Happy Funksgiving!!

I hope everyone had a joyful, mouthwatering, laughter-filled, and truly wonderful Thanksgiving last Thursday!  I have so very much to be thankful for this year, and I did spend the day reflecting on how truly grateful I am for all that I have been given in this life.  Though there are days I feel worried about things, in my deepest heart I know I am one lucky girl to have all that I do!
 
For the first time this year we found ourselves traveling further than just across town to my Mother-In-Law’s as we usually do.  My Sister-In-Law hosted it this year and we bravely made our way into the heart of holiday traffic to spend a few hours with my husband’s side of the family.  It was difficult to leave my Mom to her own devices on Thanksgiving since I am her only close family left, and she had just recently been through surgery.  I felt guilty the entire day.  But we had arranged to have her over on Friday for our very own quiet celebration of Thanksgiving, a celebration I call “Funksgiving” (a play on our name), and that made me feel just slightly better about the way the chips had fallen.
 

Knittymunchkin loves Daddy’s old cars!

 
Funksgiving is not about getting dressed up, making uncomfortable small talk with people you don’t see often or know very well, or eating fancy foods that make all the guests ooh and ahh over the hostess’ cooking prowess.  It’s about comfort, calm, and a day spent in our own house relaxing and feeling thankful for all our blessings.  Funksgiving came about when my husband and I were first married and had to do the typical family negotiations involved around celebration of major holidays.  Which side of the family would get to spend which holidays with us?  Where would we go?  How could we avoid offending anyone?  My husband comes from a divided family.  His Dad pretty much gets the shaft and we rarely, if ever, see him around any holidays.  I think that’s because he is the easiest when it comes to these kinds of things.  He doesn’t make a fuss and prefers to take the pressure off of us by bowing out, rather than expecting us to have to choose between families.  So then it came down to my parents and my Mother-In-Law.  My parents chose Christmas Day (Christmas Eve has always been “ours” in our own home) and my Mother-In-Law chose Thanksgiving.  We hosted a couple Thanksgivings and Christmases in an attempt to include everyone, but it just didn’t seem to work out. Someone always seemed uncomfortable.   So then my Mother-In-Law started hosting Thanksgiving for that side of the family and my parents would go to a friend’s house to celebrate.  It felt strange not to see my folks at Thanksgiving. So we started inviting them to Funksgiving, which is traditionally the Friday after Thanksgiving, to try to keep everyone happy.
 
However, this was not the only motivation for the creation of Funksgiving.  Probably the greatest reason was this: leftovers.  Going to others’ homes for the big Thanksgiving meal meant that there was a massive dearth of holiday deliciousness in our fridge during my husband’s favorite holiday of the entire year.  No turkey sandwiches, no leftover green bean casserole, no potatoes and gravy to munch on for days as you relive the glory of a comforting and filling Thanksgiving meal.  We love spending this day with our little family, feeling grateful, and having a quiet meal together in our own home.  It reminds us, for yet another day, of all that we have to be thankful for.
 
In the spirit of Funksgiving, and because I am still working on decluttering our home, I have a few things I’d like to offer up to all of you lovely readers who take the time to visit my humble blog and stop, for even a moment, to read my nonsense.  I will give these items away, for free, to whoever leaves the first comment requesting the item.  Just one item per person, if you please, and only US requests (I am unable to ship international right now due to lack of funds).  If there seems a huge amount of interest in one particular item, or a question about who commented first, then I will hold a drawing to decide who receives it.
 
First up, is a copy of “Expectant Little Knits”.  This is all maternity patterns for those of you who are expecting, will be expecting, or know someone who is expecting.  I received a free copy of this, and as Knittymunchkin will be our one and only, I have absolutely no use for this book.  I’d love for one of you to take it off my hands and enjoy it!
 

“Expectant Little Knits” – image courtesy of amazon.com

 
My next offering is something a little more near and dear to my heart.  After recently completing a sweater that I’ve not failed to wear at least once a week since its finish (I’ll show you soon), I realized I have some hand knits that really need a better home than I’ve been giving them.  First up is this one: 28thirty (ravelry link).  I have lots of memories of working on this sweater, but only one memory of actually wearing it (other than the photo shoot).  I was newly pregnant and wore it to one of my checkups.  The receptionist complimented my sweater and when I told her I’d knit it myself she was pleasingly congratulatory on my knitting skillz.  Made me feel awesome, especially since I was feeling a tad chubbity with Knittymunchkin blossoming in my belly, but not awesome enough to keep on wearing it.  No matter what I try, it never looks right on me. One funny note: the sleeves look like earthworms, and I’ve always thought of it as my earthworm sweater :) Anyway, I knit this as a size Small and if you’d like to see more details and/or pics, the link to my ravelry project is here and the link to my original post about it on the blog is here.  Any other questions, please feel free to e-mail me or comment here on the blog.  I have just one request regarding this giveaway.  Please, I beg of you, don’t ask for this sweater only to felt, frog, or cut it up!  I want it to be worn by someone.  It would break my heart to have all my hard work destroyed so easily :(  Thank you!
 
