What's in your house?

What and interesting word, downsizing. Originally it was more commonly used to describe a business reducing it's size. Now it's usage includes referring to reducing the size of our homes/belongings. I learned that our main source of decor is framed family photos and kids ceramics.

We are in the midst of downsizing and cleaning out our home: 20+ years of collected stuff.  You learn alot about what you value (hoard) by what you find. It has been exhausting, overwhelming and illuminating.

Thankfully I had a trial run for cleaning out my house. Over the past year, my family cleaned out our childhood home. That was 50 years of "stuff". I think it primed me for doing my house.  I also learned that some of the things I seem to collect (a gentler word than hoard) are hereditary.

Paper:

My (original) family feels the need to save absolutely every piece of paper that has any writing space on it. This was not news to me, I grew up this way. What was news to me was the sheer volume. It is astounding and I still can't part with it. This genetic tendency has not trickled down to my kids.

• A piece of paper that has writing at one end will be cut down to size to save the blank portion.

• Old notebooks that my kids used in school ~ if there are blank pages ~ it's a keeper.
• Leftover envelopes from mailings.
• Pre-pinterest folders of things I intend to read. 

 

•  I have scraps of papers with things my kids said growing up. I even dated this one, making the kids 13.5, 11, and 7 years old.

 

Then there are notebooks and post-its in every shape and size. My penchant for paper seems to be well known as friends and family gift me notebooks/post-its that are either cute or beautiful. Each notebook/post-it pad tells it's own story.

Ziplock Bags:

 

I have Ziplock bags in every shape and size. From 1" in size to jumbo, if you need a Ziplock bag, I probably have it. I thought I was unique in this until we cleaned out my parent's house. Seems this is another genetic tendency ~ Mom has Ziplock bags dating way back. And, yes, we kept them.

Pens:

While I never have a sharpie or highlighter, when I need one, I discovered an extensive collection of highlighters, pens, pencils, and sharpies. Who knew? All these years I have been in search of sharpies and they were scattered all over the house.

Bags: 
Suffice to say, my bags have bags.

• Tote bags 
• Reusable shopping bags
• Knitting bags
• Project bags

 

One thing I did not inherit was my mother's desire to collect any container that could serve a future purpose.  

I did find treasures along the way, like my first interchangeable needle kit. I think the missing needles are probably in some unfinished project languishing somewhere.

My special Yarnia room is no more. The room has to look like an actual usable bedroom for showing. These people just don't understand the magic of Yarnia. That was one of the saddest clean-outs for me.  Now my knit-life is in boxes that will need a further sort. There is a dedicated craft sale in my future with books, yarn, bags, etc.

Apart from the paper, pens, and ziplock bags, everything has a story. I can remember who gave me each notebook. Each knitting bag has it's own story of where I got it and why.

What would a psychologist have to say about these collections? That I have a deep-seated need to not waste paper ~ maybe it's the potential of stories and notes to be made. And clearly I am concerned that I will either not have the right bag when I need it (which, we all share). She certainly wouldn't need a notebook and pen, I could provide her with both.

What do you think you'd find in your house?

Harry and Tucker took it in stride. Or should I say, they slept through it?

Pantone Color of 2018 is.....

I AM FINALLY VALIDATED. 

Pantone has declared the Color of the Year 2018 to be Ultra Violet.

I became aware of the power of the Pantone Color of the year in 2012 when it was Tangerine Tango. We couldn't keep orange in the shop all that year. It was "tangerine tango this" and "tangerine tango that".

Since then I have watched the parade of colors go by, just shaking my head in disbelief. They almost had it in 2014 with Radiant Orchard, but that is not "my" purple.

As I took my walk this morning the Ultra Violet Flowers bloomed a little brighter. 

I am so excited at the possibilities. Purple housewares, purple clothes, and of course...

the yarn!

It's a beautiful thing. I need only look to my closet to be "in style". 

Let the purple reign begin!

What was I thinking?

With the hot/humid weather comes the need for air conditioning. My husband and I long ago divvied up household jobs into Man-sh!t and Woman-sh!t. It may seem sexist, however, it really works for us.  Although I certainly CAN use tools if needed (thanks, Dad), I'm happy to leave that to him. He could do laundry even though he deliberately sabotaged a load of laundry with a red shirt (thirty years ago).

