An attack of the crochets and how to get better

I might have done a thing....

with yarn.

I asked Youngest to do a bit of tough love on me and ensure I tidied a corner of stashed yarns and wools. He was instructed to make sure I cleared it all away......

He failed.
Well not totally, I did tidy away 90% of it, may be nearer 80% but I came across a bag of blues (fav colour ever!) and two large impulse buys of grey aran. Hmmmm

 So. Like I may have mentioned earlier - I did a thing. I started a stash busting blankie.
I have looked at this blanket CAL for nearly seven months now -however due to a combination of lack of mojo, downright apathy and the thought that I had.no.stash..... well....usable stash rather than picturesque piles of pretty yarns and wool 'saved for later', not much happened. Until now.

I have cast on and already done the first week's CAL and about to log on and start the second week's instructions - got me some serious crochet to do.

Pattern: Seaside Stash Busting Blanket

Yarns: mixture of aran yarn, alpaca, acrylic, boucle and other unknown 'stuff'

February - almost gone...

I have written (in my head) at least three posts, only when I start typing - the words fail to come to life.

At the moment thoughts do not transfer themselves from my imagination, through my fingers, onto the keyboard and finally on to the screen. Suspect it is coz I am tired, coz my head is so full that it is difficult to separate out stories from guff, coz I seem to have a lot going on and just, well just coz...

Good stuff.
Walking, breathing bracing air, drinking tea on the side of a hill.

Not so good.
Losing a furry walking friend after years of companionship - it has hit me harder than I thought.

Making and baking.
Carrot cake, sticky malt loaf, Swedish sticky cake, creamy salmon curry (can't find the link for it sorry) and Brioche bread and butter pudding, they are my February five new recipes.

 Sticky malt loaf

Brioche bread and butter pud

Knitting.
After a month or two of knitting this.......

I'd completed the back and had almost finished the front when in a moment of realisation of how much I hated what I was creating - I frogged the whole thing in a flash.  It made me feel so much better.  The green has been stashed for another day and the heather wool plus a saved cream wild silk yarn is growing into this....

Mittens, with a nordic star just beginning to appear. I feel soothed as it grows, even when I'd miscalculated and had to frog back several rows - I still feel happy.

Grateful.
For all the wishes and hugs, the comments and thoughts and the friendship over the net. Thank you.

Planning.
Eldest's 17th birthday (Seventeen...!) Where has the time gone?  We are going to celebrate with a fondue, something I remember from my childhood fondly and with the help of Lovely Lady from Threads Through My Life and my Jak, my Mom, we have three fondue pots to share between nine hungry tummies - think it's going to be a lot of fun!

Tidying.
Hitting a room at a time and completely removing a section, only returning what we want, really really want to stay.  The rest being recycled, rehomed or thrown away.  Today was the turn of the kitchen and it has been stripped of all the things we've collected, not tidied away or just not need and I feel exhausted!! but satisfied :)

Lost.
My cell phone. Originally thought to be languishing out on the hills since our last walk.

Found.
My cell phone. Correctly found languishing in a pocket at home a week later.

Sigh.

How was your February?
What did you get up to?
What did you find after you thought you'd lost it forever?
Are you ready for March?

Go on, spill the beans - what exciting things have you got planned?

xxxxxx

Throwawayathon and a simple How-to.

I mentioned in my coffee & paste post from a few days ago that we had been on a major decluttering spree. I think even that phrase 'a major decluttering spree'   doesn't comes close the the wholesale removal, recycle, rehome and throwawayathon we have undertaken in the last few weeks.

We did start quite reluctantly - knowing that we should tackle our accumulated 'stuff' but dreading that first step. We have *whispers in shame* unpacked boxes from when we ORIGINALLY moved to Africa in *even more shame* 19.....96 - oops. Never mind about the unopened boxes from our return to the UK in 2000 (avoids eye contact) and the boxes from Himself's mother when she died in 1997.....

Then having spent a glorious week up in Northumberland in a cottage with the right amount of bare minimum - Himself was spurred on.

If we could live with just that - the bare minimum AND SURVIVE A WHOLE WEEK!! then we could at least get rid of some of our 'stuff'.

So we started to open the stashed away crates and boxes - out went college books, out went surplus mismatched china, out went cross-stitch and tapestry kits - Himself's mother bought dozens and dozens to do in her retirement and was never well enough to even start, out went lace making kits and hundreds of hand made bobbins, out went pictures that never made it up on the wall, out went belts and bags and unloved ornaments that collected dust and out went wedding dresses and old fashioned antimacassars.

Sealed wooden chests revealed bags of fabric which was shared out between crafty friends, unopened artist's canvas and oil paints were passed on, tents were rehomed to friends who are counting the pennies, toys - outgrown but still loved were carefully selected and some adopted by new children and others kept and cuddled even by Eldest......

Then....then..... I opened the airing cupboard and my heart sank when I startled a handful of clothes moths. Oh dear, we thought we'd been getting on top of the problem but our holiday away and the cats staying at a cattery holiday prison camp had allowed the moths freedom and they had made the most of it.

We stripped out the cupboard and checked everything for chew holes and grubs. Moths fluttered haphazardly around as we sprayed and slapped and vacuumed. Everything that seemed to have been rejected by the moths was shoved into the washing machine the rest tightly bagged up for disposal. Our airing cupboard has not been this tidy (or empty) in years. But don't feel sorry for us - it was ever so 'slightly' over filled with years of 'stuff', inherited, gifted, loaned, collected and occasionally bought.  It is now tidy.

Our house is now guarded by the delicious scent of cedar sachets liberally stashed and by a clever little trap called the mothbox which, as I assembled and arranged around the house was attracting over-sexed male moths and within an hour all 5 boxes had trapped 2 - 3 moths each - mwhahahahah!

I also made lavender, mint and clove bags and hung them up - their scent is a mixture of festive warmth and old fashioned soap - quite yummy!
I searched the tinter to see if there was anything I make to help keep the moths away from our clothes and found several suggestions. I chose to mix three ingredients to make a veritable nosegay.

Each little scented posy bag has:

• A lavender bloom and stalk, folded up to bruise and release the scent.
• Handful of mint leaves.
• Tablespoon of cloves.

You will also need:

• Netting - cut into 'rounds' I used a side plate as a template
• Ribbon - quite long, both as decoration on the bags and to be able to tie to a rail or hook
• Elastic bands
• Scissors

These were placed into a circular piece of netting and tied - initially with an elastic band then with a ribbon which was then used to tie in the cupboards.  The boys were quite taken by the scent - happily proclaiming it to smell like chrimbly cake, old fashioned soap and toothpaste - now that can't be bad :)

Now - you don't have to suffer a case of the moths to have these tasty scented little tussie-mussies  in your cupboard so why not try making them for yourselves?

So - 

Have you had a clear out recently?

Have you 'stuff' stashed away - out of sight and out of mind?

How is your declutter challenge going?

How jam-packed is your airing cupboard!?

Have yourselves a splendid day and thank you so much for all your lovely comments - I do love reading them, they may me go squeeeeeeeee :)

hawthorn xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx