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Tuesday, December 04, 2007

 

Tidy enough to invite you in


...almost.

Before I turbo-cleaned and organized all afternoon, my hutch was so sloppy and bulging with yarn that it was downright shameful. It depressed me every time I looked at it. So, what with staring down the barrels of Christmas and cash flow tighter than Scrooge's *ahem*, I decided today was the day to start making this domicile look like it's been pristine all year long, just waiting to move a futon here and bookshelf there and voila, it's ready to have the tree and decorations placed in it!

What you're looking at is my crafting center/home office. Ignore the debris on the floor, as that's all going to be moved. Where to, I have no clue as yet, but I've done all the thinking I can do for one day. Because I have such a rich fantasy life, I still imagine that one day, Christmas will not be something I stare down the barrels of and feel pressure about, but rather something I look forward to, welcome and enjoy. That will happen, I imagine, right about the time monkeys come flying out of my butt.


Hey, where'd my yarn go?


I went to Office Max today and bought some boxes and storage containers. This is about 92% of the total yarn I own, the rest is in various and sundry project bags. Now that doesn't look like "too much yarn," does it? Shoot, no! And the larger USPS Priority box on the left has all my undyed yarn in it, which continues to sell pretty well.
Blogging about housecleaning? Well, it is a rarity around here. At least I gave you something besides my handpainted yarn to look at!
Handknit Gift Musings
I recently learned from Yarnhog's blog about the no-handknit-gift movement this holiday season. I like the idea, but I don't think this is the year I will do that. For me, this is the nearly all-handknit-gift holiday season! I'm working on a shawl-collar sweater for Jason that's knit completely in the round, so no stress there. Some Fetchings for my sis-in-law. And a beeg surprise for Michelle, who gave me her 20-plus-item Christmas list a couple of days ago. In a flight of silliness, she wrote down "a penguin," so she's getting this.
For God's Sake, Don't Go To The Mall
I firmly believe that one can find quite a bit of what's wrong with America at the local shopping mall. Case in point: Jason and I were shopping for Michelle at the Mac cosmetic counter in Nordstrom the other night, and we saw two little girls who looked to be about eight or so, having makeovers! The mom came to pick them up just as we were paying for some (overpriced) lipstick. Should I not have been disturbed by this? Have I crossed that invisible line and turned into an old fusspot? It's just that I see an alarming trend of encouraging young girls to look older than they are, and it kind of gets too close to that dangerous territory of sexualizing children. I mean, it's one thing for that mom to let those little girls try on some lipstick, but quite another to turn them into little Jon-Benet's. OK, I'm getting off the soapbox now.
Another thing I saw at the mall which made me crotchety (truthfully, it doesn't take much) was cheesy, tacky decorations! In not one but two store windows, I saw Christmas trees decked out with--hang onto your merino--fake yarn balls. Yup, they looked like exactly what they were: icky styrofoam balls wrapped with ackrylic, then probably sprayed with Aquanet or something so they "glistened". Even though I know I've just outed myself as a yarn snob, I just saw that and went "bleah".
Yes, from here until Christmas, if the gifts I give don't come from my needles, they'll be bought online, as I don't think I can hack another trip to the mall!

Comments:
Amen AMEN!!
 
I can't handle the mall either, during Christmas or any other time. I'm so with you on the online shopping thing if I buy anything at all. I'm doing a primarily handmade Christmas this year too. And instead of cleaning, I'll be packing up the house because we're moving (and the cat just peed in two of our boxes. Thank god they were empty)! Craziness.
 
I think the thing that makes me loath the mall is how fake and plastic EVERYTHING is there. How 'they' foist on us the horrible fashions that are way over priced and make yuou always feel out'out of the loop' unless you buy their crap. And DONOT get me started on Victoria Slut windows- arrrgh. I so want to spray paint them black....but yeah. the mall upsets me...
 
Amen to the mall rant, I hate it the whole year round, but at Christmas it really sucks. In my younger days I did the retail stint and it sucks just as much when you have to work at the mall as it does if you have to shop at it. Your stash looks very manageable, in fact you should definitely go and add to it to make it bigger...you can always go get more boxes, right? (hello, my name is Kiki and I'm a stashaholic) I love your hutch, but it needs more yarn! :)
 
I was done with my shopping by the end of November, entirely by pointing and clicking. I hate crowds. I hate traffic. I hate tacky decor. I love the internet.
 
oh yes those little girls getting teenagers at a faster pace than ever. thanks to their parents? i loathe it. it made me stop teaching children. found them completely impossible to fathom.
 
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