Work space cleared. We aim to be productive.

A few weeks ago my sister came to town and took it upon herself to organize my craft room. Well, she offered and I took her up on it before she could change her mind. Here’s where I’d show you the evidence of the horrible, horrible mess at the beginning of the project in order for you to be amazed by the progress and the prettiness at the end. But those pictures have gone walk about (or maybe I burned them). So, instead I’m going to ask you to imagine a yarn/costume/fiber/bead/paper store had been attacked by terrible, terrible space monkeys*. 

Central to the problem of my craft room is storage. My great aunt gave me this fabulous wardrobe (sadly it does not lead to Narnia, but does have lots of yarn in it so a different sort of wonderland), but I couldn’t actually see where anything was. I also had clear plastic bins, clear plastic stackable drawers, and a wire frame elfa island – all of which were ugly and none of which were being used effectively. 

There's a lot of yarn here, but I can't find anything.  I should buy more yarn for my next project... wait.

My method up until now was pull all the bags out, pull all the yarn out of the bags, find that one ball I was looking for, then put all the yarn back in all the bags. This was also how I organized my art supplies, only they were in plastic bins. I didn’t always remember to put all the yarn, or paper, or pencils back… you see where the space monkeys come in. 

So after taking quite a few measurements of the wardrobe and a quick trip to the Container Store** we pulled everything out of the wardrobe and I started sorting.

 

Should I sort by fiber, color or thickness? Key question.

I decided that fiber/use was the way to organize. For example I’ve my hand-spun (for special TBD projects) in one place, the nice acrylics in a basket, the cotton of various colors and thicknesses in another, and wool in yet another. The blue denim yarn (too nice to toss, but what to do with 12 skeins?) goes in the basket on the top shelf, with the other random blue cotton I’ve acquired. When I find the project I need it for I’ll know where it is, but until then it won’t be in the way. 

Yarn organized so I can find what I'm looking for?! Brilliant!

Look, floor!

Look, more floor! And clothes on hangers, how novel!
My sister organized the closet, so I can't take credit for how awesome this looks.

For now, my craft room is done. There are still a few pieces that need cleaned up. My sister found a box full of paper and mementos not touched in probably five years. I want to finish organizing the closet so everything I regularly use is accessible. I'd like to get another bookcase. And I’ve still got a bag of yarn that’s ugly, scratchy acrylic that I’m having a hard time throwing away. 

I might need it. 

I mean, I don’t want to have to go out and BUY more construction-cone orange, dingy green, or eye-searing aqua. That would just be silly. Anyone need me to crochet a miniature life-preserver for them? Anyone? organization 

Next time: Steel and Steam, and Wildflowers. 

*Yes, I still miss Firefly. Just the other day I thought, “I’d love to see the second season of that… oh wait.” 

** After spending 6 hours online trying to figure out what would fit, the time spent at the Container Store was whittled down to a mere 3 hours.

Daydream, meet Reality.

I wrote about the designing class I took a few weeks ago, but the result didn’t feel right so I didn’t post it. I’ve thought it over since, so I’ve taken another stab at it.

I had high hopes for the Designing for Beginners class. I’d just taken the dyeing class and I felt I was moving forward in my quest for fiber mastery. One of the many things I’ve daydreamed* about being is a knitwear designer. It blends my love of creating with my love of yarn – and I'd get paid for it. Best of all possible worlds, right? So, when I saw that there was a beginning designer class, I jumped at the chance to take it. And then I hit the wall formed when daydream meets the real world.

I thought I was going to a technical class. I’d thought I’d be learning about how to choose a collar on a sweater or recommendations for stitch patterns that are the most flattering for pear shaped women. I thought it would be about helping me on my way to figuring out designs that worked. Perhaps we’d get suggestions to keep us from accidentally designing a sack with sleeves and calling it a sweater. That was not the class I took.

