The Best Laid Plans ...

I took a couple of days off from work last week. I had planned on finishing the main part of the birthday stole with a view to have the border done by the end of the month (in time for the giftee's birthday party).

It now looks like my new target date will be giftee's actual birthday in mid-September as I never even picked up the stole all weekend long.

I have been in cleaning and organizing mode. Since such mood doesn't strike me very often, I have learned to just go with it when it does.

My stash had been ... em ... stashed ... in different areas of my very small apartment - some still in a stack of Elann white boxes, some in my clothes closet (to the point where there was no longer room for any clothes) and more in bags stuffed here and there. I'd had enough of having to dig through various locations to find what I wanted, so I decided that the stash had to be centralized. I have a linen closet which held not linens, but a variety of craft and sewing supplies and my sewing machine. I haven't done crafts in over five years and the only sewing I ever do anymore is hemming pants - which I have been doing by hand because hauling the machine out of the closet and setting it up is too much of a pain.

So, it was clean-up time. All the crafting supplies were unceremoniously discarded (it was more than time ... all of my glues and paints had totally dried up) and the sewing paraphernalia was culled to an acceptable minimum.

My sewing machine has been set up on my desk since it is no longer used as a computer desk (the desktop PC having been replaced by a laptop a few months ago). The machine has been joined by my knitting books - all in easy reach.



I had to clean the machine's insides first, but it is now in working order and I've already hemmed two pairs of pants.

All my yarn has now been relocated to the linen closet:



See the bottom part ... more yarn in two space bags. I didn't have the nerve to inflate them to see what was in there!

Most people have a sock drawer.

I now have a sock-to-be drawer:

There was some knitting done during the weekend. I've had a special request for two baby blankets - both babies due in December. I figured I might as well get started.

It is knitting up pretty fast. Hopefully I won't get sidetracked by yet another project calling my name.