Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Nesting in the NCC

My girls started it...first with the beads.

"Look at the new storage organizers I just received in the post for my beads!"

We all looked and were very impressed. Magical has a superb way of organizing her beads which had me thinking about correcting my stash...just a thought, but there it was.

As our chatting went on, the pictures flooded in with our usual show and tell (long distance digging through another's stash which is still great fun) and the conversation really kicked into high gear about bead storage and sorting and organizing.

The very  next day I had to make a quick trip to Joann's for something...now I cannot remember what...and was briskly walking through the store to my intended destination...where? hmmmm...no matter....and LO!! a sign that clearly stated that all organizer boxes were currently 50% off and THERE on the shelf was this suitcase filled with smaller boxes....screeching stop in the brisk walk and let's have a look.  Oh yes, this is exactly what I need.

Now I remember, I had gone in for velcro, more brisk walking, suitcase in hand, velcro acquired and now to pay and leave before anything else caught my eye (it's so hard...so many things to see!)

Taking my "suitcase" home I proudly shared with my girls who also really loved it.  I set to work sorting bead colors and then asking if I should combine beads and sequins into same color boxes...answer was yes I should.  And then it hit me like a slap!  I had entirely too many beads (gasp) and there were sequins in my storage containers (the old containers that leak sequins everywhere) I will never use!  If I'm going to downsize and re-organize I'd better do it right this time.

I ended up splitting most of my beads equally so that I could send squishy packages to all my girls with beady stash enhancers or starters (a few of the girls really don't have any beads to speak of) and two days later I had a wonderfully organized suitcase of love and five squishy envelopes stuffed with little packets of beads for my girls.

I got rid of those nasty, leaking containers for the sequins which also emptied out another one of my little totes.  Could not be more pleased!


And thennnnnn....

The conversation about floss.  The girls had been receiving their floss orders or subscriptions and you already know how that went!  More show and tell, lots of pictures, love and...

Yes, I had to dig out every skein of floss I had and input that into my phone app so I knew what I had and did not have so I could shop properly next time.  It turns out I have more than I thought but thankfully I already had three brand new floss boxes I had purchased two years ago just sitting there waiting for me to "bobbinate" (as the girls are calling it) my flosses.  

This will take awhile to finish up because I keep getting interrupted by things like "work", "family", and the cat.

I was not playing with your yarn, I was just making sure it was not in a ball for you!
Lady Door is her name and some of you have seen her before.  She has laid claim to me as her main "human" and insists on getting into things, practicing her lioness roaring and demanding I throw her favorite rubber band around so we can play fetch.

She is NOT my cat.  Her human lives downstairs on the main level, but she prefers my company to his most of the time.  I think she only visits him because he is the one who feeds her, but who knows?


She has NOT been instrumental in my kitting process, and now I can say that I have almost all of my patterns kitted up and ready for stitching.  This kitting process has been going on for a year.  It has been a really difficult time for me.  I want to keep the leaflets and patterns, but have to ask myself over and over, "are you really going to stitch this?"  So I put some leaflets into each of the squishy envelopes for my girls to go with the beads.

Now that you are done, this is mine.

I've even updated my LIST to show that I am really trying to be realistic.  My hobby can be an obsession, so let us just change the way we obsess to reflect what I am actually able to do and get that kitted up and never mind the hoarding.

I am officially going back on my pattern fast like I did last year.  It worked really nicely for months!  I have plenty of free patterns and have been updating the Resources page at the NCCIH for links to free patterns, but I will not purchase a new pattern for myself again this year.  You scoff, but I'll bet you a shiny nickel I can do it!

The last to be kitted up.
Let's not forget that I can "shop" in my girl's stash as well and ask if they will share...of course they will...they are enablers of the highest degree!

Then there are the  remaining leaflets that need to be kitted up. This does not include the special box with all of my Teresa Wentzler books, leaflets and printouts.

Those are special and receive a different kind of treatment.  Very careful consideration goes into those patterns.

I also have books I haven't even brought to light, and ancient manuscripts (they used to be called magazines but they are old and crispy and turn to dust when touched), but I like keeping them where they are, which is nicely organized on the shelf and in magazine carriers.  In case I need "something" that isn't already kitted up.  The Ancient Manuscripts are a project all by themselves but I keep putting that off.

Overall, I am very pleased with myself for downsizing, sharing and organizing.  I can feel that the end of this project is drawing very near, but it may be another year (or five) until it is completed.  I will be ready for retirement fully stocked, well organized and ready for full time fun!  My potential five year plan.  Until next time.....

How will I resist picking up a new TW pattern while on my pattern fast this year?  Oh dear, I may lose that nickel after all!



26 comments:

  1. I believe you can do it, no patterns for you, you know we will help. Lady Door is so pretty and sweet, and after all, you don't own a cat, a cat owns you, and she has decided you are her human. And look at all the organizing you got done, now I feel a little guilty that I haven't started.

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    1. Thank you for your support! Feeling confident because I did it last year for almost half a year and then whamo...I slipped and fell. But not this time! Lady Door was just here but she has mysteriously....oh, wait, she's laying on the floor this time....anywho, don't feel guilty about not organizing yet. Your organizing involves your mom so you have twice as much to do, more thinking involved but when the right idea hits you will be all over it! Maybe when Cindy is completed?

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  2. I like that suitcase. I'll have to see if they sell them at michaels. What's the brand name?

