Still hanging around

We have had the most snow that I have seen in a Tennessee winter in... probably ever. I'm a bit disturbed by this really because this is whatchacall not what I'm used to.


This is what it looked like from my balcony a week ago (photo courtesy my old man) and there are still patches of snow hanging about, waiting for it to get above freezing for more than ten minutes. It is meant to be a little warmer and even rain early this week, so the chances are slim that it's going to stick around much longer, but I won't be sad to see it go. I'm ready for spring now.

I've been doing some cleaning up today in my office and I am very glad to report that the closet is looking pretty well-organized and neat these days. My fabric had been in plastic bins and it was literally a pain to go through it when I wanted to look for something. I ended up tossing quite a bit of trash, doing a bit more recycling, and moving a fair bit of fabric I didn't love to the giveaway pile.

These are now empty (plus one box more):


And this is what my closet looks like now:

Muuuuch better.
It turns out I actually don't have very much fabric. It shouldn't be a surprise since I've been working from stash for a couple years without buying or acquiring new, but it's different to see it all in one place like this. My cottons are on another shelf, so I do have more fabric than this, but I'm going to go through that at some point and toss the stuff that I don't love. It's a work in progress. I'm thinking we might use the plastic bins for purposes of holiday ornament storage instead of the file boxes like they've been in since the dawn of time.

I spiffed up my yarn stash last weekend and while I don't have much of that, either, its shelf is full. The next to the last shelf just so happens to be the one that the cat pulls stuff out of, so rather than putting the sock yarn there, for example, I went ahead and just put the little bits and ends and leftovers on that shelf. I don't rightly care if they get messed up. I'll just toss them back on the shelf and that's that. Occasionally, I'll find one of these in the kitchen or living room where the thieving little chubby fluffball has stolen it, but it doesn't bother me terribly much.


Note the Ohio State Phylogenetics workshop totebag in the corner. It makes a good sturdy project bag and I have an idea of what is going in there next, but I cannot tell you what that may be, lest curious eyes be watching. It's a super secret surprise.

I haven't got a whole lot on the needles right now, but seem to be making progress. I started a plain hat in handspun from one of Meredith's batts I got during the Black Friday sale at the Knaughty Knitter. I love how they spin, how the colors blend together, and I'm loving how it's knitting up. It is a batt of love, is what it is. I don't know who is going to end up with this hat just yet, but I hope they feel the love in every stitch.


That there is my new nøstepinne. I'll tell you more about it later. (Also, I love the international keyboard. It's fun. I don't get much chance to use the ø. In fact, I might do a whole post on the nøstepinne, just so I can use the ø. Nøstepinne! Gazebo. Bulbous bouffant! Nøstepinne! Galoshes.)

And here is the sock, creeping along in a steady fashion:


And here is a gratuitous picture of my offspring, who just started learning cross-stitch this evening. She's done eight entire stitches already and quite well, I might add. Once she started making the little X's, she told me, "This is kinda fun!" Music to my ears.


Another weekend done, another week begins. Tomorrow is MLK day and we're planning on some family time to take the tree down. My goal this next week is not to hang around the house so much and get into the lab, if for no other reason than to remind my professor that I exist.