spring cleaning!

Apologies to those of you who are anxiously waiting for me to finish the lining tutorial I started in my last post... I got a little side-tracked.

Admittedly, I get distracted far too easily. Not ideal, but it always makes life interesting!

Want to know what happened?

Well... I brought out my sewing machine to work on the lining. It was then that I remembered that I had broken the needle the last time I had used it. So I went to my sewing box for a replacement one... NONE THERE!!!!

I knew they had to be around somewhere. I very clearly remember that I had bought a five-pack not long ago, and had only used one out of it. I can clearly recall staring at the rows and rows of needles at the store... trying to decide which ones I was going to need. And then the excitement when I brought them home and they were the right ones!

Obviously I was so excited by the prospect of having purchased correctly... that I was in an ecstatic haze... and didn't put the needles away in the correct spot when I was finished. I mean, I can't think of any other reason for not putting them away properly... Surely not sheer laziness??? or distraction???

So... the needles had to be somewhere. I pulled the place apart looking for them, and then had a giant mess to clean up! Somewhere along the way I decided it would just make so much more sense if I completely re-organised my craft area... and I ended up doing a big spring clean (yes, I know I'm a few weeks early)



Remember these magazine holders you used to be able to buy? Still can I guess. Well these ones have been lying around at our place for years. I have wanted to throw them out on so many occasions... and Mr Goldfish has insisted on holding onto them... JUST IN CASE THEY COME IN HANDY ONE DAY!



Well, guess what... they did come in handy... but I would never have anticipated that I would store yarn in them. I laid them on their backs, and adjusted the shelving to fit perfectly. They work brilliantly! I've used plastic boxes for storage in the past... with reasonable success. But I want to be able to touch it... pet it... fiddle with it... just be able to see and grab exactly what I want when I want (did I hear someone whisper the words 'instant gratification'?)

So that's part of the job done. Yarn neatly on shelves. the baskets underneath are full of rag balls, and the chest at the very bottom contains felted jumpers. The small trolley is full of recycled bits and bobs... belts, jewellery, tassels, lace, pompoms... all sorts of treasures. And the basket on top of that holds my knitting needles and looms, crochet hooks, circular needles, etc.

And it you're looking for my measuring tapes... they're being used to tie back the curtains... of course!

PS. that stash of yarn is all reclaimed/recycled!

PPS. I didn't ever find those sewing machine needles either