Claimed by lollyknits! Thank you!!
 

28thirty – front view

 
Hope each of you had a joyful Thanksgiving and a very Happy Funksgiving to you as well!

 

What Condition My Condition Is In

Just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in….
~ Mickey Newbury

 
I remember my Mom singing this unabashedly tunelessly around the house when I was a kid.  Figures it would be about the LSD experience.  But it’s running through my mind on a loop as I get the urge to blog again.  I attribute this itch to the whole autumn back-to-school vibe that’s floating around.  I get it every autumn with the arrival of tumbling leaves and rumbling school buses.  And this year I have a preschooler on my hands (!).  How and when did that happen?
 
But I’m feeling a bit better, slightly less overwhelmed, and I think it might be time to get back our (somewhat) regularly scheduled dosage of Knittymuggins nonsense.  In keeping with the back-to-school experience I bring you:
 
What I Did On My Summer Vacation

 
• In June we took our first real family vacation!  We didn’t stray far, just 3 hours to Whistler, B.C., but it was almost like being a world away.  My BFF from college and her whole family were here from Kentucky and we stayed at their time-share with them.  The weather was gloomy (but we’re used to that!) so we just spent a lot of time swimming in the pool, playing on the playground in the village, and catching up.  I hadn’t seen Michele since R. Darling and I got married in 2004, and of her 4 children I had only met the oldest (when he was a mere 6 months old!) so it had definitely been too long.  The amazing thing is how easily we picked up where we had left off, as if I’d seen her only yesterday.  I wish they lived closer!!

 

 
• I quit Facebook.  I was wasting WAY too much time on it and found myself feeling truly depressed whenever I logged out.  Easy solution: give it up.  I feel guilty that I don’t know what’s happening with many of the people I care about (since everyone uses FB and people don’t seem inclined to communicate any other way anymore), but I also love not feeling bummed out every day.  Besides, I saw “The Social Network” and that Mark Zuckerberg seems like a total a-hole. Just sayin’. I’ve actually been pretty unplugged all summer and I feel much happier and more productive on a lot of levels.

 

• I participated in my first ever Ravellenic Games!  Well, not “officially”, but in spirit for sure.  My friends Jess, Troy, and I had our own personal knitalong conducted mostly via text, and it was so much fun I want to do it again :)  Each of us knit Leftie and though I was sure I wouldn’t finish it in 17 days, I totally did.  That was a huge eye-opener for me and has changed how I feel about my knitting.  It proved that if I stay monogamous with a project (and by now we all know I have a problem with that), it can be finished quickly.  On top of that this was the first project, probably since I was a beginner in 2006, where I picked out specific yarn and colors for this exact project.  Usually I sort of shop my enormous stash and try to fit project to yarn like a puzzle, with sometimes less than stellar results.  But I adore my Leftie and actually plan to wear it a lot this fall.

 

Leftie: In Progress July 2012

 
• I started Body For Life again about 7 weeks ago and have lost 7 lbs!  I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight and had the utter joy of being able to put my diamond wedding ring back on after not wearing it since about November 2009.  I almost feel like a newlywed because I cannot stop admiring that sparkling chunk of white gold and diamond adorning my left ring finger.  Knittymunchkin was shocked when he caught sight of  it replacing my plain old white gold band that I’ve been wearing since he was in my tummy.  I can’t explain how wonderful it feels to have it back (and a little of my “old” body too!).  I’d ideally like to lose another 5-7 lbs to get back to my pre-pre-pregnancy weight, but the progress I’ve made so far still thrills me on its own.

 

• I have a potty-trained toddler who is also going to preschool in a couple weeks!  I am just stunned he is this big already.  It’s going to be sad, exciting, and so much more, to watch him go off to school.  We weren’t planning on it just yet, but there was a last minute opening in a local co-op preschool that everyone raves about so we jumped on it.  I’m going to miss him like crazy, much as I will appreciate the break and the joy I get from watching him make new friends.  Wish me luck on this new venture!

 
I’m sure there’s much much more that I’m forgetting.  But I’ll be back with more before too long.  I hope you had a wonderful summer as well & look forward to catching up with each and everyone of you just as soon as I can.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Happy almost-Autumn!

