Words

I am still in the thick of things. Getting things ready, giving away things no longer useful for us. Calls and emails have been sent and received. Yarn and fiber have been vacuum packed. 

I texted my BFF (Best Fiber Friend) and got her opinion on a sweater that has been in time out for a long while. I sent picture so me wearing it and came to the conclusion this was never going to work for me. I took a picture before I frogged it. I wanted to like it so much more than I did when I put it on. 

Alas Teatime Cardigan you are all wound up into being just yarn again. It was fun while it lasted but it was never going to be love with us.

The woolie washing continues too. Mellie made sure I was blocking properly. I also compared my shawls and found I do not love purely triangular shawls. The never seem to wrap me properly. But this one will stay handy on the couch to warm me up if needed.

Burt and Mellie are testing out their road gear too. I have made them into nice hidey hole quiet rooms and we both marked our scent in them. But not in the super smelly scent marking way just the warm sleepy fur kind of way.

To contain Momma's Little Pistol Mellie in the hotel rooms while we travel, we now have a playpen for her. Although we are calling it Burt's Yurt just to make sure everyone is happy.

 Soon enough we will be on our way then we will be there and new fun begins. 

A Better Rhinebeck Room

When we moved in I named my knitting room Rhinebeck in honor of my favorite wool festival. As you know I'm not a neat and tidy person by nature. I tend to leave things out that I am working on, even if I have not worked on them in months. You never know when you might need something so why put it away in its proper place when I can leave it here? Luckily I have a darn fine memory and usually know where I have left stuff so that kind of qualifies as its place, by default, right? If I can locate it, it must be in its place?!

In my current clean up phase, almost everything that I consider knitting I moved back into Rhinebeck. Yes it is true Rhinebeck was trashed. Rhinebeck was also used for all my seed experiments this spring and had not recovered from being a multi-use room. OK fine I simply did not pack away my seed stuff. I am a horrible person. No not really I am just easily diverted. Look Squirrel!

Rhinebeck had done its job well of collecting up all my stuff. It had also collected all of D's annoyance in one room. We are well matched but have different outlooks on stuff and just how much stuff is needed in our lives. My minimum stuff level is higher than his maximum stuff level. I come from a family of keepers and he is not sentimental about anything. Sometimes I am shocked that even I have lasted this long guess I am still useful and that's why he keeps me around?

Wait let's get back to Rhinebeck shall we? D tried to help me clean up Rhinebeck!

I know I was horrified too. It is a bit like someone reading your diary and your last twelve entries were all you venting how they are the stupidest, most horrible person ever because they asked you to do some small thing for them. My knitting room is like my journal, personal, private and horribly awkward to explain to anyone what you were thinking. Hey I at least don't have any hot pink fun fur laying around that I need to justify.

Once I got over the invaded feeling we talked and I asked him to give me half an hour to get it to something he could tolerate.

I think I went above and beyond.

And then I disappointed him all over. 

OK fine a little bit of explanation is needed. I cleared it by just putting things in totes to make us feel better. A few days later I received the vacuum bags I ordered and pulled things out to give the stash a proper tossing. Pack it away in a compressed, more protected fashion.

I found four different sets of needles in abandoned projects and reclaimed them safely to the needle storage pack. I have missed doing a proper stash tossing. I didn't rip everything back but I did a few things so I can keep them safe. I did remember most of the stuff I had started thanks to that darn fine memory of mine.

All of my Swedish Death Cleaning has been preparing for a move. I have been washing my woolies and preparing to pack them away for a trip. Turns out I have woolies all over the house. Well I did till Rhinebeck started collecting them for me and I was able to start the wash up process. 

This batch of woolies struck me with its randomness. Guess I will knit almost anything? I found my TARDIS kindle cover. Three tiny knit things that I use as ornaments. I also located a hat, a cowl and a headband. So tiny woolen things washed up and packed away. 

Don't worry I managed to return Rhinebeck to D's comfort level and have opened up two more totes. I am sure I will find more woolies as I prep the house for sale. 

I did find some carefully labeled practice swatches I made from when I first started knitting, December 2006. I think the first knitting group I went to was September 2006 because I know they were going to Rhinebeck for the next meet up and I bowed out of it. Because I didn't know what kind of yarn to buy or if I was going to keep up this new knitting thing. I know sometimes I still kick myself for that. Then other times I realize how overwhelming Rhinebeck would have been for me and thank my lucky stars I did not scare myself out of knitting!

I was able to let the practice swatches go since I never use them and my knitting changed once I started knitting socks. I am glad that I can document how enthused I was with knitting from the start though.

Burt remains as supportive as ever.

Yay it is fireplace weather again!