Why stop with just cleaning one closet, huh, when you can do two?

I admit, this still looks rather chaotic, but trust me, it is organized. Various books on the top shelf. My ridiculously large collection of unused hangers. (Larger, need I say, than it was a week ago?) A cd-tower, filled with almost-never-listened-to CDs, topped with a hat rack, of sorts. A bookcase filled with books, and topped by boxes of spinning supplies (bobbins, flyers, that kind of thing), and a bin on the bottom filled with spinning fiber just waiting its turn. Oh yes, and a basket of catalogs, because you never know when you might want to order something, or have been dropped from someone’s mailing list.

I addressed the knitting side of the closet, too (that would be the other half of this one), but since I’ve shown it to you on a couple flash-your-stash days, I don’t think it’s really necessary to show it again. The yarn has rotated, it’s true, but the general layout remains the same. I did pull out a fair amount of yarn that I want to get rid of, though. I haven’t decided if I’m going to send it out as RAOK surprises, or if I’ll offer it to you lovely readers o’mine like I’ve done in the past, or what. But . . . when I decide I don’t want something anymore, I don’t WANT it. I want it gone. I’m funny that way. It’s like the flip side of my buying habits. I absolutely hate returning things to stores . . . unless it’s malfunctioning in some way, once I bring something home, it’s mine. Period. Part of the family . . . but if I ever decide I don’t want something anymore, or it’s broken, out of date, falling apart, whatever? Gone. Buh-bye. Ta ta. So the bag full of discarded yarn in the office? Yeah. That’s definitely leaving sometime soon . . .

Well, at least, it’s out of my bedroom, anyway.

I also finally got around to some mending. Two pairs of pants that have been sitting in my closet for months waiting for mended hems. (Don’t ask me why, but the back of my right leg’s hem is almost always the first thing to wear out on my pants. That, or the right knee on my jeans. I’m sure I don’t know why.)

Anyway, I finally got around to fixing those AND repairing one of my favorite quilts. This brown, magenta, turquoise quilt is my favorite bed cover for autumn, but in the years since I made it, it’s gotten rather worn. You can see the wear and tear at the edge–my own fault for being too lazy to do a proper, bias-cut edging. But also, the hems tacking the edging into place on the right side have been in sad shape for a while. When I switched over to my quilt/duvet-cover combo a couple weeks ago, I promised myself that I would NOT put the quilt away until it was fixed . . . which is why it’s been sitting in a heap on my bedroom chair . . .

Anyway, it’s mended now. Maybe one of these days I’ll be able to bring myself to finish the 85-90% finished quilt that’s been heaped in the corner of my bedroom for the last four years…. Sad, sad story, that. I designed it on purpose to be a FAST quilt. I wanted it to be quick because I made it just when I repainted my room when Chappy was one, and I wanted to be able to use it on the bed as soon as possible. The top took the bare minimum of seams to piece the whole thing together–by machine, no less. And the quilting was just broad, diagonal lines, planned to cover the most area with the fewest stitches. Everything was going smoothly until I realized it was ridiculously big for my bed. 8 feet square, to be exact. Even just taking half that outermost, green stripe out would make it more manageable, but . . . that would require drafting a straight line all the way around the thing . . . assuming I could get it laid flat to do it . . . and then figuring out what quilting pattern to use that would coordinate with the rest of the piece, and, well . . . it’s been heaped in the corner ever since. It truly deserves better.

Chappy approves, anyway. He thinks I did an excellent mending job, and to prove it, immediately curled up on MY quilt to take a nap.

Maybe he thinks I’ve been working too hard?

I mean, okay, in addition to cleaning the closet and doing the mending, I cleaned the bathroom (everything but the floor–we’ve talked about how I feel about cleaning floors). And did some laundry. Made pancakes for breakfast (from scratch, of course). And gave Chappy’s and my favorite chair a good, thorough vacuuming. Took a walk around the block.

But, really, it’s not like I’ve been constantly on the go today. I DID stop to take a nice tea break this afternoon. I used my favorite Tea-for-One pot, and everything. I bought it in Newport when I went with my niece, almost four years ago. The Newport mansions are like Disney World, in that, having gone on the tour, you can’t get out without going through a gift shop, and this caught my eye. I wouldn’t like it as a complete, every-day kind of set, but for the occasional cup of tea? Love it. I love how the pattern looks like crewel work. I love the feel of the cup in my hand, the thin lip for drinking. And, of course, I love that it’s a souvenir from a WONDERFUL trip.

• Tags: Uncategorized • Permalink:Closet Deux //