Free At Last!

Free
Now that's an interesting word, isn't it?  It can be "free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, I'm free at last"; it can be "candy, ice cream...all free today";  It can be "...if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed".
But today, for me, free is - free from the clutter and disorganization coming from scattered skeins, balls and piles of YARN. It also means I am finally realizing that, although this is not literally true because I've already paid for it, I just may have free yarn for the rest of my life! Yes, it is time for what they call on those reality shows - The Reveal!!! If you need a refresher on where this all started - here you go.

Welcome to my home yarn shop

We'll start our tour with a full view

From My Yarn Shop

Along the top are baskets with leftover bits of yarn, 

From My Yarn Shop

odds and ends, extra needles and hooks, etc.,

From My Yarn Shop

and the swift my dad made me. It's seasonal neighbor is the "yarn ball snowman" Brendyn gave me for Christmas which I totally adore!

From My Yarn Shop

All this sets on a selection of dresser scarves my Busia (grandmother) made which I gladly took from her house after she passed away. I'm still trying to decide if I should put my yarn ball winder up on top with the swift but I've been using it a lot lately so it's not an urgent question.

Now for the detail, the organizational part that I've struggled with for years. I was given some sage advice which, when I heard it, made the most perfect, logical sense and I grabbed onto it like it was one of the Dead Sea Scrolls. "Think of how you choose your yarn for a project. Is it by color? by weight? by fiber? Organize with the end in mind." Why hadn't I ever thought of that before? All my vain attempts at organizing had failed because of this tiny nugget of wisdom had eluded me. So with that in mind and having the storage solution in hand, the rest was easy. Since I have branched out beyond acrylic and cotton I realized weight then fiber type are usually my initial thoughts for a project. Here is a walkthru of the shop. . .

First, animal fibers (wool, alpaca, camel, etc.) and animal fiber blends; bulky and worsted on the top. . .

From My Yarn Shop

moving to sport and fingering/sock weight on the bottom

From My Yarn Shop

Next is plant fibers (cotton, rayon, bamboo, etc.) and plant fiber blends. Most of these are worsted weight so I didn't see a need for further categorization. On the far right is the man made fibers section. I couldn't get a good photo of this because of the window behind it but it also uses the "heavy to light weights" organization. You get a better view of it in the first picture.  You'll also notice books scattered in as well. No real organization to those yet except maybe by height ;-)

From My Yarn Shop

And finally, the yarn waiting to be re-born....sweaters! The top left silk and silk blends, next cashmere and cashmere blends. Wool and wool blends ranging from "really soft" (i.e. merino) to "kinda scratchy" (i.e. Shetland). At the bottom are the cotton and rayon blends that either feel really nice or have a cool color.

From My Yarn Shop

Well, that's the tour of the shop. I feel very good about it being done. And although the shop is done, there is still yarn in other parts of the house. I'm doing my best to find it good, loving homes. I have a few people who have offered to take most of it but I'm prayerfully considering where it goes. I would hate for someone else to end up in the same situation and have their hobby and joy become an anchor. My hope is that it will be divvied up within a month or so.

May God Bless Your Stitches,

nance

Happy (k)New Year!

For the last couple of weeks I have been giving a little thought to my year of crafting. I wanted to (randomly) share things I learned. . .

1. I learned double knitting
2. I learned stranded knitting
3. I learned not to start Christmas knitting in 90 degree July weather if the project is made with wool
4. I learned I'm not quite ready to knit lace with lace-weight yarn
5. I learned how to use my Slice machine (Christmas Thank Yous will sent soon; does the 6 month rule for wedding gifts apply to Christmas gifts too?)
6. I learned crocheting has not left my repertoire, it's just taking a sabbatical
7. I learned giving away at least half of my yarn stash to friends and those who will put it to good use sooner than I would didn't hurt nearly as much as I thought it would although it did sting a little
8. I learned by sorting and organizing what I didn't give away I feel less of a need to get more
9. I learned knitting with friends at Cynde's really is about more than just knitting (and snacking)
10. I learned my family really appreciates what I make for them
11. I learned my husband is an exceptionally good sport for letting me create a yarn shop in our living room; and he really likes the way it looks too!

