Spring Clean Fever

It may be a little early, but I've been grabbed by the throat by Spring Clean Fever. I've been clearing out the garage and house, and even sorting through my yarns - some are destined for eBay and others for the charity shop.

This mad activity is due to several things really:
1) I have time to do this now that my girls are both at school all day
2) DH is due to take delivery this weekend of his new electronic drum kit, which needs a home whilst we sell the other "real" drum kit (have you seen how much space these things take up?!)
3) We're thinking of moving to the south west, so some serious de-cluttering is required (although I'll be amazed if we actually move this year - it takes us ages to do anything)

I've even ditched a project - the round yoke navy school cardigan. It's a lovely pattern, but was looking a little on the small size for my youngest - she's growing at an amazing rate atm. I had finished the right sleeve, and it was 2 inches too short for her!

The main problem, though, was the yarn. I was using Wendy Capri, which is a boucle cotton/acrylic mix. A nice enough yarn, and easy care for school, but somehow it just didn't look right when knitted up. It was kind of.. well.. holey. Having a crisp white school shirt underneath was the final straw really, as it highlighted those little holes far more than any other colour would have.

It ended up just looking cheap in my eyes, and I wasn't happy with it. So the half-finished cardigan has gone in the bin (gasp!) - no I didn't even feel like frogging it. The rest of the yarn is destined for the charity shop. At least I learned the magic loop knitting method anyway.

Whilst going through my yarns, I've realised that my yarn buying habits have changed so much and yet so subtlely that over time I've completely reversed my attitude without even realising.

I used to see yarn and grab it, then start thinking of how I could use it later.
Now I either see projects that I love and buy yarn for those, or I see fantastic yarn but have to make sure I know what I could use it for before I splurge on it.

I think this may be partly because I'm buying more expensive items as I get older (that's food, clothing, everything really, not just yarn) so I want to really justify the cost.

Weird what happens over time without you even noticing!

On a more creative note, the Rain Dance Shawl is progressing nicely. I received the circular Addi on Tuesday, and now I'm up to row 94 with 196 stitches and now on the 2nd ball of my yarn. Looking good!

Quote of the day: My youngest DD asked me tonight "mommy, when we move to a new house, can I take my teddy with me?"!