Spring Cleaning hath begun!

Northern Ireland has experienced a sudden burst of spring weather. After the long cold winter, it was like coming alive again in the warmth of over 10 degrees. OK, if you are Australian, you'll laugh at the idea of warmth and 10C in the same sentence, but for us here, it's a time to shed the winter coats and sit in the sun. Yes, I have been running around in a t-shirt, and I've seen others do the same.

Of course, with open windows, longer evenings and increasing light illuminating your home and mirrors come two realisations:

a.) you put on weight while you were consuming large amounts of winter stews and chocolates
b.) your place has become a hovel and a burrow - dust and shtuff everywhere - the only way to move is to tunnel your way through papers, boxes and fibre!

So this leads to...

a.) frantic exercise
b.) spring cleaning
c.) a combination of both

Consequently, I started to declutter, bin old papers I no longer need, swing the Dyson around in a dramatic fashion (yes, I vacuum shelves and table tops, too) and re-arrange furniture until I collapsed in an exhausted heap, reaching for the cho...salads!

But it was worth it!

 

Gorgeous bunting, a gift from The Thistle Patch, which is now hanging in my studio

I now have space again! Breathing space, creative space - a clear studio means a clear mind that can expand again, ideas can flow freely once more, I am spreading out...and already am starting to create a new mess with fibres spread out over the no-longer neat and tidy table top!

This is taking up my table top now - fibre for St Patrick's Day yarn in vibrant green merino, white banana fibre, orange recycled sari silk, plus beads and lace

It is definitely true that a good clear-out is good for the creative mind. I have been finding things I totally forgot I ever had, especially clothes, so I can now create new things with them! I also noticed that I need a few things, so here's a ready-made excuse to buy yarn, fibre, threads and cards...

Of course, I have plenty more to do - boxes of old newspaper clippings to go through, bulging files to sort out, and heaps of t-shirt and textile yarn to create from old clothes and fabrics, but I made a start. I am no longer falling over piles of magazines and boxes of old clothes. I know where my things are and have a rough idea of my possessions. I am in the mood to write to-do lists...

...erm...

...maybe not yet...!

Confessions of a yarn addict...

Yesterday, my new Turkish spindle arrived, the second I purchased from Threadsthrutime on Etsy:

Like boys and their toys, I wanted a bigger one than the beautiful one I have already, so that I can spin more yarn at once, and thick one, too!

I was like a Pavlov dog whenever I heard the postman's arrival this week - would it be today that my spindle cometh? Some girls are waiting with baited breath on their prince, I wait for my spindle! At least, the spindle can't turn into a frog..but might as yet spin me gold. And it will certainly spin me...YARN!

Now my house is not only coming down with yarn, but also with fibre! I have carded batts, rovings and tops in baskets in my living room studio, and I buy them faster than I understand the difference between a carded batt and a top!

 Looking like a painting - 'Fireworks' Custom Blend Merino combed top by Shunklies on Etsy

Once upon a time, I was a dedicated shopper of fashion, now, I confess, if it comes to buying clothes or buying yarn, yarn wins hands - or rather knitting needles - down. Occasionally, I have days of beans and spuds just to be able to purchase more yarn! Sometimes I do wonder what people wear nowadays, and if I am still able to dress properly. But who cares - I've got yarn, people, I've got yarn!

I even knit up scraps of old jeans, silk strips, t-shirt yarn and my old cotton shirts.

I suspect that if a peoples' revolution were to break out in Belfast city centre, I would cling to my yarn stash like bankers to their bonuses!

The colours, the texture, the sheer feel of it, and the greed of possession, of having it sitting in my stash ready to be whipped out when an idea strikes me - that's the joy of being a yarn addict like me! My living room studio explodes with colour and fibre - it may be a grey and miserable day outside, but beautiful yarn is running through my fingers, or colourful strands of merino twirl around my Turkish spindle.

 My own handspun yarn in 'sea colours'

The way my stash is growing, I wouldn't need to buy any new yarn for years to come, because I am no octopus and have only two hands, so I won't knit my beautiful treasures up for a long time yet. However, being a crafter and an advocate for slow fashion, that's not a bad thing, because it's the sheer joy of having fibre and developing ideas - each box of yarn is a box of possibilities, of knitwear and wearable art to come!

 Spring will spring, unique wearable art neckwarmer by purlsofcolour
(knitted recycled Sari silk ribbon at the back)

Once I have finished a piece, I nearly find it sad to let go, although I am thrilled when it finds a buyer. Still, yarn has left my stash...it brings a tear to my eye, but then...there is space in the box...hey, an excuse to...buy new fibre! Do I hear the postman at the gate? Are these my yarn parcels from lindsaycrafts and woollygathering???