Among the jobs in the house that fall under Woman-sh!t, is changing the air conditioning filters.  Yes, I know it would seem like it should fall under Man-sh!t.  The reason it falls to me is that I need the air conditioning in working order more intensely than he does AND it requires going up into the attic.

This is a very, very long preamble into the true subject of this post.

While in the attic taking care of the filter, I came upon two blanket-sized plastic zip bags filled with hand-knit items long forgotten. I tossed them down the attic ladder and had a look.

 

They were all from the novelty yarn fad that spanned (approximately from) 2003-2006. 

 

I haven't seen this much eyelash, ribbon, and frippery calling itself yarn in over ten years and I was good with that.

 

There was one shawl I felt the need to make not once,

 

but twice in the same white medley,

 

and a third time in blues. Full disclosure, I still like the shaping of this shawl, just not the materials I chose!

 

Sigh! Thankfully I was able to give it ALL away.  

Ok, let's go with the quote above.

However, if I ever and I mean EVER brandish a skein of fluffy, eyelash yarn with all kinds of bits hanging off, take it away and hit me with it!

A Random Act of Kindness

The Granola Bar of Westport

Early one morning, I was walking across the parking lot to my favorite coffee shop. I greeted a man leaving the coffee shop (he had a cup of coffee in each hand and an envelope).

He headed towards me and held out the hand with the envelope and asked if I could help him out. I answered, "of course".

He asked me to take the envelope.  I did and he walked away.  Puzzled, I asked what he wanted me to do with the envelope. He answered that I should keep it.

I opened the envelope to find it was a gift card to the coffee shop.  I shouted out to him, "Thank you! What's this for?"

He answered, "you smiled and said hello ~ that made my day".

I was gobsmacked. What a wonderful experience. A purely random act of kindness. I later learned that someone had given him the card. As he is a regular at The Granola Bar, he decided to pass the gift along. The gift card originated from the Daly Method.

Whatever its origin, I was delighted by the experience and plan to "pay it forward".  Like the line from Candid Camera, "Smile ... somewhere, someplace when you least expect it, someone steps up to you and says ...."

I think we get complacent and normal civilities like saying hello get lost in the speed with which we go through our day. This was a reminder to remember the small stuff.  You never know what a small, random act of kindness might mean to the other guy. 

Cloudy with a Chance of Knitting

When I have a day off, I consider the weather first. A beautiful day equals outdoor time, reading/knitting and minimal indoor tasks.

On a cloudy day I consider what I can get done around the house.  And isn't there always something?

I began in my bedroom, lots of clothes to put away plus the random crap that gets in there when I have company and have to stash the STUFF.

That reminded me that I was looking for a compact mirror for my purse.  I knew I had one somewhere.

That lead too a "junk box" in my closet.  AMAZING what I keep.  Luckily I found a mirror.  I also found a cross body wallet/bag.  I've been looking online for one.  There's money back in my pocket.

I even opened the draw of orphaned socks.  I took out any of the annoying "no show socks" that fall off your heel and under your foot.  I left them in Thing #2's bathroom with other random things.

When she woke up, I said, "I'm on a tear through the house".

She said, "I can tell, there were pencils in my bathroom and I don't use pencils in my bathroom."

After sorting/keeping/tossing I began the laundry.  That reminded me that I meant to clean the woolens in the coat closet.

That lead to the discovery of way too many shoes chucked in there.  Those are now lining my hallway waiting for children to reclaim ownership. Thing #2 was very pleased to see I'd "found" her other pair of flip flops.

When Joe came out of his (home) office and saw this, he posted the following comment of Facebook "... I walked out of my office today and saw boots and shoes in the front hall? It's reminiscent of when we lived in Canada. It was customary to take your shoes off at the front door as you would nter a house, everyone did it: workers, friends, family. No idea why they are there today other than because it's July 1.... so it must be in honor of Canada Day"

Nope, not because of Canada Day. A happy coincidence.

Where do I go from here? Certainly not the Tupperware draw, after all the orphaned socks I found!

I think I've earned some knitting time.

