Yarn Organization, Part Two

After what seems like an eon, I'm back with what I ended up doing with my yarn!  There were a couple of different things that I wanted to accomplish.  I wanted my yarn storage to look nice, and I wanted it to be easily accessible.  In a house with four kids and two adults, both of those can be rather difficult feats...due to space constraints and the necessity to keep the yarn where little fingers are less likely to tangle it all up.

What I decided on was cleaning up a little bit around my computer desk in the basement, relocate the printer, and move my wine rack yarn storage to the top of an old cabinet.

I decided to keep some of my favorite yarn in the shelves, and the rest went into convenient bins inside the cabinet.  I put my knitting needle tips on top, along with my larger pattern books.  To the left is a magazine holder with knitting magazines and books, and to the right is a holder with crochet magazines and pamphlets.  I love having my pretty yarn on display, and I really enjoy having all of my patterns/references in one place.

The top shelf of my rack holds 100% cotton yarn, the middle holds wool blends on the left and cotton blends on the right, and the bottom has 100% animal fibers.  In the lidded bin are the rest of my balls (!) of 100% cotton yarn, and it usually sits in the bottom of my little computer desk.  Inside the cabinet (which once held an old TV) are two bins of wool yarn.  Bright colors on the left, and neutrals on the right.  If you look close, you can see an empty bin waiting for instructions, and another container full of wool yarn scraps that I haven't decided what to do with yet.

It's been a little over a month since I started using this system, and I must say that it is working quite will for me.  I have yet to pry my precious yarn out of sneaky little fingers, and it has been an absolute breeze to find patterns.  I still need to find a way to be a little more disciplined about how many WIPs I've got!  Any suggestions?

Spider, Spider

I'll be the first person to admit that I am afraid of spiders. And when I say afraid, I mean terrified. If it's bigger around than a penny, I don't want anything to do with it. My eleven year old son kills spiders for me, and I think my five year old daughter isn't far behind. They both understand that asking Mom to kill a spider is almost as dangerous as trying to ask me a question before I've had coffee in the morning.

So, I don't know why I wanted to crochet a spider. It really doesn't make any sense to me at all, but I did it anyway. And, every time I look at it I get creeped out.

It's kind of cute in a 'I'm going to stomp on you as soon as I find boots big enough' way, dontcha think?

Phat Fiber

Phat Fiber is the Shiznit, yo. And I don't just call anything
the Shiznit.
Phat Fiber makes available every month a 'mystery box' for people like
me who are slightly obsessed with all things related to yarn and fiber.
You know, the people who go slightly teary eyed at the thought of
Cashmere and Merino all twisted around together like the most perfect
lovers in the world, just waiting for the right person to come along
and work them up into something even more magical. The people like me
who aren't afraid to stand up and say "My name is Rose, and I'm a
fiberholic."
So, each box contains a myriad of samples sent in from different indie
artisans. One can choose between the regular box (which has everything
from roving to batts to yarn, stitch markers and more) or the 'stitches
only' box for people like me who don't spin or needle felt. It contains
the same amount of samples, but doesn't include the fiber for spinning
and felting.
I got mine first one today, and Wow! I am impressed!


February's theme was romance and chocolate, so my box included lots of
yummy samples of yarn in pink colorways, and a couple of brown too. I got knitting stitch markers (while I am mainly a crocheter, I'll have to start a knitting project soon just so I can use those gorgeous markers), lovely shea butter cream, a knitting graphic novel (how cool is that!) and lots of discount codes that I am definitely going to take advantage of.

Two of my favorite things from this box:
A gorgeous...no, beyond gorgeous shawl pin,

and this chocolate covered spoon that made me say "Hello, Lover" out loud, much to my embarrassment.
I encourage all of you to mosey on over to the Phat Fiber web site and join the mailing list to find out when the next box will be available. You won't be disappointed!

Confession

I have a confession to make.
I can't be monogomous to one project. There, I've said it.

One project at a time just isn't enough for me. I've tried so many times to dedicate myself to one blanket, one scarf, one gift...but I just can't do it. I need to accept the fact that no matter how hard I try, I will never be able to quash the siren song of a new pattern just waiting to be created. I need to embrace my flightiness and rejoice in the afghan, longies, hat (ok, two hats), skirt, toy, and sock that I am working on. And when I start on that baby blanket in a few days, and a shawl in a couple of weeks I need to look in the mirror and tell myself that 'I am O.K.'
No longer will I think of it as cheating when I bypass my UFOs in favor of something new and exciting.

Kentucky Wool Fest

Earlier the month, we decided to follow some friends of ours to the Kentucky Wool Fest in Falmouth, KY. I was expecting a dinky little fair with some old guys and some sheep, but little did I know that it is the event of the year down in Pendleton County.



Traffic was horrible...we spent about 45 minutes either stopped or just barely crawling down the road. I also learned that if one wants to park sooner, one should not complain to the officer directing traffic. Luckily, that lesson was one I learned from the woman a couple of cars behind us. Said officer decided to go and give her a little talk after she yelled some not so sweet sentiments at him from her car.




It honestly wasn't so much a wool festival as a craft show. There were two really long tents devoted to animals which are raised primarily for their fibers, and yarn spun from said fibers. All of the other tents were set up with multi-media crafts. Some were really cool, and some were mass produced stuff, just like any other craft show. We did some shopping and found some really neat hand made Christmas gifts while we were there ;)



We did get to see a ram lamb shearing, which was pretty neat. The poor little guy most definitely didn't want to participate in the exhibition, but once he realized that he didn't have a choice he settled down pretty well. The gentleman explaining the shearing gave us a brief history of the methods and the tools used. I was impressed with the old hand-cranked shears...that really called for some teamwork!


I only bought one skein of yarn (and it wasn't even handspun, sadly), but I do plan on saving up to go again next year. The kids had a great time, especially Benny who got to have a Daddy-ride practically the whole time!