 

Down Time

It’s been a couple weeks again.  This is becoming my thing.  And since it seems that there is a trend going on here, I guess it is about time I make it official: I’m taking a break.
 
There has been a lot of upheaval at Chez Knittymuggins over the last month.  I have a beautiful son entering the “Terrific Twos” and every day is a roller coaster of emotions, personalities, and power struggles.  Not only is he the biggest love of my life (besides R. Darling, of course), but he is also the most monumental challenge I will ever face.  Being a parent is HARD.  I am a huge ball of stress.  Normally I consider myself an incredibly patient person, and stable enough to weather the ups and downs that life throws at me.  But between mothering, trying to be a good wife, and trying to keep the household chaos down to a dull roar, I’m kind of losing it here.  And I have absolutely no support network to lean on when things get tough.  I’m holding it all inside and going it alone, and I can’t take it anymore.
 
Don’t worry, nothing drastic is going to happen :)  And I’m not telling you so you’ll feel sorry for me.   I just had to tell someone to relieve some of the anxiety.
 
So I’m going to take some time off.  I need to focus more on my own inner peace, getting things done around the house and re-grouping.  I hope to be back when I’m feeling better, I’m just not sure when that will be.  Until then, thanks so much to all of you for all the friendship & support you’ve given me throughout the years.  It has meant so much more to me than you’ll ever know!  And if you are still here to read when I get back I will welcome you with a heart full of gladness.
 
But just so you know, I DO sometimes still have fun!  Check out my first hand-dyed yarn:
 

 
Best wishes & hope to see you soon,

M
 
———
 
P.S. – Want to do something nice AND get free yarn? Ravelry members check out this thread. I’m already on my second pair of kids’ mittens!

 

Thinning The Nest: Thursday Number 12

Week 12:  One measly book

So it’s really Friday.  Thursday blew past me in an instant and I didn’t remember I was supposed to blog until it was way past my bedtime already.  It was another lame week in the downsizing department.  I sent one book off to Bookmooch, pulled some yarn out of stash to knit my Mom a birthday present, and sent out another RAK with some sock yarn minis in it from stuff I had stashed.  Not bad I guess, but not earth-shattering either.  We did have our taxes prepared this week though, and I decided to itemize our Goodwill donations for last year at the suggestion of our accountant.  Tax season for 2009 was the first time we’d ever used an accountant (always used TurboTax and did it ourselves) and I must say, it was worth it to us to pay the modest fee in return for the advice he gave us.  Anyway, seeing the itemized list of what we gave away last year was pretty eye-opening.  According to the Turbo Tax calculator for donations, we gave away something like $500 worth of stuff.  I know I’ve got a lot more to donate for this year, so seeing that total made me feel motivated for this upcoming year.  I’ve got my work cut out for me.

Sorry for the lack of photos today, but we just got new internet service and my desktop computer isn’t hooked up yet.  So I’m using R. Darling’s laptop just to squeeze out this post halfway on schedule.  I’m also calling in my pass from Thinning The Nest Week 7 for next week.  Monday the 26th is the third anniversary of my Dad’s passing and I’ve been really sad this entire week.  I don’t expect that next week will be much better.  Every time Knittymunchkin does something adorable or hilarious, or reaches some new fantastic milestone, it breaks my heart that my Dad can’t be here to see it.  There are days where it seems like forever that he’s been gone, and others where it feels like I just lost him yesterday.  So I’m laying low, knitting, reading, and trying my best to sleep.

Until next time…..

Hug the ones you love and tell them how much they mean to you every day.  It’s really the most important thing you can do :)

 

Thinning The Nest: Thursday Number 11

Week 11:  Odds ‘n Ends, i.e. total lameness!

I’d love to be able to tell you that between this Thursday and last, I got my sh!t togetha and cleared all the clutter out of my entire house, knit 4 sweaters, 5 pairs of socks, and a dozen hats.  Or at least that I took a bad-ass vacation to the beach.  But alas, none of those things occurred.  The weather was beyond bleak.  Several days Knittymunchkin decided he needed to wear his “jammies” all day and while the rain pelted, the snow fell, and the wind buffeted, we cranked up the heat and watched just a little too much Sesame Street.  It was one of those weeks.  I felt about as forlorn inside as the weather was outside.  But I did manage to read and recycle two magazines, gift four Martha Stewart magazines to my friend John, and use up a laundry detergent sample that has been sitting in the laundry room exactly as long as we’ve had our washing machine (circa 2008 or 2009).  I also used up a deluxe sized sample of Philosophy Purity Made Simple that I received years ago (2007?) with a Sephora order.  I’ve been keeping this wash in my travel stuff for years now because it’s such a nice portable size, yet there is always enough for several days.  Well with my skin freaking out lately, I decided to try anything I had in my sample stash that might calm things down a little.  This seemed to do the trick, though Troy bought me some Mario Badescu Enzyme Cleansing Gel that I positively adore, so it’s not so bad that I finally used up the Philosophy stuff.  I also pulled some yarn out of my stash to knit another square for my friend Kathy that I mentioned last time.  Not much to be said for this week, but I’m chipping away at things slowly.  Ever so slowly…..

