Organization: The Struggle Is Real

Looking at my dining room, or what I have christened “The Yarn Room” today, it would appear that organization hasn’t been to difficult. I have my 8’x4′ pegboard full of yarn in color order:

My sock yarn arranged neatly on the bookshelf:

Push pins marking where I’ve made sales in the US:

And, although it is an old picture, sometimes the needles make it back into the mason jars:

But let’s face it, it’s a struggle to put the yarn back on the hook or shelf and the needles and hooks back in the jars in creative mode. Ten skeins of yarn on the couch later there are hooks lost between the couch cushions and more WIP than I can count on my fingers. It is always a blur in the moment, but once the creative wave passes it feels like a tornado just passed through. It almost feels as though my brain doesn’t realize the disaster I’m creating. How do you prevent the disaster in the midst of the chaos?

By the time the creative mania has ended I am so exhausted and the disaster stays…. and stays… and stays while I continue to create in the middle of it. By the time I have the energy to reorganize it’s three days later and looking at the mess and knowing that I created it frustrates me more than the mess itself. The frustration then delays the cleaning even more and a week later I finally reorganize.

The biggest struggle is avoiding the disaster in the first place. How does a person manage to dive into a creative mode and not turn their living room into a disaster zone? How can I train my brain to, in the midst of being overly excited by a new creation, clean up after myself as I go along.

As I sit in my living room now staring at an armchair that is hidden under 9 blocking mats with the qulitghan almost finished on top, a partially created mermaid tail afghan taking up on cushion on the couch, an ottoman covered in the accent yarn for the lattice blanket with the blanket on the floor next to it, and all of my barstools taken up by WIP. And am I too exhausted to clean it up? YES Does it frustrate me? YES And this is why my organizational struggle is so real.

Sneak Peek

After a long vacation and a visit to the bottomless WIP drawer, I am looking forward to adding some new items to the shop! Here’s a sneak peek of what will hopefully be listed later this week:

Mint & Ivory Latticework Afghan

A large ivory crochet afghan with an overlay of mint chain stitching to create a latticework pattern. I’m still undecided on the border.

Orange & Blue Quatrefoil Quiltghan

This one may require a bit more imagination– once it has finished blocking (more blocking mats are on the Knit Picks wishlist!), a layer of quilt batting and a light blue and white quatrefoil pattern cotton fabric will be attached to the back side of this piece. The result will be a thick blanket that has both knitted and fabric sides.

Time for Christmas orders!!

So excited to finally begin Christmas orders! Time for hot tea, puppy cuddles, balls of yarn and a good pair of needles!!!

Cotton Crochet Face Scrubbers

Great for daily face washing and makeup removal! Eco friendly and reusable. They can be thrown in the wash with the rest of your laundry and will last a very long time! If you don’t want to use them to wash dishes they can be used for scrubbing just about anything else!

Boatneck Sweater

My latest post. If I wasn’t such a procrastinator this would’ve been posted months ago! I wish I would actually get my act together with posting and put everything I actually have made online…. oh if only I had the time to get all of this done!!!

Ravelry Rant

As long as Ravelry is up and running I will never be able to get anything done. While my list of projects to do keeps getting longer, my pile of halfway completed projects keeps getting larger. WHY DO THEY HAVE TO HAVE SO MANY STINKING GENIUS IDEAS?!?! I am only 21, but I don’t think I’ll live long enough to finish all of the projects I want to… thanks Ravelry for making me realize that there will never be enough time. Oh, and for my lack of closet space due to my project pile. 

Bow Baby Headbands

Both the pattern and the headband are now available in my Etsy store!!!!

Little Crochet Baby Boots

Super cute tiny boots for your baby’s feet. It’s just like a sock, except it is much cuter!

P.S. The sale is in 4 days and these will only be $8!!!!

Craft Fair Table HELP!

The craft fair table. Although the fear of having your crafts rejected is a very stressful part of the anticipation of a craft fair, the table setup is by far the most stressful. Where am I going to put the blankets? Will I have room for the sweaters? Do I have enough baskets? The list of questions just continues on and on. While this craft fair had its last minute set up glitches, other than the purple boot that fell over for this picture I think the setup went pretty well. The table was more crowded than I would like, and of course I compared my table to all of the more experienced vendors around me. Although I thought there would be no way anyone would see all that my table had to offer because of how crowded it was, in the end the craft fair went better than expected.

Ombre Chevron Crochet Baby Blanket

Extremely soft and warm, this crochet blanket is available in any color you can think of! This is the baby version, but it can also be made for adults!

Yes I know how annoying the words Ombre and Chevron have been lately but look at this blanket!!!