The class I attended was much more business focused. We covered the importance of technical editors. We talked about creating and submitting proposals to yarn companies. We learned a whole bunch about the online world of publishing and tips and tricks to get our designs noticed. All these things are important to know. And I am certain the knowledge and guidance that Elizabeth, from Dark Matter Knits, imparted will be invaluable. But I’ve got one crochet accessory pattern and part of a blanket pattern worked out. I’m not there yet.

I don’t want to leave you with the impression that I didn’t enjoy the class. I did. The cross pollination of ideas was inspiring, and the look behind the scenes was informative. But I feel like there’s this chasm between where I am now and being a professional designer. I’m working on building a bridge to cross it; I’m taking classes, learning more about fiber and the fabric it creates, and collecting ideas for patterns. The class pointed out how far I’ve got to go. I’m not as far along as I thought I was.


*I’ve also daydreamed about becoming a professional model, or actress. I know better than to think too hard about making those a reality. Being the height I am, never mind my weight, makes the first idea an impossibility, and the second highly unlikely.

February Resolutions

I’ve been a bit off lately. Not down, just a bit off. There are different possible causes for this feeling. I’ve recently developed a taste for coffee and, since we acquired a single serve coffeemaker, I’ve begun to indulge my taste by having a cup in the morning. It’s not a lot of caffeine, but I’m instantly awake rather than slowly waking up over a cup of tea. Another possible cause is not going to the gym as often as I should. There are a whole bunch of excuses I could site here, but they aren’t important. I’ve not been in over a week, and haven’t even done any yoga since last Tuesday. Add a few parties, and too much rich food, and I guess it makes sense that I’m a bit off.

To fix this feeling, I’m going to start going to the gym every day after work, except Tuesdays when I’ll be doing yoga. I'll actually do some cardio. (I haven’t done cardio in months.) That should work for the body part. For the mental part I’m going to bring the spinning wheel back into the living room and spin at least once a week. I’ll do go to yoga class once or twice a week. And I’ll continue to focus on my shawl, as well as designing the baby blanket.

I'm excited about swatching. No really, I am!

I recently found out that another friend is expecting. And I've quite a few ideas for the baby blanket I want to make. It is time for me to design my own pattern. (I'm a little nervous.) I've a few lace ideas for the center, so I'll be posting pictures of swatches as they are done. I bought the yarn I plan on using today. I've got a lace shawl for me on the needles, a crochet scarf I'm working on, and I've started spinning again. There will be pictures... eventually.
But right now, I'm going to go find my size 6 circular needles and start swatching. Hell must have frozen over - I'm excited about swatching.

Kid N Ewe. I can't wait!

I’m almost ready to go to Kid N Ewe. The classes I’m taking on Friday are Indigo Dying and Creative Soap Making. If all goes well I may be giving out handmade soap for Christmas, if not crochet it is. I'd like to take Etsy 101and I Love Color, but they are at the same time as the Indigo class and dyeing wins out.

Saturday... I'm not sure what I'm going to do. My sister is getting a group of people together to go to Wurstfest but she’s not planning on leaving San Antonio till 7pm. I could go to Kid N Ewe that morning and meet up with her in the afternoon, but there just aren’t a lot of classes I want to take. There's a Beginning Tatting class that I'm interested in, but that's pretty much it. The One Pot Rainbow Dyeing sounds great, until you read the required gear list. It includes bringing your own heat source and large enamel pans - that’s not going to happen. The other idea is hang out in San Antonio and play Killer Bunnies until it's time to go eat sausage. I guess I'll see how I'm feeling that morning.

On Sunday, I’m taking A Spinner’s Workshop. I’d rather take Spinning the Exotics, but the Exotics conflicts with the class I’m really excited about, Cotton Spinning with a Tahkli Spindle. I’ve got a bunch of cotton that I’d love to be able to spin without fighting my wheel.

I’ve signed up for the classes on Friday and Sunday, so I have a reserved spot. If I do end up going on Saturday, I’ll probably be able to pick up a class or two. Either way I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures. I may bring home some fiber, and some yarn. I know, you're shocked.