lowering standards

i used to be anal retentive about organizing my knitting.  i learned over the winter how my standards have dropped.  and oh, have they ever.  


much of my stash is still mostly organized.  i have my large hamper full of sweater bags of yarn sorted by color.  





a few months ago i tidied up the boxes and bags that contain my sock yarn.  







my picnic bins could be desired, tho.  they seem to be the depository for recent acquisitions, as has the wire bins by my craft desk.  those yarns are actually sorted by event (KDO, xmas, PSOTMC, etc.).  





i used to log my new yarns in my yarn journals (i started my second moleskine 2 years ago).  a few weeks back i spent a half hour taping yarn labels and noting when and where i purchased the yarn.  some of the yarns dated before the kiddos were born (we're talking over 2 years).  i didn't add my usual snip of a sample of yarn, so i pray when i go to use the yarns, i'll know what it is.  i'm also discovering that instead of pasting the label in the book, that i stick the label inside the cake after i wind it.  that's not a bad thing, becos then i know what the yarn is instead of digging through my book.


speaking of which, i rarely wind my yarn into cakes anymore.  never mind that i got a new swift for xmas!  i guess i thought hanks took up less room in the sweater bags than cakes, and more often than not, i'm not using the yarn right away anyway.  so you'll find many of my yarns from KDO and christkindl market still wound in hanks.


i try to keep up with my new yarns and projects on ravelry.  isn't that a great tool for organization?!  but i've gotten behind on that too.  i miss the days when i could photograph my progress on a WIP on a regular basis.  


as usual, being busy with my children is the reason why i haven't been as anal retentive about my stash and WIPs.  but kids grow up, and when that happens, i'll have more time to devote to my stash.

organization

since receiving treatment for the lingering effects of having H1N1 and asthma, i am feeling way more energetic and healthier.  i almost feel manic.  wrong season for that (that would be spring).

anywho, one of the tasks i tackled with my newfound energy was cleaning up my recipe binder and "mommy notebook".  for the past year (well, two), i stuck recipes, parenting articles and other things interesting that i culled from magazines into binders and folders that languished on one of my kitchen stools.  it was high time i cleaned them out and organized them.

it took me over 2 hours to sort and organize recipes, punch holes in them, then put them in the appropriate section in this recipe binder that hubby's aunt and uncle from canada gave us when we got married.  as you can see, it's about to burst:




i guess my next task is to go through the recipes i don't want or like.  good thing:  i found that pumpkin, bacon and pasta recipe that i love.  and i was right - it was a martha recipe.


then i cleaned out my "mommy's notebook".  not quite as rockin' as the neon trapper keeper i had in 5th grade, but it's a good spot to store notes and articles i want to keep:




no organized mommy worth her salt is without her dymo label maker.  with it, i am MARTHA!  hear me ORGANIZE!


the binder has 3 folders for each of the kids, and i relabeled the tabs so i could get better use out of them. i think i got this binder 3 years ago, and it still had the (unused) church tab in there.




the "household" tab contains articles about cleaning, recycling, and general housekeeping tips.

the "menus" tab is where i corralled the take out menus.

"eating" has articles about feeding babies/toddlers/kids.  some of these articles (such as making homemade baby food) were a bit outdated, now that the kiddos are eating table food.  shame on me for not utilizing that article more.

the "crafts" section has different crafts - both kid and grownup - that i want to hold onto.

the "parenting" tab is obvious - tips on potty training, stubborn strong-willed kids, and articles that make me laugh/cheer me up.




the boy's school folders, where i keep his calendars, handbook, and other important school papers.  i'm not wonder woman, but i do try!

now that i've tidied up these two binders, i feel a lot better.  and now that i'm feeling better, maybe i'll be more apt to keep up with the recipes and articles, instead of letting them accumulate into clutter.




not full of tootsie rolls but...



change we can believe in!

i dumped out a small cup and my change purse and filled this little bank to overflowing!  we also have a penny jar upstairs that is filled to the brim.  my plan is to take it to a coinstar machine and exchange it for bills.  i'm thinking of giving the money to the boy, to buy groceries for the local homeless shelter.  i don't know how much money is there, but hopefully enough to get a few meals' worth of canned goods for a needy family.

patterns

my loose knitting patterns have been a jumble as of late.  i use 4 plastic accordion files to store my patterns, and they were getting really overstuffed.  i buy these files at target, where they are occasionally sold in the dollar bins.  i bought them with hubby and our bill filing in mind, but he did not want to use them, so i decided i'd use them for my patterns.

my patterns are sorted by socks, sweaters, toys, hats, scarves, mittens, dishcloths, household, holiday, etc. etc.  i decided to sort these categories further by woman, man, child.  so in the sweaters category, i have women's sweaters, men's sweaters and children/baby.  i did the same for hats and socks.  i had a shawl category that i sorted by shawl and poncho.  it took a couple of hours, but i tamed my patterns.

here are the fruits of my labor:



these are all of my files.




these files contain my hats/scarves, shawls/ponchos, socks and blanket square patterns.




household/jewelry, holiday/toys, more socks, assorted patterns that i culled from magazines and the patterns are all mixed up (i might as well had kept the issue instead).




sweaters and WIPs.  the WIPs file is usually in my knitting bag - it contains all the patterns of current projects, plus those i want to knit someday.




i store my patterns on a shelf in my desk.  there isn't enough room for all the folders.  but they're a lot neater, and it's easier to find what i need.

the library annex

once upon a time a boy and a girl fell in love, bought an 80 year old farmhouse style home with 3 bedrooms/3 baths, and got married.   6 years ago one bedroom was converted into a nursery for a little boy.  the four shelves, which used to hold the girl's sweaters, now held books and stuffies.

over the years the boy and girl added to the library, buying books during travels, to commemorate special days and holidays, and books that used to belong to the boy and girl when they were little themselves.  the library grew and grew.

then one day the little boy who slept in the nursery moved to the other spare room.  the nursery was now filled with two tiny twins, a boy and a girl.  the little boy started school, and his mom bought him more books through the scholastic book clubs, and the library grew some more.

one day the girl got fed up at the hodgepodge of books.  that and the fact that she couldn't find "where the wild things are".

so while the twins played in their crib, the girl cleaned off each shelf and sorted books.

the girl found her favorite books from when she was little...

the books of the boy she loved...

after a few hours of hard work, the book shelves looked like this:

and a few additions of favorite stuffies...

finished.

15

closing in on nearly 4 months. i am now twice as far along as i was with ani. today i didn't feel as nauseous or as tired. maybe i'm heading into the "feeling good" part of pregnancy.

i cleaned up the computer room, collecting toys the boy doesn't play with much anymore. they'll be stored in his room, and then moved into a closet when we finish the middle room. they will be accessible in case he wants to play with them. mostly it's his thomas cars and track, a box full of play food and dishes, and some small stuffies that belong upstairs anyway. he's now into the "superhero" phase in his life, and since he gets new figures nearly every week, i guess we'll need to make room for them. there's a lot to be said about fung sui, i feel better already just moving some of the toys out of the room.