I saw this on Pinterest (heard that before?) and for some reason it got me motivated.
It hit me that the stuff that I own has begun to own me. Like use me or else! The pressure of having this much yarn and fabric is oppressive. Becoming a septuagenarian has also made me question Will I ever use all this stuff? It controls my future and and now I want to take that control back.
Also, I was thinking of those people in California who lost everything to fire. If I lost everything and had to replace it all what would I really replace? That got me seriously thinking about how I want to spend the rest of my years. I do love to knit and sew. But all the yarn I bought was for sweaters and jackets to sell, and I don't care about doing that anymore. As for the fabric, most of it was 'a great deal' and I had to take advantage of the bargain. Or it is leftover from my quilting career, selling hand dyed fabric, and it is like from 2002 and I still have it. Moving it all 5 times! I'll definitely be bringing that excess to our church quilting room.
So the next question is what will I keep and then what will I do with it? Time will tell.
Saturday I began dumping out bins of yarn and organizing them into like piles. I put matching yarns in bags and into bins of worsted, DK, fingering and whatnots.
I'm planning on attacking the fabric stash today.
This was taken four years and three houses ago. It has grown, and gotten a lot messier. I'll tell you this, I am keeping my pre-fused fabrics and do plan on making small works again. And painting too. La dee dah!
We spent almost all of 2017 renovating our house--all the closets had to be emptied--there was no where to hide.
ReplyDeleteCar loads went to Goodwill. there is only one bolt of fabric I wish I had kept. Don't miss any of the other stuff.
My attic is still pretty full of containers of fabric. I go up searching when I need something. But only when I have a project.
I'm pretty sure I could live without all the things we stored in the attic. I have given myself a full year. If it is still up there and
I never went looking for it--- it will be going away. We have an arts group for handicapped adults. They love new supplies.
I know what you mean... and I don't have nearly as much as you do, but it's starting to irritate me. I have a whole large bin of afghan-size yarn that I doubt I'll ever use. I have 3 medium bins & 3 large bins of fabrics - from purchased to surface designed to undyed, along with some bolts of undyed fabrics. And I have a bin of fabric that is not suitable for what I'm working on these days... we have a women's and children's shelter in town, and I'm thinking I would like to see if they can use any of the yarn. The fabrics are way too small for making things like clothing, but I also have a couple of boxes of fabric patterns that I might see about donating too. Maybe 2018 is the year of the de-stash, de-clutter for us! Thanks for the inspiration...
ReplyDeleteI appreciate all the reminders to get rid of stuff - by that I mean all the fabrics, books, and supplies I bought but haven't used. My guild's philanthropy group has benefitted greatly by these purges. We turn around and make quilts, pillowcases, and placemats for those in need.
ReplyDeleteI was given trash bags full of yarn. Yes, trash bags. A teacher at my school bought a house and he said the closets were full. He dumped it in trash bags along with a lot of knitting needles and crocket hooks and brought it to me in the library because I had a crochet club during lunch. I sorted it and we did yarn covered hangers and used it for scarves, potholders and an afghan. I gave away bags of it, with hooks at the end of the year to each student in the club. I still had two bags of it I took home during the summer since I wasn’t coming back in the fall. I did keep some for slippers and hangars but I donated a lot to a church that crocheted blnakets to donate for various causes, most for the homeless. They made hats too.
ReplyDeleteYou could donate it and not only be helping a charitable organization and those that they serve but also take it off your income tax.
I’ll be using some of my stash for slippers for Christmas presents. I have a stash of sock yarn for socks and mittens and some bins for afghans. I have some afghans and needlepont that has waited until I retired. I’m not quite at the point when I can get started as I’m still “weeding” myself. That’s what we call destashing in the library. Since I retired I’ve been getting rid of clothing I”ll no longer need to wear and am getting ready to start on the books. I have boxes of books that I need to go through to keep, sell and donate. I do have a lot of school materials I can also donate. I’ll be excessing them after I weed the books.
I must say I am enjoying knitting. I have learned to make mittens and socks. I’m working on a hat right now.
But every once in a while I look around and think, I don’t need that any more. At some point I’ll be going through the kitchen and destashing utensils and bakeware that I either haven’t used or probaby won’t use.
I am amazed you’ve gone through four moves and are only now starting to reduce. Usually that happens before you pack.
I'm so pleased I have two of your knitted jackets tucked away before you decided to stop!!!
ReplyDeleteHave you a women's Prison near you? They often are grateful for craft stuff the inmates can learn skills on. There was a piece on our evening news only last week about how a mens group had made patchwork and appliqué cushion covers for enormous cushions (for children to sit on) for their local school libraries. The men were so proud of their achievements.
ReplyDelete