It was a good mail week though!  I received back yarn from two different swaps and I can’t wait to add them to my Beekeeper’s Quilt.  It’s always nice when there’s something to look forward to in the mailbox.  Here’s a few of my favorites from the Sweet Georgia Swap in the Blankiemania Group on Ravelry.  I sure wish I could join Round 2!  These are just lovely….

 

Thinning The Nest: Thursday Number 8

Week 8:  Knitting from stash & some random use it up & toss it out!

I’m sitting here procrastinating, eating Dove chocolate hearts, and attempting to take the deep philosophical quotes inside the wrappers to heart.  I kind of liked these two: “Discover how much your heart can hold” and “Hold hands firmly, hearts gently.”  Well, it was only four chocolates, but I still found a way to stretch that out into at least 45 minutes of not writing this post.  Ugh.  I’m just not feeling it.  I should be energized considering I just spent a fantastic 2 days in the the big city of Seattle with my super knitty pal Troy (who has a new blog by the way!) and no mommy duties for the entire trip.  But more on that later.

Instead, I’m feeling exhausted.  I have a teething two year old who isn’t sleeping well (thus, I am not sleeping well either), a kitchen that magically regenerates four dirty dishes for every one that I load into the dishwasher, and a bank account that seems to do the opposite.  My skin is freaking out in all sorts of unexpected ways and I live in my sweats.  I’m pretty sure I haven’t showered in nearly 48 hours.  SO gross.

I’ve been dreading today’s post.  What to say?  I know I’ve made progress, but it doesn’t seem substantial.  For instance, this past week I finished a hat from a kit purchased at Sock Summit last July (about 135 yds total), and a pair of slippers from some stash gifted to me by Troy in August of 2008 (about 3 skeins used up).  That fits right into my plans to use up, sell, donate, or throw out something once a week.  But without a picture, some good solid evidence, it seems pointless.  Pictures are harder and harder to come by these days.  I’m afraid you’ll have to settle for a photo of the raw yarn instead of the finished project for a little while until I can get something snapped.

Hazel Knits Artisan Sock Yarn

Though I feel this week’s offering for Thinning The Nest seems a little insubstantial, I do notice the effect that 8 weeks of this has had on my behavior.  Last Friday I decided I’d had enough of the needles I’ve been using for my Beekeeper’s Quilt.  The rubber coating on the cables had slipped away from the join where the needle and the cable meet, and a little gap had developed that snagged my yarn on nearly every round of knitting.  I put up with this for a good week or so in my typical grin-and-bear-it fashion.  But then I decided that my Beekeeper’s Quilt is one of the only projects that I work on daily, it makes me happy, and it just wasn’t worth it to me to continue knitting with crappy needles.  So I bought a new set of needles and deep-sixed the old ones.  That is a true departure for me.  Normally I would have either continued to knit with them until they finally broke entirely, feeling miserable the whole time, or I would have just tucked them away thinking I could use them again for something else.  But I decided, no, they just couldn’t be redeemed.  And just because they weren’t completely and totally busted, doesn’t mean they didn’t need to be trashed.  There is no more room in my house for things that don’t earn their keep.

Ha.  I’d like to think I’m that tough!  But ssshhhh….. don’t tell Knittymunchkin….  I’m a big old pushover :)

I still have a lot of work to do.  But I have to remember that it’s not going to happen overnight.  Each small thing I accomplish is a step towards the organized life I want to achieve.  Just keep moving forward.

 

Thinning The Nest: Thursday Number 7

Week 7:  More Baby Stuff & More Random Acts of Kindness!
 
Ugh.  You’ll have to forgive me dear bloggies.  I feel icky, tired, lackluster, and not very chatty.  With Knittymunchkin’s second birthday arrived a whole load of new behaviors that I’m finding incredibly difficult to process and try to let roll off of me.  He’s getting his last set of molars, none of us are sleeping too well, and I am pretty sure I hear the word “no” at least every 30 seconds throughout each day.  It’s kind of a bummer.  But I promised an update every Thursday, so here we go.
 
