Clearing out and tidying up...

...this is an ongoing process with three small (but growing fast!) children in the house. There is a constant tidying, sorting and re-organising of neglected toys and grown-out-of clothes. No sooner than one area is dealt with another starts to looks like the bins at the back of a toy shop. Add this to a small house and it's easy to feel like we're living in a wasteground for unloved, mass-produced, clutter.

 

We keep the local charity shops well stocked!

 

It's easy to blame it all on the kids, however, with their brightly coloured nik naks being the most obvious of things filling the house;  kids' stuff is always on view, under foot and in the way.

 

But, I must confess to having a good amount of my own 'stuff' hanging about. It's just a little more tucked away - a high up shelf full of bags with untouched projects, a box of embroidery threads and sewing paraphernalia, jars of buttons, drawers of fabric and yarn, another bag down the side of the sofa, a box under the bed... you get the idea.

 

Time to turn my attention to my own clutter and bad habits. A bit of clearing out and ruthless decision making is in order and I've made a good start. I've ebayed a few things already (it helps when you get a few pennies for your old things) and at the weekend I pulled out a large bag of cotton yarn, wound all the balls up neatly and plonked them all on the table.

 

 

Honestly, it was a little overwhelming and I wasn't sure how to even start making a decision about what to keep and what should go.

 

I sorted it into yarn weight, dk and aran, then spent a lot of time looking at it, telling the children not to fiddle with it and left it on the table overnight! You really can't hurry these things...

 

 

Sunday morning, armed with fresh coffee, I realised the shiny cotton had to go - I don't like it and I won't use it. Similarly, there were some left over bits of finer than dk cotton, too fiddly, that could go too. The rest of the dk could stay, it's yarn I like and use, so I put it away in a drawer.

 

I'd made a granny square with some of the aran weight cotton. Simple granny squares help me think, really they do, so I made a few...

 

 

The granny squares could be a cushion cover, I thought, joined and edged with the navy yarn. I carried on making squares. How many would I need for a cushion cover? Four? Nine, maybe? I looked at the yarn and started to organise the colours - bright granny squares with navy surrounding them. A blanket! I'm sure there's enough.

 

A bit of maths later, and there is enough. I'm not in need of a new project, I know, but in terms of decision making this has made it easier. The dk yarn is sorted and the aran yarn - I will keep what I need for this blanket and get rid of the rest. Ruthless! I'm ignoring the voice in my head telling me that I might need all that chocolate coloured cotton for a future project I haven't even thought of yet. I'd better do it quickly before I change my mind...

 

 

There is more clearing and yarn sorting to come, I'm sure. I'll share how I worked out that I had enough for a blanket too - useful for a bit of stashbusting I think.

 

xx

 

p.s. I'm planning a bit of blog tidying also - if you spot anything that isn't as it should be, please let me know!