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    1. I believe it was Darice? I might be thinking of the floss boxes but the label looked the same. I took the label off, but I will check again in case I am wrong :D

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    2. Yes, they sell them at Michaels! I saw one the last time I was at the store but refrained from picking one up myself because it was out of my budget at the time.

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    3. Well the normal price...yukky and I would have continued my brisk walking, but 50% deserves a stop! ha ha! I'm glad you finally made it into Michael's!

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  3. Love your organization! That suitcase looks so handy. I find it quite hysterical that the cat has claimed you for her own. Very unhelpful, but she's pretty and looks oh so sweet.

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    1. Thank you! As it turns out I'm slightly allergic to her so it's always fun to have to run the vacuum every few days or dry mop the entire downstairs to get rid of the hair and dander :D She can be sweet until she gets "involved" then there's a fight hahahaha!

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  4. I love how we are all organizing our things (some more, some less *glances at her own chaos*), and I admire your kitting stuff up; I'll need to do this as well but it's not easy with as little fabric as I have right now! I'm sure you can stay strong for your pattern fast this time, just remember that slipping with one pattern doesn't mean you've failed altogether! ;)

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    1. You will have your stuff organized in no time! you already have your cubby shelving and the baskets to put things in :D I'll bet you have more fabric than you realize and can kit up more than you think! That is what happened when I got busy doing it. Turns out, I had more than I thought I did and I'll bet the same for you. Once you have everything put away the way you want it you will see....butyou have to share with us so we can see too ha ha!

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    2. Nope, organizing and sorting revealed that I really don't have any more fabric. As of now, I have exactly four pieces of unused (and not planned for something specific) fabric: White and Antique White even weave, then the dark green I got as a back up for the band sampler and a small piece of Joydri fabric that I loved but haven't found a good project for yet. Then some leftovers of the light green and the hardanger used for DF, tiny scraps of AoFs linen and some band I got somewhere and don't have any idea how to use them yet. And as many of my projects are calling for pretty sparkly dyed fabric, it would seem I don't have a choice but to buy more, right?! :D

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    3. so many pieces for smalls! Or bookmarks! or tiny little ornaments!

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  5. I love to read about everyone else's stash organisation! Makes me feel better about mine.
    I'm doing the Stitch from Stash challenge again this year, maybe you should join in the second part which starts at the end of June?
    I used to have part shares in a cat too, she came here for snacks and my neighbour gave her main meals!

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    1. I love reading about other people's stash organization as well, some people are entirely too clever! Things I never would have thought of always get shown.

      I am in Stitch from Stash and am waiting until Saturday at the very latest to report mine for February as it's a little....uhm, horrifying this time around but it WAS for a good cause :D

      Lady Door....if I had food she would probably never go back to the housemate except to give him a cursory glance or two on special occasions! She's hilarious!

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  6. It's fascinating how others organize their stash. I've got all my leaflets, magazines, pattern books (ie. TW) in large 3-ring binders.

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    1. Isn't it? It tells a lot about a person who has gone all out and created an entire room or carved out that special space. I did have my patterns in binders but that became a useless gesture when I started kitting and my TW patterns and books are becoming quite a pile so I just put them in the stacker box I used to have my bead packets in and it worked out beautifully. Maybe you could show us your stash sometime? Inquiring minds! ha ha!

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    2. Be careful what you wish for ;-) Right now part of it is in the living room and the other my bedroom. Next month I'm gonna try and get it organized and moved into the spare bedroom. If/when I get it done I'll post snaps on my blog.

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    3. That will be so awesome! And when it's all moved into that spare room the "real" work will begin! *insert evil laughter here please*

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  7. I love stash organization. I still need to downsize more, I did do a series of big purges. Back in the day, I had an entire craft room and hundreds of patterns set in binders, but now I'm down to just a couple of hundred in a single drawer of a file cabinet (and that includes each chart logged from books!)
    I just got an app for cataloguing threads (something I've never bothered with), and I'm hoping that helps with a bit of shopping.

    I have found that keeping a wishlist or pinterest board has curbed my need to buy all the pretty things i think I want. I only allow myself to go ahead and purchase LE charts after having an honest conversation about whether I just want it, or I think I will actually stitch it.

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    1. It seems that in a way you are more advanced in your purging and organizing than I am! Sadly, when I go on the "no pattern fast" I don't even look at anything that could potentially tempt me if there is money involved, but I do start my hunt for freebies. We have a nice little list of freebies at the NCCIH which will be incredible by the end of the year if I continue seeking them out.

      I'm really glad I got the App for the floss. My OCD side says "you must have it all" while the rational mind says "ah, you only need one of that and you are done". I did check my app against what was available at the store the other day and it was FUN. I now know what should be ordered online and what can be purchased locally.

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  8. I do apologise for setting things off... kinda.. maybe...

    But look at what you found as a result! Awesomeness! You are being so very good at organizing so you can see what you have and know what you can do :)

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    1. I agree! I had been completely worth it so I can then focus on just the cross stitching and other sewing I need to do now. Digging doesn't need to happen anymore :D

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    2. Yay for no more digging! Now get stitching! You have lots to catch up on - and I know you can :)

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  9. Well Lady Door looks just comfortable in your little stitchy hideout. Love the organization that's going on and really looking forward to my squishy package ;) LOVE getting fun mail instead of just the normal junk mail, bills or ads, and getting stitchy supplies makes everything better.

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    1. Squishy package, squishy package...sing along with me...how we love our squishy package! Lady Door has spent more time up here lately than anywhere in the house...and bobbinating with her in the room has been a challenge!

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