Crafter, Know Thyself

Do you read the Ravelry Home Page?  You can pick up all kinds of information. Last Thursdays Tip was "Crafter, Know Thyself"  posted by oharethey on June 2, 2016. 

It was all about what you can learn about yourself as a crafter by doing an advanced search of your project page in your notebook. When I think about it, it reminds me of one of those quizzes on Facebook or in Magazines.

Here is what I learned about myself:

Not surprisingly, I've knit the most projects in purple.  No shocker there.  What was interesting was that it wasn't by a landslide. What I mean is that after that, blue and gray are the runners up for most projects knit.

These numbers reflect how many projects I've worked on since joining Ravelry in 2007. That's approximately 28 projects a year - give or take.

Clearly, I do like my accessories, don't I? 74 sweaters is not to shabby either.   To be clear, I don't own 74 sweaters.  There were gift-knits in there.

It appears my "go to" yarn weights lean towards Aran and Fingering, followed closely by Worsted and DK.  Interesting that Lace and Super Bulky weights are on practically on even footing.

Judging by how many projects I have knit with #5 needles, I now understand why I have about a dozen fixed #5 circular needles. I'm guessing that every time I went to find a #5 needle it was otherwise occupied in a project.

No surprise here.  I'm a very happy knitter. I'm sure your curious about the project I was very unhappy about.  It was a Jacket knit with super bulky yarn. Don't remember why I was so very unhappy with it.  I do remember frogging it.  Thing #2 got the yarn.

Project status speaks for itself.

This refers to color work. For now, I am a mostly single-color knitter.  However, the "1" color used doesn't take into account if the yarn is variegated.

You can go deeper into some of these categories. It was a fun exercise.  As I write this, I began to wonder if you could search your favorites as well.  There is.  I'll save that for another day.  

If you do an advanced search, I'd love to know what you learn about yourself as a crafter.  Was it what you expected?  

Blocking is like teething

I'm a note taker.  This habit goes way back and I learned it from my mother.

She has told me that I came home with my first note after a day at preschool.

Me: "I took notes at school today."

Mom: (looking at lines of scribbling) "What does it say?"

Me: "You know I can't read."

Rather than writing notes on lots of little pieces of paper, I'm attempting to carry a notebook with me and write them there.  I say "attempt" because I am terrific at creating organizational plans and not so terrific at keeping them.

I thought I would share with you my notes for the week. Spoiler alert, some are actually about things other than knitting.

Blocking is like teething.  Stay with me here.  When a baby is little, and has the slightest runny nose, pink cheeks, is irritable, etc, as mothers we often say - "oh, that... she's just teething".  As if any small deviation from the norm can be blamed on teething.  It is the perfect scapegoat. 

Blocking your finished knits is supposed to smooth out imperfections and remove all manner of (knitted) sins. Here we say, "oh, that... it will block out".

Books (to listen to on audible)
The Wedding Gown
Invention of Wings
The War that Saved My Life
A Man Called Ove

On Bravo 
Odd Mom Out 

Books made into a movie and were actually good
The Help

Netflix
Lilyhammer

Food
Martel
Cinch Gourmet Food Market

Products Discovered
Edinburgh Imports stuff for toy making
Fringe Supply Co. Field Bag for knitting. 

Places to see, Things to do
Kaia Yoga - I really need to get back to yoga.
Connecticut Wine Trail (no connection to doing yoga)
RJ Julia Bookstore in Madison, CT

Knitting Misadventures
Calann told us how she was knitting with her double points (using 4 out of the 5 in a package) when she heard a clinking/rattling/falling sound.  One of her double pointed needles had fallen down the air handler.  Her husband was a good sport and looked for it to no avail. (I hope I got that part of the story right, if not, it sounds good.) Luckily, she mostly uses 4 out of the 5.

Helen played a game of yarn chicken with her French Cancan.Yarn chicken is when you begin to suspect that you won't have enough yarn to finish your project.  You keep knitting hoping against hope as you watch the ball of yarn dwindle, that you will have enough.

Class Stats

  
I'm excited to say that I have 10 people knitting socks, 2 @ time, toe up magic loop. 

(If you are interested in the pattern, message me.  I'll let you know when it is up on Ravelry.)

And there are eleven people knitting the Elephant.

Just Keep Knitting