Progress

I have two problem areas in my house. The weaving room and the basement. Why are they problem areas? Because I’m a slob. That really is the problem. I’m not very good at picking up after myself and making sure all of my stuff has a home.

Last Friday, my aunt and I started the task of going through my mom’s belongings. Apparently, that has inspired me to get my own house in order while I was at it.

Which is ironic. Since when a family friend passed away several years ago (he was a Depression-era kid, so he took the phrase “lifetime supply” to a whole new level) I’ll always remember my mom saying that digging out his house convinced her that she’d never have that much STUFF. And that nobody would have to go through anything like that when she died.

Anyhow.

 The before pictures are really embarrassing, but I’ll give you a taste. This was standing in the doorway of the room. Not one inch of clear counters, I had stuff stacked all over the bench and even on top of the shafts of my loom. Sad Panda all around.

If you looked towards the front wall, you could see the mess of crap near the front window. What you can’t really see is that there were no clear footpaths anywhere in the entire room. It was a broken ankle waiting to happen.


See? Scary. And slightly humiliating. You wouldn’t believe it if I told you how long it’s looked like this.

 My wonderful friend Dianne sacrificed her Saturday night to come and help me tackle this room. I fed her Chinese food, gave her a skein of sock yarn, and called that her salary for the evening. By the time she left, the countertops were almost clear, and I was already starting to sort the many bins of yarn, project bags, “miscellaneous,” and weaving supplies.

Here’s most of the trash that came out. Two huge trash bags. Progress!


By bedtime on Sunday, I was done. And when I came downstairs on Monday morning, I walked into this room and had to smile.

And I have to tell you, I could feel my mom’s approval. I did it. I tackled the weaving room, and I won.



The best part? It makes me feel like I’m capable of fixing the basement, too.

Applesauce vs. Sour Cream

I was listening to all the holiday music on my iPod while doing the Craft Central thing today. Almost exactly two years ago, the Hubster and I went to a Barenaked Ladies holiday concert where the opening act was the LeeVees. Best. Opening. Act. EVER.

They play Hanukkah songs. Yes, I said Hanukkah songs. And they’re AWESOME. As a Goyim Friend (if you don't know what a Goyim is, YOU ARE ONE!), I can’t get enough of their CD “Hanukkah Rocks.” It’s hysterical. Highly recommend. Hit that link and listen. Or go to iTunes and take a listen. You'll enjoy it. No matter which "Tribe" you're from.

Oh, and one of their songs is “Applesauce vs. Sour Cream,” which I’ve had stuck in my head ☺

Anyhoo, like I said yesterday, a good chunk of the day was spent in the basement on a little crafty project. It’s actually one out of Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts. I originally became aware of this book when Javajem mentioned it on her blog on Sunday (Geez, it took me a long time to figure out which of the blogs I read mentioned it. I was sure it was a quilting blog. I guess not!)

While doing some Christmas shopping at Borders the other night, I found the book on their shelf and perused it. I found a pattern for these really cool “patchwork” notebooks in the 1-2 hour projects section. Here’s what I wound up with!


That’s why I had the scraps out yesterday. And was playing in the thread (it's almost all from Superior Threads. Can't say enough good things about their stuff. It's all fantastic. I used two different colors from their Rainbows line for this project with my favorite Metrolene in the bobbin) Here’s some of the other stuff I used today


I show this photo primarily because I planned poorly and would NOT have been able to finish the project without my appliqué pressing sheet, and my super awesome flat iron, which is by far the best gift I’ve ever gotten from the in-laws (it was specifically requested several years ago, and it rocks for appliqué projects). I also had a whack of Wonder Under lying around and that came in handy too.

I used the 3.5"x5.5" Molskine Plain Cahier notebooks, which is a fewer-pages soft-cover version of what I carry all the time. I hope the recipients like it!

There are several other projects in this Last Minute Gifts book that I liked and eventually want to make, so I’d have to say it’s a pretty good buy.

Hurricane Knitters was fun, although we were all very sad that our friend 40Guy did not appear this evening. The White Elephant swap was a success. I’ll have photos of my score later on. Now? Bedtime!

PS-- I have a potentially big work-related phone call tomorrow (Thursday) morning. Please keep your fingers crossed for me!

This ‘n That

Remember this motley crew?

Well, their wonderful hard work last May left me in a bit of a quandary today.

You see, Sandy (on the far right. Carol is on the left and Lisa is seated in the middle) is a very good ClutterBuster. That means that almost all of my fabric scraps got tossed before the move. This is a good thing. I stink at throwing things out that could possibly be used later. So I begged encouraged let Sandy do it for me.

Fortunately, I did keep a few small stashes of scraps, which came in handy for my little Mystery Craft Project today

And that led me to get out my Bernina for the first time since it had its "healthy machine annual exam" back in August


And I got to play in the thread box


I can’t show you what I am doing, since if it turns out successfully it’s going to be “party favors” for a few of the Hurricane Knitters tomorrow night. [Waterworks Barnes & Noble, 7-10 pm. Be there or be square!]. Those Hurricane types shouldn’t worry/panic. I spent well under $5/person. I promise!!! I’ve also decided what I’m bringing for our White Elephant swap tomorrow night.

Mystery Crafty Project is going well so far, but we have yet to reach the make-or-break “moment of truth.” That’ll probably happen sometime close to lunch tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

In knitting “news” I’m still plugging away on the second Monkey sock.

I also ran the last large batch of errands today. Post office. Bank. Stuff for Mysterious Crafty Project, Office Depot … and since I was circling Village Square anyway, I managed to stop and get some peppermint schnapps. Ho! Ho! Ho! I sense some kick-ass peppermint hot chocolate in my future!