Today is Epiphany.........also know as the feast of the Three Kings. This is the traditional day when we Catholics take down our Christmas decorations. Most of mine will be gone by this evening. The outdoor lights may not come down until tomorrow as we are getting quite a nice rain here. Inside will be down and in their boxes waiting to go to the shed once the rain stops. The house will seem so much bigger once the tree is down and all the decor around the house is put away.
As far as knitting goes.............there has been a bit of that going on the past few days. Since I had company from last Saturday until Wednesday morning, I was not able to do as much knitting as I normally get to do. Here is what I did accomplish this past week.
Then there is this:
The everlasting Advent Scarf. See the progress keeper? That is where I was last Sunday. As you can see, not as much got done on it as normal. I am on day 22 of 24. My hope is to have this off the needles by the end of this week. It is one of the most intricate items I have ever knit. Would I do it again? Sure would. In fact, now that I have the Japanese stitch bible, I plan on doing some socks and fingerless mitts using some of these stitches.
That is all of my crafting this week. I was very focused on decluttering some of my house this week. Why? Well, when I went into the craft room closet to get down some tissue paper for Christmas, I had a landslide of 'stuff' fall on my head. That did it. Time to clean things out that are not being used. I am 3/4 done in my craft room. So far I have 5 magazine holders full of patterns to go to the prayer shawl ladies. Then here is my donations for Big Brother Big Sisters:
I don't want you to think I am a hoarder. Believe me, I hate clutter. My craft room was holding all the craft items from my mom too. There were 5 suitcase type boxes of her beading materials, alone! I went through every box, item by item. I kept a few things and my Grand Daughter kept some things too. I have been storing her stuff for over 18 months now. It was time. Hopefully, the remainder of the craft room will be completed this week also. The picture above also has items from the Grand Daughter's room. She has outgrown all her clothes we had here. She also decided to go through all her toy bins and donated quite a few toys also. Her room is almost completed too. I need to go through the top part of her closet where I have stored a few items and get those out of here too. It feels so GOOD to finally start to get this place in tip top shape.
My children have told me if we do not get things cleaned out they will just blow the house up when we die. LOL I know they are just kidding................at least I think they are. We have lived here for over 30 years, so there is quite a bit of 'stuff' that needs to go. I have no problem giving stuff away.......hubby on the other hand.......well, it is harder for him for reasons I will not go into on a public forum. But I understand it and gently guide him as he releases items.
Speaking of Grand Daughters......my youngest one turned 13 the end of last year. I now have 5 teenage grands and 3 twenty something grands plus a 7 month Great Grand! I am truly blessed. But I digress. This seems to happen more and more the older I get. Anywho......We were lucky enough to have a sleepover last night with the local Grand Daughter. Since she has become a teen she seldom comes to our house to hang out. ( I get it......I may not like it, but I get it. ) While she was working on cleaning out her bedroom here, she ran across some fun things. We laughed quite a bit and took several trips down memory lane. She even found her Uncle's 7th grade year book and had a lot of fun looking through that. She found a pre-schooler etch-a-sketch that had been forgotten about. We had the most fun with that. Drawing pictures and sending written messages on it to each other. Here is the last message she sent to me:
What a wonderful way to end a fantastic evening!
Until next time...................Happy Crafting!!!!
Wow...that scarf! It's beautiful, but I doubt I'd have the patience for it! And yes to cleaning out the clutter! We are planning on living in the inlaws house...well were are living there now....but still don't have most of our stuff here....we have to clean out the inlaws stuff...and Larry's sister died 4 years ago and she lived with her parents. My MIL only partially cleaned out her room...there is so much stuff...they never got rid of anything....
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely evening and a nice message. Love the advent scarf. I too love a bit of decluttering, and the start of the year seems as good a time as any to do it.
ReplyDeleteWhat yarn do you use for your dish clothes? I thought I would give those a go as we have been using horrible synthetic sponges which aren't great for the environment and once the existing pack is gone I want to switch to a more environmental one. I'm so intrigued by the Japanese knitting and looking forward to seeing anything else that you make using these stitches and the advent scarf looks great. I did a lot of decluttering last year and agree it feels great. Yesterday when we were in the loft putting the decorations away, I asked my husband if we could throw away some speakers he has in the loft that haven't been used in the 14 years we've been together! Long story short...they are still in our loft, so I can sympathise with your situation.
ReplyDeleteMarsha that scarf is gorgeous, can't believe it's nearly done. It's been no problem to you and looks amazing already. Isn't a de-clutter great even when you don't have a lot, it's still nice and you feel great afterwards I think.
ReplyDeleteI love that scarf! And yay for decluttering, it's such a relief to free up space and give things away. One gets to enjoy the things one keeps so much more.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't decorate for Christmas this year, but I do know that good feeling when clearing the decks for a new year. You've given me an idea, friend. I'm going to try to plow through my cotton yarn by making more dishcloths. I, too, have a favorite pattern, but I'm a little reluctant to show my piddly 1 dishcloth a week (I knit much slower than you). I will, instead, show all that I've made at the end of the month - in one post. I realize that's not what you did, but seeing your dishcloths lined up in one picture was the inspiration for that idea. :) We'll see how it goes.
ReplyDeleteYour Advent scarf is beautiful. I truly love that color, and your cabling is so pretty.
And thank you for the kick in the seat about decluttering. I know you weren't meaning to kick me, but I felt it and it was welcome. It seems like craft supplies multiply in the night. I can't imagine how it multiplied bring home your mother's items. Bless your heart, friend, for the task that was to sort through.
How sweet is that etch-a-sketch! :)
Your post made me so happy. I love the comment about blowing up the house. We have done some major decluttering in 2018 and there is more to come once I get home. Landslides are a great motivator. You are clearly an experienced granny! I may be looking to you for advice. Here is to a wonderful 2019. Happy 3 kings' day to you too.our little tree is put away as is our little creche.
ReplyDeleteI will have to try that dishcloth pattern. Yours turned out so pretty. I am going to utilize the Konmari Method of Tidy Up...I am more like your husband...it is hard for me to let things go and some of them are pricey items and furniture so it's hard to get rid of. You are a natural organizer and you get so much done while I sit and make lists! LOL! Your shawl is going to be beautiful when you are done. I'm going to focus on WIP's this year and clearing out especially the crafts room...I can't find things! LOL! Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteYou are doing such a great job on that advent scarf. All that lace and cables would drive me nuts. Good job on working on the clutter. I need to start cleaning with CNY on 2/5.
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