Busy Busy

It was with renewed vigour that I surveyed my surroundings this afternoon. "This won't do," I thought to myself. The mess was everywhere. Stacks of magazines, lovingly collected for recipes or knitting patterns or pretty photographs, were starting to lean sideways in a precarious manner. The wastepaper basket was overflowing with tissues - I have a cold. The cat was sleeping happily in an unmade bed (I don't have the heart to disturb him). A pair of furry pink slippers and beige and brown cowboy boots lay on the floor, tripping all who dared to pass. This wouldn't do at all.

So I have decided to get a bit more organised. I have no idea how things came to be this way - all I've been doing is sitting in front of the pc under a blanket. My first step is to deal with the magazines. I have started scanning them into PDF versions. This is such an elegant solution, as it reduces clutter (I can give them magazines to a library or doctor's office) and I have all my magazines in one place, with no adverts. This will take a long time, but once it's done, I will feel much better.

I've purchased a plastic storage bin (I was inspired by my online knitting friend, mooshie - her hobby room looks stuffed to the brim, but oh so organised! *jealous*) for my yarns. I am ashamed to say that my (what I thought was a small) stash doesn't fit in there, so I will have to buy at least two more. I am also wracked with guilt, as I haven't updated my whole stash on Ravelry. One step at a time.

Here is the storage bin, it's the perfect size.



I want loads more of these, they're great! My needles fit in there, too.

Lastly, un update on the braided hood. I've been avoiding it, since any fool can see I won't have enough yarn for the whole thing. This means I'll have to go out and buy some more. I will then be the genius who managed to turn a one skein project into a four skein one. Oh well, the thicker double-strand effect is really lovely and cosy. I could get away with purchasing only one extra skein, but since I'm knitting with two strands, I'll have to unwind it and cut it in half - thanks, but no thanks. The whole project is still well under R100 ($13), which is still reasonable for such a cutie-pie hoodie.

So that's that. I'm busy getting organised, getting rid of clutter and during this lengthy process I will slowly but surely upload my stash info onto Ravelry. And start knitting my next projects. (That coat! I want!) The multi-coloured Magnum yarn in my stash (there are three skeins, the blue label) will be turned into a baker boy hat:


I will see how long this wave of energy lasts.

My mini-stash

I got 500g (in 10 50g skeins) of Elle Carress DK in Charcoal. I also got two 100g Elle Pure Gold DK in Azzure (aqua blue) and in Lily (white). I've expanded my needle collection with 4mm 35cm needles and 4mm circulars.

The plan is this:

Knit a belly warmer in the Charcoal in 2 x 2 rib. I'm thinking of leaving a plain (non-ribbed) panel on the front, for the embroidery. The embroidery will be a little birdie, Swiss darned onto the belly warmer, in the blue and white. I hope this will come out as awesome as I imagine it will.