarn and fiber go.  I also want to make sure that a huge bonfire is not set off with my entire stash of yarn once I am gone.  The more yarn I get rid of the lighter I feel.  I know this does not make sense to many people.  Rehousing yarn that I will not be using takes the burden of having to plan projects for the Yarn I don’t want to use. It also makes many people very happy to receive boxes or bags full of free and new to them yarn. Also not using my limited knitting time on Yarn, I don’t want to use anymore. I have been knitting for slightly over 25 years now.  There is only 2 yarns that I still love that I have used since the beginning.  They are Sugar-n-cream and Bernat 100% cotton Crafters yarn.  

I don’t knit or spin with a lot of novelty yarns anymore.  I just don’t find them very interesting or versatile enough for my current needs.  I am more into the texture and tactical feel of the yarn.  How well it drapes. Ease of knitting with the yarn also matters more to me now.  Can I help save a heritage breed of sheep?

So bit by bit I am finding new homes for my de stashed yarn.  I am also making up kits with some of my hand spun yarn to sell at the Christmas in July Event at our next Old pueblo knitting guild meeting on July 17, 2024 at St. Phillips in the Hills Church at 4440 N Campbell Avenue, in the Murphy Hall. We start at 9:30 am promptly.  Besides having Christmas in July we will be having a knit in so you can bring any project you need help with.  You can even just sit and knit with new knitting friends. Please feel free to join us.  The first meeting is free to try out.  

The picture below is before I found 3 more tubs of yarn and more than several bags of hand spun yarn hiding in the knitting room.  The room you are looking at is the sewing / guest room.  

Another One Bites the Dust

Today’s first finished project is a scarf for the Old Pueblo Knitting Guild Navajo Project. It is knit with 2 strands held together. 1 novelty yarn in black with 1 strand of super wash wool in green. This is the last for this series because I am thankfully out of the novelty yarn. The empty shopping tote will be used for another project, it is from one of my favorite clothing designers Bryn Walker.  

You many notice a second picture.  This beanie is another Old Pueblo Knitting Guild charity project. This one is a cotton hat going to the Flowing Wells School District Clothing Bank. Since I consider hats like M &M’s I have already started another cotton hat. My 2 hat bags will never be empty because I am always knitting hats.  It is my mindless knitting for car rides.