This week was a big one, actually.  I got rid of a ton of baby stuff (to my former co-worker again).  Most of it I was fine about, but at the last minute I got sort of sentimental about one thing in particular and had to make sure to take a photo of it before giving it away.  Feeling sad about giving it up made me feel weak and stupid, but there was just something about it that made me want to hang on.  Maybe because I remembered using it so much when my baby was still a baby.  But away it went.  I knew it was pretty pointless to keep it.  In addition to those 4 big bags of things, I found someone at the Random Acts of Kindness Group on Ravelry who was looking for cloth diapering items.  To her, I sent a huge lot of cloth diapers that Knittymunchkin has outgrown: 8 covers with inserts, 8 extra inserts, 8 doublers, some biodegradable disposable inserts, and a sample of cloth diaper detergent.  That was a great feeling because the diapers were a bit worse for wear and I didn’t think there was any way I could sell them.  Yet, I didn’t want to throw them out or risk giving them to Goodwill since I figured they’d have no idea what to do with them.  It made me feel fantastic to know that someone else could get a little more use out of them.  I also mailed some sock yarn minis in dark colors that won’t go very well in my Beekeeper’s Quilt to a lady in New Jersey. She’s working on a blanket for her daughter who is going through a really difficult time, and had run out of yarn to use. Being on a budget, she was having a hard time finishing the blanket, so I thought it would be nice to help her out as so many others have helped me. And tomorrow night I am most likely going to be teaching a teenager to knit! So I am gifting her some dishcloth cotton, a pair of needles, and an instructional leaflet. All stuff from my stash that I don’t necessarily need anymore. I just hope I am an o.k. teacher and that she has fun with it :)
 
They say it takes at least a month for a new behavior to become a habit.  I’d say in at least that amount of time I’ve become almost addicted to the feeling of getting rid of things.  It’s so strange!  But I am always looking ahead to the next thing that I want to gift or sell.  I may have to allow myself a pass sometime in the future though.  This week was so big that I think it makes up for at least two weeks of destashing!
 
And because there’s not enough knitting on here (ever) anymore, and also because Lynn is always excitedly asking for photos, here’s a teaser pic of some of the puffs I’ve made for my Beekeeper’s Quilt.  I’d hoped to do a Puffrospective (Puff + Retrospective = Puffrospective) each month this year, but it’s not working out well with my lack of time for photography and blogging.  ~Sigh~  Someday….
 

Puffs in Regia by Kaffe Fassett

 

Thinning The Nest: Thursday Number 5

Week 5:  10 balls of yarn!
 
This week’s exodus happened sort of inadvertently.  As most of you know, I have a ginormous stash.  And it’s sort of out of control.  Well, it’s actually pretty organized, there’s just an embarrassing amount of it.  I’m just a little OCD about photographing it, entering it into Ravelry and my own personal spreadsheet, and keeping tabs on yardage as well as cost per hank/skein/ball.  Despite that, there are actually a few items here and there that slip through the cracks, so my entire stash is not quite up to date on Ravelry.  But it’s  close.  Anyway, I occasionally get messages from other Ravelry folks wanting to know if something or another is for sale.  Usually they are asking about my “regular” stash and I have to gently point out that the only things truly for sale in my stash are on my trade/sell page.  I try to be friendly.  And I wish them luck in their search.  I mean, it never hurts to ask, right?  But sometimes I find myself getting a little irked when someone who solicited me about my yarn has the gall to act huffy with me; like my yarn is up for grabs just because I took a photo and wrote some stash notes about purchase prices.
 

Ella Rae Silkience in "Silky Lime"

 
But sometimes when people ask I just happen to have been looking at that particular yarn and wondering what the heck I was going to do with all of it (I have a lot of sweater quantities of yarn).  And did I really like that color anyway?  That’s what happened this week.  I sold a nice lady (with the same first name as me!) 10 balls of Ella Rae Silkience in “Silky Lime”.  That’s 1190 yds total!  And I still have 10 balls left for myself.  I like to think that worked out nicely :)  Lucky me!  Another week without purging angst!
 
On an unrelated, but no less important note, Knittymunchkin turned two today.  Wow.  When they tell you time flies and that you’ll notice it more when you have kids, they weren’t kidding. How did my baby get to be two years old?!  I’m having lots of flashbacks to all the time we spent in the hospital with him, how fragile he seemed, and how worried we were for him.  And now he’s a talking, running, jumping, laughing toddler, with no trace of that fragility left.  Today was low-key as R. Darling had to work this afternoon and evening.  Knittymunchkin and I read books and had our milk and coffee waiting for Daddy to wake up.  Then we opened presents, had cake (with disastrous results), a nap, and a visit with Grandma.  A pretty regular day.  Next year will be a completely different ball game I’m sure.  This is our last “holiday” where Knittymunchkin isn’t wholly aware of the gift-giving business and the fact that the world really does revolve around him.  I never really thought I wanted to be a mother but now that I have Knittymunchkin in my life, I know I do. I am so incredibly grateful that he is here and I have the privilege of being his mama.  I am one lucky girl!  Happy Birthday sweet Boy!
 

