Purging

I have too much stuff. Truly I do. I have more yarn than a mother of three could possibly knit in 5 years. I have a few sewing machines. I have art supplies. I have kitchen appliances. I have stuff.

It is becoming harder to hide my stuff. I can put it into closets, cleverly display it in glass bowls, put it under the bed, use the sewing cabinets as tables, but in the end it is too much. This realization has been slow to fruition. I have preached simplicity. I sold or donated most of my books. I have made a concerted effort to keep our toy population reasonable. I now buy clothing in manageable amounts (prompted by the realization that my then 5yr old oldest son had 22 short sleeve shirts - but they were all on sale or thrifted). It is harder for me to reduce my "stuff."

A few years ago I gave away most of my fabric. I kept a few key pieces that I really liked. It was hard.  I had to accept the fact that I would not use it. Despite all the potential those piles of fabric held, I had to acknowledge my limitations. I would not use it in a timely manner (or I would hate it when I had the time to sew). In all honesty I don't miss the fabric. I like the cleaner look of my sewing cupboard. Everything has a place now.

This week I decided to tackle my yarn stash. I love yarn, and I love knitting. I just am the mother of three small children who homeschools. I don't have time to knit three pairs of socks a month. What was I thinking!!! Armed with my camera I took pictures of almost 30 skeins of yarn (and that doesn't include the 5 sweaters worth of yarn I haven't documented).  It is mostly sock weight yarn, and fingering weight yarn takes a long time to knit.  I posted the yarn on ravelry for sale. So far I have sold 7 skeins. Not bad. I feel lighter already. Some of it is hard to sell as I do love it so, but I know it is better off in the hands of someone who can actually use it.

Now on to figure out what else I can get rid of!