So today starts a new year. Here's what it looks like -

1. I'm starting the year with only 3 WIPs and two projects I promised to start after Christmas gifts were finished.
2. I will start my Self Imposed Sock Club today. I can't wait to see what the ladies put together for me and which I will choose each month!
3. The home yarn shop is nearly finished - sock yarn and a couple of small boxes just need to be shelved today. If I get some good lighting today, I'll post pictures tomorrow. Although I love the look of the black shelves, I need lots of light for a good photo op.
4. I haven't made any plans for what to accomplish this year aside from keeping up with the sock club. I know me; I have a short attention span and I find patterns too rapidly to complete as it is. I like the "instant" gratification of small projects but just can't get even those done quickly enough to keep up with my interests.
5. I can't wait to start finding patterns then go "shopping" in my living room!

What an exciting year this will be!!!
May God Bless Your Stitches,
nance

Yarn Storage (aka My Little Yarn Store) - Intermission

I know you're anxiously awaiting the grand opening of my new "yarn store" but alas it's still not quite ready. Really crazy work stuff and another round of bronchitis have zapped my energy.  I did make it to knit-nite last Friday and was so glad I did. I owe huge thanks to my bestest yarny friends for their prayers, encouragement and love! It was a few hours of bright spot in an otherwise overly stressful five days of work. The craziness has now ended, successfully I would say, bronchitis is responding well to the meds and I'm getting my energy back. Christmas knitting continues and if I can finalize who's getting what [that is realistically achievable] before the weekend I'm hoping to do the final sorting and shelving of yarn this weekend. 

Big surprise yesterday - when Sydney and I got home from dance THE CHRISTMAS TREE WAS UP!!! branch-fluffing, being my department, not yet done but without warning Allen went into the attic and brought down all the Christmas stuff and put up the tree! I think this is the earliest it's been up in a decade - Allen said it was up about this time last year, my friend and I are less certain.  But whatever, we have snow, we have tree, we have many presents finished, we have a new yarn store.....life in the natural world is good.  Worship nite at the Karl's on Friday...life in the spiritual world is good too!

May God Bless Your Stitches,

nance

Yarn Storage - Stage 1

The day finally came! Since I purchased the shelves to organize my yarn stash I have been so anxious to start the project.  First of all a great deal of thanks to my wonderful husband first for "encouraging" me to "do SOMETHING with all the yarn!!" and second for helping me with the huge task of moving it out of the corner and cleaning the mess that was under and behind it.  The day certainly had a few unexpected issues but what big project doesn't? I started the actual work about 10:30 after getting to sleep in a good hour and a half longer than I normally do. I hauled in the first box of shelf pieces from the garage to discover that the rip in the box was not just a rip but possibly a hole from a fork lift that also crushed one end of one of the boards. Frantic searching for the receipt left me empty...and realizing it was more than the 30 days allowed for returns and exchanges I was out of luck anyway. I was angry...not at anyone but just at the situation. I had a whole day of work planned and already a monkey wrench in it.

Exhibit A

I was able to regain my enthusiasm (just slightly dampened) by logging on to the website of the company which made these. I tried the 800 number first, no answer. So I sent them an email explaining the situation and asking if they would consider replacing this piece and possible others damaged (I still hadn't opened the box). I wandered around the website a bit longer and thought if they wouldn't replace the one piece I supposed I could just order one and pay for it. So I went to the "Replacement Parts" page, filled in all the information about the type of unit, the part number, name, address, etc. then expected to be shown how much it would cost. Nope...it just sent. Hmmm. Hoping I wouldn't receive said part in a couple of weeks with an outrageous bill I decided to just move on.
Carton #2, fine condition! WHEW! I enlisted the help of the beautiful Sydney and we spent about an hour and a half assembling the first Yarncase (yes, similar to bookcase but it's for yarn!)