The Birthday Boy!

 

Thinning The Nest: Thursday Number 4

Week 4:  A Big Down Comforter!
 
This week was simple.  There were no massive emotional fireworks, no sentimental mooning around, no digging deep in order to find the courage to purge.  It was all about simplicity.
 
Several years ago, when my Father-in-Law worked for Tempur-Pedic, we were able to get a fantastic deal on a California King sized adjustable Tempur-Pedic bed.  We call it our “old people” bed because we have a remote that adjusts the head and feet up and down to whatever setting you desire; just like that bed on TV that allows the “old people” to get in and out more easily.  I should be embarrassed to have an “old person” bed.  Except that it kicks ass.  And I can say I have a remote for my bed.  Conjures up all kinds of crazy images, huh?  It does have a massage feature…..
 
Anyway, the thing about Tempur-Pedic beds is that they run hot.  I figured that would be a blessing considering my feet never seem to thaw out all winter long and I have been known to wear sweatshirts on a 70 degree summer afternoon.  In a word, I’m cold all the time.  That first winter we had it we put on the big down comforter and snuggled up underneath the covers, only to find it really did run hot and we were sweltering.  Being too hot at night is nearly as miserable as being too cold.  So we bought a new comforter that was a bit lighter and pretty soon I slept like Goldilocks – just right.  But I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of the old comforter.  Maybe we’d have a crushing winter hurricane and need to huddle under it for warmth someday.  You never know.  But after several years of never once needing that other, heavier, down comforter, I knew it was over.  This week we gifted it to my Mother-in-Law and her husband.  Things have been a bit tight for them this winter and I know they are keeping the thermostat low to save on energy bills.  They were thrilled to get it and we were thrilled to help out.  Now everyone is snuggly warm at night!  If only every week could be this easy……
 

Little Red Bicycle Mini-Skein Club - December 2011

 
Here’s a little eye-candy just to remind you that yes, this is still primarily (supposed to be) a knitting blog.  I know there’s been a scarcity on that subject here lately and I feel pretty bad about that.  I’m still finding it really difficult to blog even the once a week I promised to do at this point, so Thinning The Nest seems to get all the focus.  But I hope that can change sometime in the coming months.  I’ve been knitting, really I have!  I just need to find some time to talk about it.  Don’t give up on me yet!  I’ll get there, I know I will :)

 

Thinning The Nest: Thursday Number 3

Week 3: A bunch of random crap!
 
The last week has been amazingly, stressfully busy.  We decided to re-finance our home and that means some dude has to come through here, take a bunch of photos, peer through the mess of toddler toys, paraphernalia of half a dozen hobbies, wear and tear of 12 years and 2.5 dogs, and ultimately decide if we just lost our pants on a $550 appraisal or if we will be saving ourselves $200 a month.  Can you say panic attack?  This is probably a non-issue for normal people.  You know, people with style, no yarn hoarder in residence, and a housekeeper.  But man, I cannot wait until this is over and done with!  Tequila is ready and waiting.  Wait, I’d better have one of those right now….
 
With all that in mind, I’m afraid this week’s Thinning The Nest is a bit weak.  Yes we did throw out about 30 lbs. of recyclables (hooray for trash day coinciding with the clean out!), and about 6 huge garbage bags of stuff, but I don’t feel right counting that since it was mostly R. Darling’s stuff.  Though we are partners in crime in getting our act together this year, I know that I need to make more of an effort than I have so far and my goal in getting rid of one thing each week was to force myself to come to terms with my own piles of crap.
 
So this week I did get rid of a couple small things.  I chucked out a spent glass candle holder from Bath & Body Works that I was ridiculously planning to repurpose into either a pencil cup or a nifty vase.  It was super cute; orange with white etched out dots.  I have a thing for stuff with dots on it.  But when you used the candle up 3 years ago and the stupid candle holder is still waiting around to be cleaned out and put to a good use, you start to think it’s probably never going to happen.  I grew up in a family that never threw anything out.  “I can use that for (insert super useful household item here)”, was our motto.  Most of the time that never happened.  So I’m giving it up, even if it’s like pulling teeth to throw something out that’s useful.  I doubt I’ll even miss it.  I just had to go through the exercise of telling myself that, and really believing it, before I could let go.
 

