Patterns in Piles

Wow! Where did September vanish to? For me, it feels as if I woke up with dreams of summer months and then the next thing I'm doing is heading out to shop for autumn goods!

I think the main reason this month blinked by me is attributed to the fact that my DB (darling boyfriend) and I had the opportunity to switch apartment units. While it was a rushed decision and process, it has definitely been worth the scurry of moving. Our previous unit was upstairs, atop someone who would smoke at least once every hour. The smoke was seriously affecting my health and stenching our whole unit. We were happy that our manager was able to relocate us.

Our new place is the exact same layout, so unpacking has been quite easy. It has also been quite comical because we keep thinking we're still upstairs. We have a lot more unpacking to do and boxes to sort through but at least our day-to-day items are done.

The one room that is in dire need of reorganization is DB's office. Once many of those boxes are cleared, I'm hoping to attend to my crafty section of the dining room. I use some of the closet space in the office for craft storage and I cannot wait to get things squared away because my piles of patterns are just begging for me to get them out of boxes!

A photo of Mr. Brain Slug helping me unpack my piles of patterns:

Hopefully, we'll accomplish the rest of unpacking this weekend so that I can get back to why I started this blog.


with peace love unity and respect,


♥♥♥♥♥

deCode • deStash • deClutter

"What is not started today is never finished tomorrow.”

                                                                -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

This very quote could not be any truer of how I currently feel. Over the past three years I have printed, collected & stored a lot of crafting patterns. Most of them have stemmed from my current crafty obsessions of knitting and crochet. Along with these, I have also collected numerous sewing patterns.

During the last six months or so, having these piles of patterns creep up in every corner has completely overwhelmed me. Rather than tackling the piles, I would store them neatly in boxes. I knew I needed some way of breaking down these piles without shredding them.

So my goal is to deCode • deStash • deClutter! By doing this, I am hoping to learn different/new techniques, use up my ever growing stash of yarn and fabric and to obtain a clearer crafting space.

The first plan of action is to sum up what I have.

Above is a photo of 1 binder, plastic view sheets, printed sheets, pamphlets & a few magazines. All patterns!

A few of my books that contain patterns.

I also have quite the stash of patterns stored electronically.

• 241    .pdf/documents stored on my PC drive
• 215    ravelry library
• 24      queued
• 1106  favorites on ravlery

The collection listed is probably a good estimate of what I currently have for patterns. There are still a of couple of boxes that may have patterns in them. My uncertainty is due to the fact that during our last move, I had placed a few piles into some unlabeled boxes. I haven't bothered to search for them because I'm afraid of the many patterns that could be found!

How does one collect so many patterns? Easy! Especially with sites like ravlery.com and so many helpful, fun & free patterns via blogs. I organize a local knitting group & members will give me a lot of their unwanted patterns or books to share. Sometimes a few will leave my hands, but most of the time I end up keeping them.

Just in case, because you never know when you just might need that certain pattern for that certain gift for that special person. Or it might be because someone in the group is looking for that particular piece. At any rate, I am happy to be tackling these patterns!

With this step behind me, I plan to set forth and organize the chaos of these patterns. Follow me as I fumble through these patterns, attempt to de-code some, learn new techniques, use up my stash & have fun in the process!

Stay tuned for my next post: Patterns in Piles

with peace love unity and respect,

♥♥♥