Assembly

 I figured the other 2 would only take about an hour each since we have a better idea of what we're doing. It's now about lunch time so I took a break to make lunch for the kids. Meanwhile Allen was getting started on clearing out the corner. I forgot to take a picture before he started but here's what it looks like right now.  A very large part of this was in what we call "the green trunk" - this huge crate-like thing one of the Wirtz relatives made probably a couple of generations ago. The two redeeming qualities are the color (I repainted it a nice forest green about 12 years ago, it used to be LIME green!) and that it has wheels. It's incredible storage capacity is a blessing AND a curse!

Stash

While the kids were eating lunch and Allen was still mentally preparing his attack on the yarn corner, I wanted to keep moving on the shelves. This one went great! Done in under an hour. But wait, oh I did NOT do that! Ugh, the part that forms the top of the case is upside down! Instead of the shiny black it's icky particle board. I kept my cool, tried to imagine living with it that way but just couldn't. I knew what I had to do. It wasn't going to be easy, sigh. Although in about 15 minutes I had it fixed and unless you see the back of the case where I had to pop the nails thru the cardboard back and reattach them, you'd never know. I assume my secret will be safe with you ;-)

I was on a roll now, yarncase #3 should be a breeze! Oh you would think so, right? Well, we would both be wrong! Yes, I saw that it had been taped but I've seen that before. However, when I opened it I could tell this package had not only been previously opened but I am certain was purchased previously but also completely unpacked, possibly partially assembled and repacked. This didn't look anything like the way the other cartons were put together. Bag of hardware tied in a knot? C'mon! and if you look closely at the top right corner.......yep, that IS what you see!!! OH MY GOSH! I could not believe it!! So my problem-solving brain thinks, "ok, one of the two main boards in two cartons are damaged and I have little hope that the company will supply any new parts (especially since this one is clearly not their fault) I can put together a "franken-case"! Yes, use parts from both to make one good one. I'm so ingenious some times i scare myself!" Yes, you would certainly think so. But once again, we're both wrong.

Exhibit B

You have GOT to be FREAKIN kidding me!!! I was livid beyond intelligible words. Allen heard me from the other side of the house. He had no words of comfort, no one could comfort me at this moment. I needed to be alone...................................

Exhibit C

I went and laid down on the bed with the door closed but I couldn't let it go. These two wrecked cartons were not my fault yet because I bought something and wasn't able to assemble them withing the allotted 30 days, I was stuck with them. NOT FAIR! I got up and reread the return/exchange policy on the back of another Big Lots receipt. They are very strict with this policy, they even have it audibly playing in the store that you have to have a receipt and it has to be within the 30 days. But I had to try...I said a quick prayer for favor and I called the store and asked for the manager the girl said "I am". I started to explain about the damaged merchandise, that it was longer than 30 days and I didn't have a receipt. I thought recognized her voice and I could picture her (I do a lot of shopping at Big Lots!). She gave me a couple hmm's, and uh-huh's and I stopped mid sentence....."are you just going to tell me "No" at this point or should I go on?" She very nicely said "I can only exchange for exactly the same thing." I couldn't believe what I heard. I repeated it back to her, yep that's what she said. I asked if they had any in stock, I was transfered......."yes, we have a lot of them". I said I would come right over. YEAH, project NOT foiled by stupid corporate bureaucratic nonsense. I would have gracefully accepted an "I'm sorry ma'am, that's our policy." Sure, I would have been bitter, might have even boycotted the store.  But they were nice about it, I mean really decent. Ashame I have to be so surprised by that but it's the times we live in I guess. So here it is, now 3:00 the day after Thanksgiving and I'm going to a store. Not what I planned at all but I was doing it gladly. I asked Brendyn if he wanted to go to get out of the house for a bit and he agreed. Everyone at the store, especially the young man from the storage room, was extremely helpful, nice, courteous...much more than I expected since they had likely had a very long and busy day already. I tried to tip the young man from the storage room who was so helpful AND loaded the cartons into the van but he cheerfully said, "no, I can't". An experience like that has made me even more a fan of Big Lots (at least the one I shop at) than ever! And bonus, I got a $10 off my next purchase coupon!!
New carton #3 was still shrink-wrapped on the palette at the store and pristine when I opened it at home! With Sydney's help, it was together in less than an hour, about 45 minutes actually. A few quick measurements and Allen helped my move them into place. Sydney inserted all the shelves.