 
I also tossed out my trusty BedBug.  I bought this at a Crap Craft Fair in Pullman when I used to live there.  It kept my toes toasty on many a cold, snowy night, with R. Darling 385 miles away.  I thought at one point that I’d sew oodles of these and make lots of money and live in my pajamas in a house on the beach for the rest of my life.  Or at least pay my bills.  And then the Jack Russell met the BedBug.  And they did not mix.  The Jack (unsurprisingly) won the tussle and poor BedBug has some pretty deep teeth marks to show for the encounter.  I admit.  It was hard to let go.  I absolutely do not know why.  Maybe it just reminded me of my life in Pullman?  This must be where those psychologists they always employ on “Hoarders” come in to tell me that I am certifiably nutso.  Whatever the reason I couldn’t let go, it is now on its way to the garbage can.  Any minute now.  No really.  Right.Now.
 

 
Another one of my (many) issues with stashing things is that I absolutely cannot bring myself to use things that are “too nice”.  This includes yarn, beauty products, clothing, sometimes even food.  I don’t know what I’m waiting for.  I’m not getting any younger.  I could die tomorrow.  And then that something that’s “too nice” for every day would just be wasted.  I need to remind myself that if I really love something, chances are I can buy more of it if I really want to.  But I’ll never know how nice (or not nice – I’ve been sadly surprised on this before) something is if I never use it.  Some things definitely have an expiration.
 
One of the things I loved about the Hazel Knits Sock Club was the fantastic swag Wendee always included in her packages.  A couple years back she included this Bee Bar from Honey House Naturals.  It has been sitting in my nightstand for a really long time now and I just couldn’t bring myself to use it.  I’m not much of a lotion person when it comes to my hands.  I hate that goopy greasy feeling and I wash my hands about a billion and one times a day so it seems sort of pointless.  But wintertime always wreaks havoc on my hands and I find myself needing to at least apply it before bed to stave off real damage.  This week that hasn’t been enough.  So I brought the Bee Bar into the kitchen and every once in a while, would put a little across my rough, cracked knuckles.  It wasn’t greasy and smelled fantastic.  Knittymunchkin kept holding his knuckles out for some too – it was super cute :)  I’m happy I’m finally using this!  It’s a great product, it’s helping me, and I’m using it up.  Win, Win, Win!
 
Oh and the yarn?  That was a superbly generous, wonderfully kind gifty from my ever-thoughtful friend Amy!  She heard I was working on The Beekeeper’s Quilt and offered to send me some scraps.  Only these aren’t scraps, these are like quarter skeins or more!  Thanks so much Amy!  I can’t wait to use them :)  And a huge thank you to Betty too for so kindly sending me some lovely yarn to add to my blanket (whole, new skeins!)!  I am so excited to have little reminders of each of you to add to my project.  And once again, I am blessed to belong to a community of knitters.  You are all the best!

 

Thinning The Nest: Thursday Number 2

This week’s Thinning The Nest is sponsored by: Knittymunchkin!
 
I found out last summer that one of my former co-workers is expecting a little boy in March (almost exactly 2 years after Knittymunchkin’s original due date – if he wasn’t in such a hurry to arrive 5 weeks early!).  We were given three HUGE rubbermaid totes full of baby clothes by one of R. Darling’s co-workers when Knittymunchkin was born, and I remember how amazingly helpful that was for us and how grateful we were to receive it.  Though R. Darling does well with his job, money always seems to be tight with a newborn in the house.  So I thought, what better way to pay some of that good karma forward, than to do this for someone else.  Many of the things that Knittymunchkin has worn have been through several kids, lots of spills, and assorted newborn/toddler antics.  So there isn’t a whole lot that’s still in good shape.  But once I started collecting things I was happily surprised to see the pile of stuff I was able to get together for her.  Four giant bags of things, and more to come!  Technically these aren’t out of the house as of this Thursday, but they will be by tomorrow, so I’m counting this as my week’s accomplishment.
 

Because nothing says "Welcome Baby!" like stuff in a Harley bag!

 

Week 2:  Four big bags of baby things!  Done!

 
I read an article in Better Homes & Gardens last year about this family that tried to see how little garbage they could produce in one year.  At the end of one year they had perhaps a small handful of detritus to show for themselves.  Impressed, I read the article wondering how they could possibly do this.  There were some interesting tips in there, and a lot of things that I didn’t really think I could feasibly do myself without a lot of inconvenience.  I know that sounds crappy, but there it is.  Sometimes convenience just trumps saving the planet (if only for a moment or two).  But one of the things that really struck a chord with me was their suggestion to take photos of sentimental items instead of actually saving those things and having them take up space. Most especially when you just store the objects rather than using them frequently.  One of my biggest problems with clutter is that I am too damn sentimental.  I want to keep everything.  And I mean everything.  I have letters that I received from pen pals in middle school for crap’s sake!  So I like this idea.  And I think it would work for most things.
 

