Sunday, March 22, 2009

Spring Cleaning...Oh, and an FO

This...
Has turned into this...


Not bad, huh? I went through each and every bin and bag, and put aside anything I either did not remember having, or did not have any intention of using. You gotta be ruthless...

I ended up with 4 large Ziploc XXL-sized bags, ready to be donated. So, Lorraine came over, and I packed up her car with the yarn, and we dropped it off at the Purple Purl, where they would be donating it to Sistering - a drop-in centre for homeless and socially isolated women here in Toronto. And excellent cause, and I'm glad I could contribute in some small way.

Let's face it. If I haven't used it by now, chances are I won't. Sure, I could have sold it off, but to be honest - I don't have the time. And you know what? Donating it was a much better solution.

What I kept - all my Virtual Yarns kits and Hebridean yarn, all my Norwegian kits and yarn, my "basic" wool, most of the Fleece Artist/Fiddlesticks yarns, and the Noro Kureyon (I want to make Lizard Ridge...). Oh, and all of my Jamieson's too. What I gave away was good stuff, but nevertheless stuff I would not have ended up using.

Hey look! It's an FO! Wow!

Hello, Genevieve.

Here she is, completed. Genevieve is by the very talented Dorothy Siemens, of Fiddlesticks Knitting. I bought the kit, and the yarn used is Silken Merino (a lovely blend of merino wool/silk) in the Amethyst colour. It's knit using 3mm and 3.5mm needles, and using 3mm to 4.5mm for the collar.

I thoroughly enjoyed this project! The pattern was well written, and the charts were fool-proof. Now, yes this is "lace", or rather, it uses lace techniques. However, I didn't find it difficult, primarily because of the excellent charts. And the yarn wasn't tiny and floss-like. So, it worked out well.

Not too much else to report in my corner of the world... Let's see... Work is...there. I actually have to finish up here and log into my work laptop. We are working on a server upgrade that's being rather difficult. Such has been the weekend up to now...

The neighbours. Well. It seems they're back together. No s**t. Didn't see that one coming. Although she did mention to me again that she plans on giving her notice. I'm really not holding my breath. But, they have been pretty quiet of late, so I'll take what I can get.

And the Little Dudes?

Very little changes in their world. Which is what they like, so it seems.

Atticus dodged a bullet Saturday morning, simply by being a pill. He was supposed to return to the vet, but put up such a fight, I had to call and cancel.

"Return visit? I don't think so."


Mae is still fidgety when it comes to posing for pictures.




"It's like drinking a ton of caffeine AND sugar together!"

And Gandalf still plays the suck card, milking it for all it's worth.


"My turn! I want to do a crossword puzzle now! Me! Me me me!"

And I must sign off for this week! Have a great one!

11 comments:

Marina said...

You and Lorraine are an inspiration! Think I had better start the Spring cleaning, but I don't think I can be that ruthless with the yarn.

Genevieve is gorgeous! Hope it warms up soon. Or will it be too much to wear a Fair Isle jacket/coat over it?

Michelle Martino said...

It is fabulous! The "cleaned up stash AND Genevieve! I bet it looks great on you. You've been a busy girl ~ I'd say that's cause to celebrate and buy more yarn.

Lorraine said...

How much yarn does it take to fill a Volkswagon? I guess we found out, didn't we?

It was alot of fun.

Chris said...

Yay for you! It looks like it probably weighs on you less, being organized like that. :) I have some stuff that I either have to sell or admit I'm not going to bother selling and donate. Pathetically, I have another bag of Kureyon to sell, now that I've admitted I'll probably never knit it. *shakes head at self*

Genevieve turned out gorgeous! Modeled shot???

Chris said...

Wait, no picture of the VW stuffed with yarn?!???

Anonymous said...

I love Genevieve, its gorgeous! I must resist buying that kit, but it is glorious!

I need to spring clean, I'd rather knit.

miyamojo said...

Yay! See! You CAN knit lace!
Love love love it. Have fun wearing it.

Nothing like Spring Cleaning. You did good! I cleaned the bathroom today & think it's a major accomplishment. :D I'm scared to tackle at my stash.

Anonymous said...

Genevieve is pretty! It's such a shame you have so much trouble w/Fiddlesticks patterns. ;)

Too bad the neighbors are actual trouble, or at least annoying.

I see Atticus was overseeing the clean up. You filled a Volkswagon?

Oh no! My captcha word says nospock. What's life w/o Spock?

carolyninAlaska said...

Genevieve looks fabulous!
It almost makes me want to knit one... maybe I could manage some lace.

Actually, I'll have to wait to see if we have a summer that gets up to or above 16 degrees, or I wouldn't be able to handle short sleeves.

Good for you... being so relentless about donating your yarn to such a good cause. I don't think I'm ready to do that yet... but I should.

Traceyleezle said...

Oooh, your top is so pretty, and just perfect for spring.

Pet the kitties for me!

Sonya said...

You are so ambitious! I thought about organizing yarn this weekend, but after raking leaves the moment passed. Genevieve is gorgeous! Perfectly springy.