My Little Yarn Shop

Welcome to the beginning of my own little yarn shop!!!  Allen noticed me looking over at it and said, "you really like this, don't you?" "Yeah."

My God Bless Your Stitches,
nance

Yarn Storage

Pretty much everyone one who knows me even a little knows that I have a little problem.  Some closer to me might call it a BIG problem.  It's yarn.  OK, there it is, out in the open for everyone to see.  The first part is admitting you have a problem, right? So I've done it.  We don't need to hammer into the ground the size of the problem, let's just move on alright?

In an effort to de-clutter our home Allen and I (well mostly Allen) have a list.  Every room with the problem areas.  The overall goal is to get control over enough things to be able to get the walls of the main house painted (I'd like to get to the kids' rooms too but that might be next year's project) and get actual flooring put in.  I have three main areas to focus on -

1.  Kitchen table - This is where I work from home.  There are piles of papers and notebooks relating to work as well as mail that comes in and needs to be sorted and bills, both paid and unpaid.  I'm a total nut when it comes to NOT printing things so when I do have to deal with paper I have no method to deal with it.  Was the same when I worked in the office and was required to bring printed things to meetings.

2.  The small bathroom (aka Mom's bathroom) - Very tight space. Past attempts to organize were containers and boxes that now overflow with miscellaneous bathroom-y things and laundry.

3.  The "yarn area" in the living room - This is the big, bad boy of a mess.  It's not just one area it's roughly 1/3 of the room. Zero organization, and more fibre than anyone could use in a lifetime. This doesn't include the yarn in the bedroom and the books in the family room but I'm sure eventually that will get taken care of in this plan.

At this point I know my relatives who seem to have been born with an organizational gene are cringing at this. I'm sorry to say life often gets in the way of things and the more lives you're dealing with the more things there are to get in the way.  'nuf said.

So here's the plan....

1.  For the kitchen table, there is no [long-term] plan. I assume access to my filing cabinet could help however it is under equipment as part of the recording studio and the drawers can only be opened about 2 inches before hitting an instrument or some kind of equipment.  I can sort thru the existing papers and accumulated junk mail but the problem will continue to resurface until I have a way to manage the paper and that might take rearranging the studio....that's not on the list.  So I just need to bite the bullet, slog thru the papers for now and we'll return to this one at a later date.

2.  This is where it starts to get exciting.  Maybe it's because I get to use tools!  About 5 or so years ago I saw this thing at Value City and thought it would be a great idea for the tiny bathroom.  Money was really tight so I didn't buy it and have regretted it.  While searching for a solution to problem #3 I saw something similar in a corner.  OK, this isn't it because I couldn't find the exact picture but it's the same concept.  The one I bought is painted white tongue-in-groove wood, small shelf on the bottom with a cabinet with two doors on top.  It's beautiful and I think it will be perfect!

3.  And then there’s the subject of this whole thing – the yarn. I will post the embarrassing pictures as I tackle this project but for now lets just focus on the solution.  I was thinking of some kind of storage unit(s) with 12x12 cubes like I’ve often seen in yarn stores.  At Target one unit of 9 cubes was about $40. One of my favorite stores is Big Lots.  I don’t get there much since they closed our office last year and there’s none close to our house.  Occasionally I’ll wander up to the one near the old office and still get the weekly ad in my email.  About a week and a half ago I saw they had storage units on sale.  I really liked this 9 Cube Storage unit but I knew I would need several.  At $99.99 each, too pricey.  But they did have a 72" 5 Shelf Bookcase on sale for $27.99  Coupled with my Buzz Club Rewards “20% off your entire purchase” this came in at pennies more than $22 each.  4 of them was less than the cost of the one!  I love finding a bargain!

5 Shelf Bookcase

So my organizational shopping trip came in at roughly $120 and I’m hoping to cross the two big items off my “house list”.  Allen will be SO happy!!!

May God bless your stitches,

nance