Knittymunchkin at 20 months

 
I thought it would work here.  I mean, there’s the photo.  I don’t need the sweatshirt, right?  But when it came to this face, and my memory of this day, I had a moment of weakness.  That photo can’t show me just how tiny this little bit of fleece was when I look back at it 20 years from now, when my son is 6’4″ like his daddy and this day is a distant memory.  So I’m afraid to say that little sweatshirt was rescued from today’s Thinning The Nest stash.  Let’s face it.  I’m weak.  But I’ve still got some time to let go.  If I can :)

 

Thinning The Nest: Thursday Number 1

Happy New Year!!
 
I spent the final evening of 2011 watching a Dirty Harry movie with my sweetie (one of the items on my 101 in 1001 Days/Day Zero Project list). Midnight found us still awake, a rare occurrence on a New Year’s Eve in a household with a toddler and two sticks-in-the-mud in residence. We watched the fireworks at the Space Needle on TV, kissed, and went to sleep. A sweet, but ordinary way to end 2011. I felt a bit glad that the old year was going to bed too.
 

The start of a new year does not typically inspire me to make a bunch of resolutions.  I know myself too well.  I mean, how many years has it been now that I told myself I was going to knit with what I already own and do my best to avoid adding to the SABLE¹ stash that’s been slowly, insidiously, spreading from room to room?  Instead, I make token attempts to better myself by phrasing my plans in vocabulary that makes it impossible to fail.  I say things like, “I’ll work out more”, instead of “I’ll work out 30 minutes every day”.  Something I read once said this technique is the best way to get those resolutions to stick and I’ve done it ever since.  No, I save those big, specific, life changing plans for my birthday in September.  That’s the real beginning of my year.
 
But 2012 is here and there is just something about it that I can’t put my finger on.  I want to make changes.  I want to do the right thing this year.  The prospect of 2012 is making me incredibly optimistic.  Maybe it’s because there’s a 12 in it (my favorite number), maybe it’s just because I am finally mentally ready.  Whatever the case, I’m going to put my best effort forth and see where it gets me.
 

Thinning The Nest: Thursday Number 1

 
I’m sure you’ve heard of people “feathering” their “nest”. There are whole industries that capitalize on our need to make our homes more homey. The problem with my nest is that there is just too much crap in it. It’s starting to feel a lot less homey and a lot more like a storage unit with cartoonish piles of things falling over on themselves. So, I am resolving to make a change.  Every week I plan to throw out, donate, gift, use up, or sell at least one thing.  I imagine that these will sometimes be fibery things :) Each Thursday will be my “Thinning The Nest” day and I will do my best to post about my pledge every week.  It doesn’t sound like much, but that would end up being at least 52 things by the end of the year.  As long as I can resist bringing 52 more things in, then I will be making progress.  It’s worth a try!  I imagine some weeks will be better than others.  But you have to start somewhere and this is my somewhere.
 
As I mentioned last time, I received an iPad for Christmas (because I’m spoiled like that!).  This means that my Martha Stewart Living and Everyday Food magazines have free apps for subscribers that allow me to download onto my iPad the last 4 or 5 issues of each.  So this week I passed on about 10 magazines to my friend John who is very straight (his pronouncement, not mine!), very much loves Martha Stewart, and very much loves being in his kitchen.  One of my major problems with clutter has always been cooking and craft magazines.  There is always something I want to cook or make in each of them, but I just don’t have the time.  So they sit there, piled in the way, moving from room to room as I clean one spot or another, never really going away and never really getting used.  It felt good to give these away and know that someone else was going to get to enjoy them.  And I get the benefit of retaining the info I want to keep in a slim little package the size of a book, rather than a messy stack of magazines that I’ll never have the time to get to anyway.
 
Week One: Magazines! Done!
 
Oh and the yarn?  It’s Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in “Strawberry Lemonade”.  I joined another swap for mini-skeins on Ravelry.  Technically this doesn’t count as destashing because, even though I’m using yarn from stash and not purchasing, I’m going to be getting the equivalent in yarn back (only in mini form).  It’s kind of a cheap form of entertainment.  I’m getting new (to me) yarn without having to pay anything but shipping and the amount of time it takes me to make minis.  Totally worth it if you ask me!
 
Hope your New Year is off to a great start & that your resolutions (if you made any) are well under way!  Wishing all of you much success, joy, and peace this upcoming year :)
 
 
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¹ SABLE:  Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy; for those of you not in the know, i.e. those of you who have even a modicum of self control :)