So, as we dig through over three decades’ worth of stuff stashed in closets, drawers, boxes, baskets, bags, and so on, we’re finding some pretty interesting things.

Now, obviously, a lot of it is stuff we don’t need at all. Like, say, the negatives to a vacation we took in 1997 (because, really, what can you do with photo negatives these days, anyway?). Or the calendar I had on my wall in 2001. Notes from college classes don’t generally come in handy later on in life, either. Or letters from friends you don’t hear from any more.

But, still, there are memories attached to a lot of this stuff, so, before we toss or recycle a lot of it, we’re taking photos. Not to mention coming across interesting old photos, like this–one of my very, very early knitted sweaters.

(And yes, I know, it’s a bad photo of a bad photo of a bad sweater.)

And, no, I don’t remember what yarn I used, but I think it was Rowan something or other. I got the cabbage rose for the body of the sweater out of, I think, the Edina Ronay book, but wanted to do something resembling a lattice on the sleeves. … Um, it was worth a try, anyway. The picture is from somewhere around 1988-89.

Then there were these two shawls. Mom and Dad brought them back as gifts for my sister and me from some tropical vacation or other. They’re woven out of ribbons and are really quite lovely, except for being very slippery and heavy, so that they were impossible to wear without them falling off. You could try tying a knot into the front ends, but it would just come undone, and the whole thing was forever trying to slip off.

There’s no question that they were lovely, though, and I was never able to figure out how they were put together. Up until I put these in the recycle bag with some old clothes earlier, I’ve had both my sister’s and my shawl. Hers was the pretty, shimmery cream one; mine was the matte gray one.

Mind you, gray has been one of my favorite clothing colors for years, so I’m not complaining about the color, but I was always just a little bit jealous that my sister’s shawl had that pretty sheen to it (not to mention longer fringe) than my dull gray one–even though they were both equally intricate.

Otherwise? I cleaned out the desk that I’ve been storing receipts and bank statements in for years. I cleaned out all the old calendars. I got rid of notes from college, old letters from old friends. Note paper. Ink bottles. Old perfume. Old photos. And I still have yet to sort through all the books. (The logistics and the sheer weight of all that paper keeps discouraging me.)

Right now? I’m making a point of ripping all the CDs that I haven’t already ripped to my computer so that I can get rid of the physical CDs. Or, at least, get rid of the ones I don’t like as much as others, or that I haven’t listened to in years but still might want to some day. Having just a digital copy of those sounds reasonable. And the CDs of the music that I still love or still regularly listen to, I can just stash away in a box somewhere. It’s not like I actually USE the CDs any more. Except for keeping a couple in the car for days when I forget my MP3 player, or when its battery dies, I haven’t actually listened to a CD for years. Or at least, not for any longer than it takes to get it upstairs to convert it to an MP3 for the player.

So … kind of tired now!

One more picture of the new yarn, all dry and clean and fluffy from its bath.

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